What is Zen Buddhism
Contents
1 What is Zen
(The historical question)
2 What is Zen
(The spiritual question)
3 Why do Zen writings seem like nonsense
4 What is meditation
(Zazen)
5 How should a beginner begin their study of Zen Buddhism
6 INTRODUCTORY READING LIST
7 About this FAQ
What is Zen
(The historical question)
Historically, Buddhism originates in the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Around 500 B.C. he was a prince in what is now Nepal India. At the age of 29, deeply troubled by the suffering he saw around him, he renounced his privileged life and went out among the acetics to seek understanding. After 6 years of struggling as an ascetic he finally achieved the enlightenment of the 4 Noble Truths. After this he was known as the Buddha (meaning "one who is awaking"). In a nutshell, he realized that suffering exists (dukkha), suffering is caused by craving, suffering can be extinguished, and the way to the end of suffering (nirvana) is the eightfold path. The four noble truths and the path of the Middle way, are considered to summarize the whole of buddhist teaching about training on the path to enlightenment.
Zen begins with a Central Asian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma arriving in Southern China (470-475 C.E.) who belonged to the Lanka School which later became known as Zen. Based on the Lankavatara Sutra the doctrine of the Lanka School mainly concerned itself with the study of Mind, both its absolute nature and its evolved nature. It is believed by scholars that Bodhidharma lived and taught in Northern China for about fifty years.
Around 1200 A.D. Ch”an Buddhism spread from China to Japan where it is called (at least in translation) Zen Buddhism.
What is Zen
(The spiritual question)
This question basically asks "What is the fundamental nature of Mind
" It appears in various guises throughout Zen literature, from "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma”s coming from the West
" to "The One hand clapping sound." The question penetrates into the heart of the matter and can only be answered in a flash of intimate intuition in which the truth of Mind is seen to be the substratum of existence. As to the role of practice, or what the Chinese Zennists call "cultivation", Zen is paradoxically the cultivation of non-cultivation, recognizing that we need only remove the illusion of non-enlightenment to become enlightened.
Why do Zen writings seem like nonsense
One of the central points of Zen is intuitive comprehension. When we come to realize the fundamental nature of Mind, Zen becomes super-logical. On the other hand, when we attempt to examine the nature of Mind through emotions, ego-pain, mental pictures, and discursive ideas based on sense perception, Zen seems like nonsense. Because everything arises from Mind, Mind cannot be measured through its creations because the latter are not as perfect as Mind itself. On the other hand, directly coalescing with Mind everything makes perfect sense just as they are, as they arise from Mind. All things thus reveal the pure function of Buddha Mind. Just so, we see the natural world as a manifestation of the cosmic Buddha. When the Zen master Joshu wipes crumbs off his robe he is demonstrating the primordial power of Mind to move his body perfectly--although he is no longer attached to his body, now being Mind.
What is meditation
(Zazen)
Introduction
Meditation refers to contemplation, generally, the contemplation of both the body within and the living principle of Buddhism. The Buddhist Sanskrit term for meditation is BHAVANA which literally means the action of promoting, or the same, attending. Because we are potentially pure Mind, mentally attending to the body calms it down and makes it peaceful and less violent. In this meditation, we neither cling…
《What is Zen Buddhism
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