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THEORY AND PRACTICE OP ZAZEN I 33realize that no matter how intently you count your breaths you willstill perceive what is in your line of vision, since your eyes are open,and you will hear the normal sounds about you, as your ears are notplugged. And since your brain likewise is not asleep, various thoughtforms will dart about in your mind. Now, they will not hamper ordiminish the effectiveness of zazen unless, evaluating them as "good,"you cling to them or, deciding they are "bad," you try to check oreliminate them. You must not regard any perceptions or sensationsas an obstruction to zazen, nor should you pursue any of them. I emphasizethis. "Pursuit" simply means that in the act of seeing, yourgaze lingers on objects; in the course ofhearing, your attention dwellson sounds; and in the process of thinking, your mind adheres to ideas.If you allow yourself to be distracted in such ways, your concentrationon the counting of your breaths will be impeded. To recapitulate: let random thoughts arise and vanish as they will, do not dallywith them and do not try to expel them, but merely concentrate allyour energy on counting the inhalations and exhalations of yourbreath.In terminating a period of sitting do not arise abruptly, but beginby rocking from side to side, first in small swings, then in large ones,fo r about half a dozen times. You will observe that your movementsin this exercise are the reverse of those you engage in when you beginzazen. Rise slowly and quietly walk around with the others in whatis called kinhin, a walking fo rm of zazen.Kinhin is performed by placing the right fut, with thumb inside,on the chest and covering it with the left palm while holding bothelbows at right angles. Keep the arms in a straight line and the bodyerect, with the eyes resting upon a point about two yards in front ofthe fee t. At the same time continue to count inhalations and exhalationsas you walk slowly around the room. Begin walking with theleft fo ot and walk in such a way that the fo ot sinks into the floor, firstthe heel and then the toes. Walk calmly and steadily, with poise anddignity. The walking must not be done absent-mindedly, and themind must be taut as you concentrate on the counting. It is advisableto practice walking this way for at least five minutes after each sittingperiod of twenty to thirty minutes.You are to think of this walking as zazen in motion. Rinzai andSoto differ considerably in their way of doing kinhin. In the Rinzai·