Zen

Zen is the Japanese name of a well known branch of Mahāyāna Buddhist schools, practiced originally in China as Chan(?), and subsequently in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Zen emphasizes the role of sitting meditation (zazen) in pursuing enlightenment. Zen can be considered a religion, a philosophy, or simply a practice depending on one's perspective. It has also been described as a way of life, work, and an art form.

Zen teachings and practices

Zen teachings often criticize textual study and the pursuit of worldly accomplishments, concentrating primarily on meditation in pursuit of an unmediated awareness of the processes of the world and the mind. Zen, however, is no mere quietistic doctrine: the Chinese Chan master Baizhang (720-814 CE), (Japanese: Hyakujo), left behind a famous saying which had been the guiding principle of his life, "A day without work is a day of no eating." When Baizhang was thought to be too old to work in the garden, his devotees hid his gardening tools. In response to this, the master then refused to eat, saying "No working, no living."

Related Topics:
Text - Study - Baizhang - 720 - 814 - Japanese

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These teachings are in turn deeply rooted in the Buddhist textual tradition, drawing primarily on Mahāyāna sutras composed in India and China, particularly the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, and the Samantamukha Parivarta, a chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The body of Zen doctrine also includes the recorded teachings of masters in the various Zen traditions. The heavy influence of the Lankavatara Sutra, in particluar, has led to the formation of the "mind only" concept of Zen, in which consciousness itself is recognized as the only true reality.

Related Topics:
Sutra - Heart Sutra - Diamond Sutra - Lankavatara Sutra - Lotus Sutra - Consciousness - Reality

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Zen is not primarily an intellectual philosophy nor a solitary pursuit. Zen centers emphasize meticulous daily practice, and hold monthly intensive meditation retreats. Practicing with others is valued as a way to avoid the traps of ego. In explaining the Zen Buddhist path to Westerners, Japanese Zen teachers have frequently pointed out, moreover, that Zen is a way of life and not solely a state of consciousness. D.T. Suzuki wrote that the aspects of this life were: a life of humility; a life of labor; a life of service; a life of prayer and gratitude; and a life of meditation. The history of Zen has also been closely connected to the development of several forms of martial arts, most notably Judo in Japan and Kung Fu in China.

Related Topics:
Martial arts - Judo - Kung Fu

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Zazen

Zen sitting meditation is called zazen. Walking meditation is called kinhin. Meditation as a practice can be applied to any posture. During zazen, practitioners usually assume a lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza sitting position. A round cushion (zafu) placed on a padded mat (zabuton) is used to sit on, or a chair may be used. Rinzai practitioners traditionally use a square cushion and typically sit facing the center of the room, while Soto practitioners sit facing a wall. Awareness is directed towards one's posture and breathing.

Related Topics:
Meditation - Zazen - Lotus - Half-lotus - Burmese - Seiza - Zafu - Zabuton

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In Soto, shikantaza meditation ("just-sitting") that is, a meditation with no objects, anchors, "seeds," or content, is the primary form of practice. Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of this practice can be found in Dogen's Shobogenzo.

Related Topics:
Shikantaza - Shobogenzo

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The daily time spent in zazen varies, Dogen recommends even 5 minutes daily for householders is beneficial. The key being daily regularity, as Zen teaches that the ego will naturally resist, and the discipline of regularity is essential. Practicing Zen monks may spend 4-6 periods of zazen 30-40 minutes each during a normal day. During the monthly retreat sesshins of 1, 3, 5, or 7 day duration, they may spend 9-12 periods of scheduled group zazen, and occasionally more individual zazen late at night. The zazen periods are usually interleaved with brief periods of walking meditation to relieve the legs.

Related Topics:
Householders - Sesshin

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Dogen's teacher Rujing was said to spend less than 4 hours in actual sleep each night, spending the balance in zazen (see Dogen's formative years in China by Takashi James Kodera ISBN 0710002122). However, in practice, it is not uncommon for monks to actually sleep during zazen. Some meditation researchers have theorized that Zen adepts who are able to achieve the deeper levels of samadhi in meditation are actually fulfilling the same need as REM sleep, so that when zazen time is added to actual sleep time, they are in effect still getting the normal amount of daily sleep that the brain requires. However, such ability to enter into deep samadhi during zazen is apparently fairly rare, and may not arise even after decades of meditation.

Related Topics:
Samadhi - REM sleep

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The teacher

Because the Zen tradition emphasizes direct communication over scriptural study, the role of the Zen teacher is crucial. Generally speaking, a Zen teacher is a person ordained in any tradition of Zen to teach the dharma, guide students of meditation and perform rituals. In some cases, especially in modern western Zen movements, a person not ordained may be able to fulfill some or all of these roles.

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A central part of all Zen sects is the notion of "Dharma transmission," the claim of a line of authority that goes back to the Buddha. Originally this derived from the description of Zen attributed to Bodhidharma:

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:A special transmission outside the scriptures;

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:No dependence upon words and letters;

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:Direct pointing to the soul of man:

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:Seeing into one's own nature and attainment of Buddhahood. http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/welter.html http://www.mro.org/zmm/dharmateachings/talks/teisho18.htm

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Since at least the Middle Ages, Dharma Transmission has become a normative aspect of all Zen sects. Every Zen teacher stands within one lineage or another. Some sects, including all Japanese lines, possess formal lineage charts that are drawn up for the ceremonial practice of transmission, which document the lineage back to Shakyamuni Buddha.

