A ''zafu'' ( ja, 座蒲, ) or ''putuan'' (, pronounced ) is a round

cushion A cushion is a soft bag of some ornamental material, usually stuffed with wool, hair, feathers, polyester staple fiber, non-woven material, cotton, or even paper torn into fragments. It may be used for sitting or kneeling upon, or to soften th ...

. Although also a utilitarian accessory, it is best known for its use in

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

Name

Although ''zafu'' is often translated as "sewn seat" in American English, the meaning of the Japanese

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

, 座蒲, is different. ''Za'' (座) means "seat", and ''fu'' (蒲) means

reedmace ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

(cattail, ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

'' spp.). A ''zafu'' is a seat stuffed with the fluffy, soft, downy fibres of the disintegrating reedmace seed heads. The Japanese zafu originates in China, where these meditation seats were originally filled with reedmace down. The words ''

zabuton A zabuton ( ja, 座布団, lit=sitting futon, links=no, ) is a cushion for sitting that is commonly used in traditional Japanese settings. Zabuton is a Japanese loanword that is also sometimes used in Western culture to describe the ''zaniku'', a ...

'', ''zafuton'' and ''

futon A is a traditional Japanese style of bedding. A complete futon set consists of a and a . Both elements of a futon bedding set are pliable enough to be folded and stored away in a large during the day. This allows a room to serve as a bedr ...

'' are closely linked. The word ''

'' meaning "seated meditation" or "sitting meditation" is also closely linked. In western usage, ''zafu'' refers to a meditation cushion, and ''zabuton'' refers to the cushioned mat upon which a zafu is placed.

Construction

Typical zafus are about in diameter,
Introduction to Buddhism and the Practice of Zazen
', page 14 and often about high when fluffed. Contemporary zafus are sewn from three pieces of heavy cloth, usually colored black: two round swatches of equal size for the top and the bottom of the cushion, and a long rectangle that is sewn into gathers in between. They are typically filled with either kapok (a fluffy plant fibre, similar to Typha) or

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...

hulls.

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

practitioners traditionally sit on a zafu when engaged in sitting meditation. The cushion raises the hips, making the entire range of cross-legged sitting positions more stable for the meditator.

Use in zazen

Before and after practicing

, Zen practitioners perform a

gassho Gasshō or gasshou can refer to * gasshō (合掌), a position used for greeting in various Buddhist traditions * gasshō-zukuri (合掌造), a style of Japanese farmhouses {{Disambiguation ...

bow to the zafu, to fellow practitioners, and to the teacher. In many practice places, there is a prescribed form for respectfully handling zafu while walking in the meditation hall, or zendo. A

( ja, 座布団, ) is a rectangular cushion, about by , that is often used under a zafu cushion to provide comfort and support when engaged in zazen. The outer cover is typically made of a heavy duty fabric and has a zipper along one side so that it can be easily removed and washed. Inside the cover, the batting is enclosed in a natural cotton casing.

References

Zazen Zen {{zen-stub