With our increasingly becoming progressive and complex society, it is indeed irrefutable that change remains constant and irrevocable. With this constancy, though, another pursuit that transcends time and change is the human endeavor of searching for peace and happiness. Throughout the ages, adepts and ascetics have been in perpetual search for an antithesis to the unending incongruities of life that have served to alienate an individual not only form others but from himself as well. Meditation is one of the ancient practices that still remains to this day and age as it addresses the infirmity of the inner self. Even as an individual would seek physical remedy for their tangible self, so too the intangible aspect of a person is healed through meditation.

There are over hundreds of meditation techniques which have developed in the course of centuries, and to this day, meditation has broken free from the confines of the monastery and into the hands of the common person. Most meditation techniques originated from the Orient, and one of them is Zen meditation. Zen meditation became accessible to the western world through a Japanese Buddhist from the Soto School of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Even though this Japanese was essentially Buddhist, he propagated the Zen meditation technique without affiliating it to Buddhism as a religion. Thus, Zen meditation was widely acknowledged in the western world as it does not lay an emphasis on religious adherence.

Zen meditation advocates finding the true nature without necessarily subscribing to religious teachings, hence, it has gained a significant following. All of us are Buddhas, so the Soto Zen meditation technique declares. The principle behind Zen meditation is to awaken the "Buddha" within us. The Buddha within us is that which sees things as they really are as opposed to the one that stubbornly insists on seeing things the way they want to. "Buddha" literally means the "awakened one", and it is synonymous with the true nature of our being. Zen meditation was meant to rouse the true human essence within, a nature that sees no affiliation with the mundane and the secular.

By keeping in touch with the true inner nature, the total being becomes integrated, thus personal peace and harmony is achieved. Zen meditation believes that it is the predilection to be attached to worldly frills and fancies that detaches a person from and disfigures the true nature. Zazen, which is the heart of Zen meditation advocates that a person should know himself as this doctrine is founded on the study of oneself. Upon knowing oneself, true liberation will then be achieved and adepts have considered the discovery of the self as one of the ultimate truths. Adherents of Zen meditation employ the technique as a means to achieve the never ending search for happiness and meaning in life.

Others turn to it for renewal or to change their lives. Others desperately seek answers which are supernatural and ethereal in nature, thus they resort to Zen meditation. In actuality, this meditation technique is seen as an expression of true human nature and should be practiced in that respect alone. Through Zen meditation, one is illuminated to the fact that while life is full of constant struggles and disappointments, happiness and comfort can be attained by the avid seeker. By practicing Zen meditation with a strong conviction and unwavering commitment, it is possible to overcome vices consequently delivering recovery and a better quality of life.

Bliss may well be at the end of the road for those who are resolved to its pursuit through meditation.