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What is Zen Buddhism?
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 to think; or, in the case of Zen - what not to think.
Zen Buddhism, like a taste or a smell, is a practice that needs to be experienced, not a concept to understand.
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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 to think; or, in the case of Zen - what not to think.
Zen Buddhism, like a taste or a smell, is a practice that needs to be experienced, not a concept to understand.
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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The History Of Zen
- 1500 years ago, the founding of the the Ch’an (Zen) school
- 12th century C. E. , the concept arrives in Japan
- 1, 300 years ago Zen reaches Korea and Vietnam.
- Late 19th ...
Being Zen
It's essentially a state of being at peace with your own thoughts, and being self-aware of your place within the universe, inconsequential (and simultaneously essential).
The word Zen is both the acceptance of everything and nothing, the realization that Zen encompasses and is encompassed by everything. It also centers on a relationship with your own mind, and a higher, undefined entity outside of yourself.
The Practices Of Zen
The most common ways are sitting meditation (Zazen) and walking meditation (Kinhin), where direct noninteractive observation of breath and mind is practiced. The ideal scenario is to clear your mind and allow thoughts to organically rise and fall, without interacting or affecting them in any way.
There are also group sessions of intense meditation, often taking up to a week of silent, disciplined focus, interrupted only by short periods of sleep. Other forms of practice include the use of koans (stories practitioners meditate on), and Zen chanting (repetition of sutras followed by silent meditation on them).
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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
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.
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.”
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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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