Zen originated from the Tang dynasty in China, as Chan Buddhism, as a distinct Chinese Buddhism school that was heavily influenced by Taoism. The Chan Buddhism expanded to the Northeast Korea, Vietnam, and the East Japan, and it became referred to as Seon Buddhism in East Korea and Japanese Zen in east Japan. The religion arrived in Japan around the 18 th century, but today, the religion has also spread to the west. The word Zen emanates from Middle Chinese pronunciation of the word Chan, which is linked to Dhyana o meditation, and Indian religious practice. Zen Buddhism emphasizes such practices as insight into the Buddha nature, the practice of meditation, personal expression of insight in the daily life, particularly to ensure the benefit of others, and extensive personal control. Zen Buddhism’s teaching comprise of diverse sources of the Mahayana thought, particularly the Huayan school, Yogachara, and the Tathagatagarbha sutras, as well as religion’s emphasis on the ideals of the Bodhisattva, totality, and Buddha nature. This paper explores Zen Buddhism as a religion, its main practices, scriptures as well as its major guiding principles and traditions.
The main characteristics that define Zen Buddhism include verification by personal experience rather than reliance on ritual, doctrine, or scripture. Further, the religion does not take interest in the refinements of the doctrine, but rather, it is uncompromising, meditation-based, determined, and stripped down form of Buddhism. Moreover, Zen Buddhism is passed hand to hand and ineffably from a master to a disciple through intimate and hard training (Fowler, 2005). Additionally, Zen recognizes the normative Buddhist scriptures’ validity; however, the religion has created its own scriptures through the generations. Zen Buddhism is also enriched with elements of Chinese poetry, Confucianism, Taoism, and it is extensively written in the Chinese informal language, which includes street slang and Chinese folk sayings. The larger part of the Zen classical literature is also founded on the great masters’ legendary anecdotes, and it rarely mentions Buddha. According to Fowler, (2005) the four main dicta of Zen Buddhism include looking into one’s nature and the attainment of Buddhahood; non-dependency on letters and words; direct focus on the human mind; and special transmission beyond the scriptures.
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Zen Buddhism employs diverse methods of practice, including Zen meditation or Zazen and the Koan practice. Zen employs a practice oriented tradition following its emphasis on personal experience despite the fact that the religion has established its ritual and study traditions. The main Zen practice is meditation, which also includes long hours of silence while sitting on the meditation cushions. Zen, in itself, means meditation, and it focuses on teaching the idea that enlightenment is achieved through the absolute realization that a person is already an enlightened being (Fowler, 2005). Zen maintains that the awakening can be either instant or gradual, but in both cases, the realization results from an individual’s efforts. Additionally, Zen philosophy maintains that the scriptures and deities only provide limited assistance in helping individuals to gain the realization.
The meditation practice involves the Zen style, which includes sitting in an appropriate upright posture, and focusing carefully on the breathing in the belly, until one is entirely present and alert. Zazen is an extremely simple practice and it is usually taught without the inclusion of stages, steps, or frills since it mainly involves sitting in an appropriate posture. The sense of alertness and being present, accompanied by intensity and illumination is regarded as Zazen’s essence. Moreover, the emphasis of the importance of the natural world and simplicity in Zen Buddhism generates a unique aesthetic, expressed using the terms Sabi and Wabi (Fowler, 2005). The two concepts are utilized in the expression of a sense of loneliness, melancholy, rusticity, age, naturalness in a manner that misshapen is regarded more appealing than a pristine. The latter is used to please the senses while the former focuses on the stimulation of the mind as well as the emotions that focus on the contemplation of the meaning of reality.
