Zen:

Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which strongly emphasizes the practice of moment-by-moment awareness and of 'seeing deeply into the nature of things' by direct experience. Zen emerged as a distinct school in China and spread to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and, in modern times, the rest of the world.

History

The establishment of the Zen school of Buddhism is traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma's arrival in China is dated to the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (645) and to 527 in the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952). Though they agree on almost nothing else, all the forms of the Bodhidharma legend concur that he ultimately settled in the kingdom of Wei where he took as disciples Daoyu and Huike. In his "Notes on some artists of the Six Dynasties and the Tang," Paul Pelliot asserts that all accounts of Bodhidharma are legendary. The noted historian J. A. G. Roberts in his book "The Complete History of China" notes that Zen Buddhism most likely was an indiginous development within China.

Shortly before his death, Bodhidharma appointed his disciple Huike to succeed him, making Huike the first Chinese patriarch and the second patriarch of Zen in China. The transmission then passed to the second, third, and fourth patriarchs, of whom little is known beyond their names. The sixth and last patriarch, Huineng (638-713), was one of the giants of Zen history, and all surviving schools regard him as their ancestor. However, the dramatic story of Huineng's life tells that there was a controversy over his claim to the title of patriarch: after being chosen by Hongren, the fifth patriarch, he had to flee by night to Nanhua Temple in the south to avoid the wrath of Hongren's jealous senior disciples. In the middle of the 8th century, monks claiming to be the successors to Huineng, calling themselves the Southern school, cast themselves in opposition to those claiming to succeed Hongren's student Shenxiu. It was at this point—the debates between these rival factions—that Zen enters the realm of fully documented history. The Southern school eventually became predominant and their rivals died out.

In the following centuries, Zen grew to become the largest sect in Chinese Buddhism. The teachers claiming Huineng's posterity began to branch off into numerous different schools, each with their own special emphasis, but all of which kept the same basic focus on meditational practice, personal instruction and personal experience. During the late Tang and the Song periods, the tradition truly flowered, as a wide number of eminent teachers, such as Mazu (WG: Ma-tsu), Baizhang (Pai-chang; Japanese: Hyakujo), Huangbo (Huang-po; Japanese: Obaku), Linji (Lin-chi; Japanese: Rinzai), and Yunmen (Japanese: Ummon) developed specialized teaching methods, which would variously become characteristic of the five houses of mature Chinese Zen. The traditional five houses were Caodong , Linji, Guiyang , Fayan, and Yunmen. This list does not include earlier schools such as the Hongzhou of Mazu.

Over the course of Song Dynasty (960-1279) the Guiyang, Fayan, and Yunmen schools were gradually absorbed into the Linji. During the same period, the various developments of Zen teaching methods crystallized into a technique that was unique to Zen Buddhism: koan practice (described below). According to Miura and Sasaki, "it was during the lifetime of Yüan-wu's successor, Ta-hui Tsung-kao (Daie Soko, 1089-1163) that Koan Zen entered its determinative stage." Koan practice was prevalent in the Linji school, to which Yuanwu and Ta-hui (pinyin: Dahui) belonged, but it was also employed on a more limited basis by the Caodong school. The teaching styles and words of the classical masters were collected in such important Zen texts as the Blue Cliff Record (1125) of Yuanwu and The Gateless Gate (1228) of Wumen, recording classic koan cases which would be studied by later generations of students down to the present.

Zen, which had developed into a distinctively Chinese school of Buddhism, became an international phenomenon early in its history. This first occurred in Vietnam, according to the traditional accounts of that country. These traditions state that, in 580, an Indian monk named Vinitaruci (Vietnamese: Tì-ni-da-luu-chi) travelled to Vietnam after completing his studies with Sengcan, the third patriarch of Chinese Zen. This, then, would be the first appearance of Vietnamese Zen, or Thien Buddhism. The sect that Vinitaruci and his lone Vietnamese disciple founded would become known as the oldest branch of Thien. After a period of obscurity, the Vinitaruci School became one of the most influential Buddhist groups in Vietnam by the 10th century, particularly so under the patriarch Van-Hanh (died 1018). Other early Vietnamese Zen schools included the Vo Ngon Thong, which was associated with the teaching of Mazu, and the Thao Duong, which incorporated nianfo chanting techniques; both were founded by Chinese monks. All three of the early schools appear to have largely disintegrated during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. A new school was founded by one of Vietnam's religious kings; this was the Truc Lam (Trúc Lâm) school, which evinced a deep influence from Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Nevertheless, Truc Lam's prestige waned over the following centuries as Confucianism became dominant in the royal court. In the 17th century, a group of Chinese monks led by Nguyen Thieu established a vigorous new school, the Lam Te, which is the Vietnamese pronunciation of Linji. A more domesticated offshoot of Lam Te, the Lieu Quan school, was founded in the 18th century and has since been the predominant branch of Vietnamese Zen.

The Zen school began to appear in Korea in the 9th century. During his lifetime, Mazu had begun to attract students from Korea; by tradition, the first Korean to study Zen was named Peomnang. Mazu's successors had numerous Korean students, some of whom returned to Korea and established the Nine Mountain Schools. This was the beginning of Korean Zen, which is called Seon. Among the most notable Seon masters were Jinul (1158 – 1210), who established a reform movement and introduced koan practice to Korea, and Taego Bou (1301 - 1382), who studied in China with Linji teacher and returned to unite the Nine Mountain Schools. In modern Korea, by far the largest Buddhist denomination is the Jogye Order, which is essentially a Zen sect; the name Jogye is the Korean equivalent of Caoxi, another name for Huineng.

