Zen, the Japanese translation for Chan(Chinese), of Dhyan(Indian), is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Zen emphasizes dharma practice and experiential wisdom —particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. It de-emphasizes throretical knowledge and scriptures.
The establishment of Chan (Zen) is traditionally credited to the Indian prince turned monk Bodhidharma who is recorded as having come to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words."
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Zen Sixth Patriarch
Cutting Bamboo
(Ryankai, 13th century)
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The
Soto school of Japanese Zen practice was founded in the 13th century by the Zen Master
Eihei Dogen. In his instructions on how to meditate, Dogen writes,
"You should...cease from practice based on intellectual understanding...and learn
the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate your self. Body and mind of
themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest....The zazen I speak of
is not learning meditation. It is simply the...gate of repose and bliss, the
practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of
ultimate reality."
Zen also stresses that the world of enlightenment is the everyday world we all know. "Carrying
water and chopping wood are the activities of the Buddha," and "The
everyday mind is Buddha," are two of the most well known Zen sayings. Zen
realization shows us that we are directly connected to, and dependent on, all living
beings and everything that exists. Compassionate concern for the welfare of others and for
the environment flow naturally from this insight.
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