Zazen involves more than sitting in meditation halls and it is mainly conceived as a state of being or mind that spreads into all human activities. Hence, Zazen encompasses such activities as walking, eating, work, sleeping, and standing among others. The meditation practice, also known as the dhyana is central to the Zen practice. Meditation requires one to assume a particular position, for instance, Burmese, lotus position, seiza postures, or half-lotus by utilizing dhyana mudra (Fowler, 2005). To effectively regulate the mind, one directs awareness towards breath, counting, or conveying the awareness below the navel, the energy center. In the observation of the mind, the Soto school of Zen employs a form of practice that does not employ anchors, objects, or content. Mediators strive to gain awareness of the chain of thoughts, which enables them to emerge and pass without any form of interference. Additionally, the meditation process may involve intensive group meditations, a practice referred to as Sesshin in Japanese.
On the other hand, the Koan practice starts with the Zazen practice, where practitioners engages in intense practice with the breath and the body, follow by bringing the koan nearly as a physical object, and repeats it several times through breathing to the point that the words and meaning are dissolved and one sees the koan. A koan literally means public case, and it comprises on a dialogue or a story that involves an interaction between a Zen student and a master (Heine & Wright, 2006). Koans emphasize on the non-conceptional awareness that the Buddhist teachings demonstrate, and they are mainly utilized in testing the great doubt in testing students pertaining to their progress in the Zen practice. The koan practice is executed in an intensive retreat context with the guidance of a competent Zen koan teacher, who privately interviews the practitioner during the scheduled visits.
Zen practice also includes liturgy and chanting, where the Zen centers engage in daily liturgy services, where practitioners chant such sultras as Heart Sutra, minor mantras, and the Song of the Precious Mirror Samadi among others (Heine & Wright, 2006). Reciting liturgy in Zen Buddhism is often perceived as a way of connecting with the past Bodhisattvas, and it is often utilized during memorials and funerals among other special events as a way of invoking the help of the supernatural powers. Chanting mainly focuses on such major Bodhisattvas as Manjushri and Avalokitesvara; Bodhisattvas comprise of beings who take vows to stay in samsara so that they can help all other beings to achieve liberation from the samsara. Therefore, since the practitioners of Zen aim at walking the path of the Bodhisattva, chanting is considered an ideal approach of connecting with the beings for the purposes of realizing the enlightenment ideal in oneself.
Moreover, Zen teachings form a crucial part of Zen Buddhism, where the religion possesses a rich doctrinal background that is deeply rooted in Buddhist tradition. The Zen teachings are majorly inspired by the Chinese understanding and interpretation of the Buddha-nature doctrine and the Yogacara, and it extensively involves the integration of Madhyamaka (Heine & Wright, 2006). The influence of the Madhyamaka is determined from the teachings’ emphasis on the paradoxical koan language and the non-conceptual insight. Most schools that engage in the teachings of Zen Buddhism emphasizes on the Bodhisattva ideal, Buddha nature, and prioritization of the Zazen. The Zen teachings can be equated to a finger that points to the moon since they point towards an awakening that involves the realization of the unhindered explanation of the dharmadhatu. The two main approaches for understanding and practicing Zen Buddhism are pen chueh and shih-chueh. Pen chueh defines the idea that from the beginning, an individual’s mind is fully enlightened. Conversely, shih-chueh describes the idea that at some stage of life, an individual moves from imprisonment in delusion and ignorance and achieves the true vision of the Zen realization.
In conclusion, the scripture plays an essential role in the training of Zen Buddhism, which is deeply engrained in the Buddhism and Mahayyyana doctrines. However, the religion is largely considered anti-intellectual since it lays less emphasis on letters and words, despite the fact that it employs extremely stylized literary texts, also known as the Koans. The Zen literature majorly developed from the interpretations of Buddhist teachings as well as the sayings of the Zen masters recorded in the past. Moreover, Zen Buddhism is founded on the tradition of enlightenment, which is considered to emerge through direct insight rather than conceptualization. Direct insight, must however, be accompanied by the understanding and study of Buddhist texts and teachings.
References
Fowler, M. (2005). Zen Buddhism : beliefs and practices . Brighton Portland, Or: Sussex Academic Press.
Heine, S. & Wright, D. (2006). Zen classics : formative texts in the history of Zen Buddhism . Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.