Related Topics:
Middle Ages - Shakyamuni Buddha

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Honorific titles associated with teachers typically include, in Chinese: Fashi (法師) or Chanshi (禪師); in Korean, Sunim or Seon Sa; in Japanese: Osho (priest) Roshi (old master) or Sensei (teacher); and in Vietnamese, Thich adopted in place of a surname. Note that many of these titles are common among Buddhist priests of all schools present in the specific cultural context. Some titles, such as the Japanese sensei, are also used beyond the Buddhist schools.

Related Topics:
Roshi - Sensei - Thich

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The term Zen master is often used to refer to important teachers, especially ancient and medieval ones. However, there is no specific criterion by which one can be called a Zen master. The term is less common in reference to modern teachers, because they are generally reluctant to proclaim themselves "masters." At the same time these teachers willingly acknowledge their lineage connections, naming who authorized them as teachers.

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This is important as there are a number of people in the west, some leading relatively large centers, who claim to be Zen teachers but who will not say where they trained or who authorized them to teach. This is a radical departure from normative Zen where "lineage" is considered crucial. As such it is reasonable to assume such people are not what they claim to be. People seeking a teacher should be aware that there are a surprisingly large number of such self-declared masters.

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Some schools such as the Kwan Um School of Zen publish lists of their teachers. The American Zen Teachers Association is in the process of providing lists of their members at the Association's website. When posted, while not a complete record of legitimately authorized Zen teachers in North America, it will be an enormous help to those attempting to find people who at least have formal authorization in some traditional lineage.

Related Topics:
Kwan Um School of Zen - American Zen Teachers Association

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Of course even formal authorization should not be considered "enough." The moral lapses of any number of contemporary Zen teachers should be a warning in this regard. As the relationship between a teacher and a student requires complete intimacy and a profound trust on the part of the student, any one seriously considering studying with a Zen teacher should read widely about the prospective teacher, ask people who've studied Zen for some years, do web searches, and perhaps most importantly look closely at the teacher's students. Much can be discovered in such simple acts.

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Koan practice

The Zen schools (especially but not exclusively Rinzai) are associated

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with koans (Japanese; Chinese: gongan; Korean: gong'an). The

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term originally referred to legal cases in

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Tang-dynasty China.

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In some sense, a koan embodies a realized principle, or law of reality. Koans often appear paradoxical or linguistically meaningless. The 'answer' to the koan involves a transformation of perspective or consciousness, which may be either radical or subtle, possibly akin to the experience of metanoia in Christianity. They are a tool to allow the student to approach enlightenment by essentially 'short-circuiting' the logical way we order the world. Through assimilation of a Koan it is possible to 'jump-start' an altered mindset that then facilitates enlightenment.

Related Topics:
Paradox - Metanoia - Christianity

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An example of a Zen koan is: "Two hands clap and there is

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a sound. What is the sound of one hand?" It is sometimes said that

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after diligent practice, the practitioner and the koan become one.

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Though most Zen groups aim for a "sudden" enlightenment, this usually

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comes only after a great deal of preparation.

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For examples of 'successful' koan practice resulting in enlightenment experiences, see the anecdotes of Rinzai koan practice recounted in the first book in English to engage Zen as a practice, 'The Three Pillars of Zen' by Philip Kapleau. For examples of years of futile and fruitless koan practice see the book 'After Zen' by Janwillem van de Wetering. The most important book on the subject in English is probably Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki's 'Zen Dust,' sadly long out of print. Fortunately the text, while lacking the extensive footnotes, continues to be available as 'The Zen Koan: It's History and Use in Rinzai Zen.' Probably the best relatively brief survey of koan study is the introduction to Victor Sogen Hori's 'Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice" which can be found on the web. Also of importance, although marred by the ideological perspectives of several of its authors, is the anthology edited by Steven Heine and Dale Wright, 'The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism.'

Related Topics:
Philip Kapleau - Janwillem van de Wetering

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Zen teachers advise that the problem posed by a koan is to be taken quite seriously, and to be approached quite literally as a matter of life and death. There is a sharp distinction between right and wrong ways of answering a koan — though there may be many "right answers", practitioners are expected

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to demonstrate their understanding of the koan and of Zen with their whole being.

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The Zen student's mastery of a given koan is presented to the teacher in a private session (called in various Japanese schools dokusan, daisan or sanzen). The answer to a koan is more dependent on "how" it is answered. Or, to put it somewhat differently, the answer is a function not merely of a reply, but of a whole modification of the student's experience; he or she must live the answer to the koan rather than merely offering a correct statement.

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It is misleading to suggest there is a single correct answer for any given koan, though there are "correct" and "incorrect" answers, and, indeed, students in a cheating mindset would often compile books of accepted answers to koans to help prepare for the interview. These collections are of great value to modern scholarship on the subject.

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Following the tradition of "living koans," a number of western Zen teachers supplement the traditional koan curriculum using various western sources, such as apparently paradoxical sayings from the Bible.

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