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What Is the True Meaning of Zen? - Always Well Within
On Zen
- “Zen” is a shorthand for Zen Buddhism, introduced into China in the 6th century, and emphasizes enlightenment for the student by the most direct possible means.
- Zen is a path to fully awaken to your original nature, which is present at all times.
- The word Zen comes from the Chinese word “chán” and the Sanskrit word “dhyana, ” which means “meditation. ”
- A Zen mind cannot be understood from the perspective of our ordinary, dualistic mind.
- Zen practice may calm our minds, bring more clarity, and infuse us with greater kindness.
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What Zen Is Not
- A habit
- Simplicity
- A state of peace
- A state of mind
- A minimalist aesthetic
- Living simply
- A destination
- Just being in the moment
Shunryū Suzuki
“Zen mind is one of those enigmatic phrases used by Zen teachers to make you notice yourself, to go beyond the words and wonder what your own mind and being are. This is the purpose of all Zen teaching—to make you wonder and to answer that wondering with the deepest expression of your own nature.”
Shunryū Suzuki
“Even though waves arise, the essence of your mind is pure; it is just like clear water with a few waves. Actually water always has waves. Waves are the practice of the water. To speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion. Water and waves are one.”
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What Is Zen
Zen is not a moral teaching, and as it is without dogma, it does not require one to believe in anything. A true spiritual path does not tell people what to believe in; rather it shows them how t...
Zazen Meditation
The practice of Zen meditation (Zazen), is the core of Zen Buddhism and it’s a way of vigilance and self-discovery which is practiced while sitting on a meditation cushion. It is the experience of living from moment to moment, in the here and now and also how Gautama got enlightened and became the Buddha.
Zazen is an attitude of spiritual awakening.
Practicing Zazen
- In a silent place, quietly sit down, stop moving, and let go of your thoughts.
- Focus just on your Zazen posture and your breathing.
- Keep your back straight.
- Let your ego and your unconscious mind melt away, merge with the universe.
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Key Ideas
Everything Changes
During a Q&A session a student said to master Roshi he’d been listening to his lectures for years but couldn't understand. So he asked Roshi to reduce Buddhism to one phrase. "Everything cha...
Empty Your Cup
A university professor researching Zen sought master Nan-in, who served him tea. Nan-in poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Non-Judgment
A farmer was consoled by his neighbors who claimed it was bad luck his horse ran away. The farmer replied “Maybe.” The horse returned with more horses, so his neighbors said it was luck. The farmer said “Maybe.” Later a horse broke his son leg and the neighbors said it was a misfortune. The farmer said “Maybe.” The next day his son escaped conscription thanks to his broken leg and the neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. The farmer said “Maybe.”
Time goes on and good and bad are two sides of the same coin. Being aware of this allows us to find peace and happiness.
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The Zen View Of Morals
Evil cannot be destroyed, any more than good can, because they are polar opposites of the same thing. Destruction and creation, chaos and order; opposite aspects of reality, in tension with one ano...
The Zen View Of Life
For Zen practitioners, life is transitory and insubstantial. There is no security and thinking otherwise is a waste of time.
They also don’t believe in an afterlife. Reincarnation can be more accurately thought of as a constant rebirth, of death throughout life, and the continual coming and going of universal energy before and after death.
The Zen View Of The World
The word 'Zen' means emptiness or void. This is the basis of Zen — that all that exists is based on a dynamic emptiness. Which is also what quantum science says.
In this view, there is no difference between matter and energy. Look at anything closely enough and you will see that it is an event, not a thing. Furthermore, there is not a ‘multiplicity of events’. There is just one event, with multiple aspects, unfolding.
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