Zen

Zen (禅 in Japanese, ch'an in Mandarin, 禪) Buddhism is a fusion of Mahayana Buddhist beliefs with Taoism. Zen especially emphasizes the practice of meditation. It developed when teachers from India, the original homeland of Buddhism, founded schools in China, where it was known as ch'an. Ch'an is the Mandarin transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyana. The canonical exemplar of these teachers is Bodhidharma, the Indian monk who traditionally founded Zen Buddhism at the Shaolin Temple in the fifth century CE. Later, Japanese monks studying in China learned of Zen and brought it back to Japan, where several divergent schools of thought emerged.

Influenced by Taoism, Zen de-emphasizes study and worldly deeds, and concentrates instead on meditation and a non-rational awareness of the world and the way the mind reacts to it.

Zen tradition holds that the highest form of spiritual practice is zazen meditation. Zazen translates approximately to just sitting. During zazen, practitioners assume a lotus[?], half-lotus, or seiza position. Rinzai practitioners typically sit facing the center of the room, while Soto practitioners sit facing a wall. Awareness is directed towards complete cognizance of one's posture and breathing. In this way, practictioners seek to transcend thought and be directly aware of the universe.

Later schools (especially Rinzai) developed the famous koans, paradoxical "riddles" or "puzzles" designed to shock the mind out of its rationalistic rut and into a non-discriminatory awareness.

The following Zen traditions still exist in Japan: Soto Zen, Rinzai Zen and Obaku. Founder of the Soto Zen school was the famous Zen master Dogen Zenji (1200-1253). Lin-Chi (Rinzai in Japanese) founded Rinzai Zen and Obaku founded the Obaku school.

Many modern students have made the mistake of thinking that since much of Zen sounds like nonsense, then any clever nonsense is also Zen. This is not the case, but see Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius for modern semiserious religions influenced by this idea.

Esoteric meaning of Zen

From this point of view, Zen is, instead of a religion, rather an undefinable origin, beyond all words and concepts, which can only be experienced on an individual level. All religions originated from more concrete expressions of this, and as such Zen is not bound to any religion at all, even not Buddhism. Zen is then the fundamental perfection of everything existing, and is known by all the great saints and sages of all times. Zazen is then, rather than a method to bring people to liberation, an expression and realization of the perfection already present in every person.

Zen Terms

• Doan - Term for person sounding the bell that marks the beginning and end of Zazen
• Dojo - "Place of the Way" in Japanese, used interchangeably with Zendo
• Dokusan - Private interview between student and teacher.
• Fukudo - Term for person who strikes the Han
• Han - Wooden board that is struck announcing sunrise, sunset and the end of the day
• Ino - One of the leaders of a sesshin
• Jisha - Roshi's attendant during sesshin or dokusan
• Kinhin - Walking meditation
• Mondo - A short dialogue between teacher and student.
• Rohatsu - A day in December (usually 8th) that marks the attainment of Nirvana by Buddha
• Roshi - Teacher
• Satori - Enlightenment
• Sesshin - A zen retreat where practioners meditate, eat and work together for several days.
• Tanto - One of the main leaders of a sesshin.
• Teisho - Lecture by Zen teacher
• Tenzo - Head cook for a sesshin
• Zazen - Sitting meditation
• Zendo - A hall where Zen (usually meaning zazen) is practiced (see Dojo)

See also: Eastern philosophy, satori, kinhin, Buddhism in China

External Links

• Google Directory - Zen Centers (http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Buddhism/Lineages/Zen/Centers/)

Recommended Reading

• Three Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakuin, Ryokan (Kodansha Biographies), John Stevens (1993).
• Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki (ISBN 0-8348-0079-9). A good introduction to the practice of Zen.
• Zen in the Art of Archery, Eugen Herrigel[?].
• Zen Keys, Thich Nhat Hanh