Although the Japanese had known of Zen for centuries, it was not introduced as a separate school until the 12th century, when Myoan Eisai travelled to China and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades later, Nanpo Jomyo also studied Linji teachings in China before founding the Japanese Otokan lineage, the most influential branch of Rinzai. In 1215, Dogen, a younger contemporary of Eisai's, journeyed to China himself, where he became a disciple of the Caodong master Tiantong Rujing. After his return, Dogen established the Soto school, the Japanese branch of Caodong.

The Zen schools also continued to develop in China up to the present.

List of the Chinese Zen Patriarchs

The following are the six Patriarchs of Zen in China as listed in traditional sources:

Bodhidharma about 440 - about 528
Huike 487 - 593
Sengcan ? - 606
Daoxin 580 - 651
Hong Ren 601 - 674
Huineng 638 - 713


Zen teachings and practices:

Basis

Zen Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, and, as such, its teachings are deeply rooted in those of the Buddha. It draws primarily on Mahayana sutras composed in India and China, particularly the Heart Sutra; the Diamond Sutra; the Lankavatara Sutra; the Samantamukha Parivarta, a chapter of the Lotus Sutra; and the Platform Sutra of Huineng. The body of Zen doctrine also includes the recorded teachings of masters in the various Zen traditions.

The Zen schools, like other Buddhist sects, teach the fundamental elements of Buddhist philosophy, including the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, pratitya samutpada, the five precepts, the five skandhas, and the three dharma seals: non-self, impermanence, and dukkha. Zen philosophy also includes teachings specific to Mahayana Buddhism, including the Mahayanan conception of the paramitas and the ideal of the bodhisattva's universal salvific power. Mahayana Buddhist religious figures such as Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, Mañjusri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and Amitabha Buddha are venerated in Zen temples along with Sakyamuni Buddha, although Amitabha takes a less prominent role than in many other forms of Mahayana. This is particularly true in the Japanese Soto and Rinzai schools, which conceive of themselves as purer Zen schools, less influenced by other Buddhist sects.

Because Zen developed as a distinct school in medieval China, it also reflects the influence of Chinese philosophy, including Taoism and, to a lesser extent, Confucianism. Different researchers have developed various opinions on the degree of Taoist influence on Zen. It is clear that, in the early centuries of Buddhism's contact with China, it was often described in Taoist terminology for want of indigenous Buddhist expressions in the Chinese language. This trend is noticeable in Zen—for instance, Chinese Zen texts often use the term tao in describing Buddhist philosophy. Some modern scholars argue that this influence was fairly superficial, while others argue that it deeply influenced Zen philosophy. An example of the latter is Ray Grigg, whose book The Tao of Zen argues that Zen can best be understood as a form of Taoist philosophy with superficial Buddhist trappings.

Zen is not primarily an intellectual philosophy nor a solitary pursuit. Zen temples emphasize meticulous daily practice, and hold intensive monthly meditation retreats. Practicing with others is valued as a way to avoid the traps of ego. In explaining the Zen Buddhist path to Westerners, Japanese Zen teachers have frequently made the point that Zen is a way of life and not solely a state of consciousness. D.T. Suzuki wrote that the aspects of this life are: a life of humility; a life of labor; a life of service; a life of prayer and gratitude; and a life of meditation.

Zen teachings often criticize textual hermeneutics and the pursuit of worldly accomplishments, concentrating primarily on meditation in pursuit of an unmediated awareness of the processes of the world and of the mind. Zen, however, is not a purely passive doctrine: the Chinese Chan master Baizhang (720-814 CE) left behind a famous saying which had been the guiding principle of his life, "A day without work is a day without eating."

D. T. Suzuki asserted that satori (awakening) has always been the goal of every school of Buddhism, but that which distinguished the Zen tradition as it developed in China, Korea, and Japan was a way of life radically different from that of Indian Buddhists. In India, the tradition of the mendicant (bhikkhu) prevailed, but in China social circumstances led to the development of a temple and training-center system in which the abbot and the monks all performed mundane tasks. These included food gardening or farming, carpentry, architecture, housekeeping, administration, and the practice of folk medicine. Consequently, the enlightenment sought in Zen had to stand up well to the demands and potential frustrations of everyday life.

Zazen

Zen sitting meditation, the core of zen practice, is called zazen. During zazen, practitioners usually assume a sitting position such as the lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza postures. Awareness is directed towards one's posture and breathing. Often, a square or round cushion (zafu) placed on a padded mat (zabuton) is used to sit on; in some cases, a chair may be used. In Rinzai Zen, practitioners typically sit facing the center of the room; while Soto practitioners traditionally sit facing a wall.

In Soto Zen, shikantaza meditation ("just-sitting") that is, a meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form of practice. Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of this practice can be found in Dogen's Shobogenzo. Rinzai Zen, instead, emphasizes attention to the breath and koan practice.

The amount of time spent daily in zazen by practitioners varies. Dogen recommends that 5 minutes or more daily is beneficial for householders. The key is daily regularity, as Zen teaches that the ego will naturally resist, and the discipline of regularity is essential. Practicing Zen monks may perform four to six periods of zazen during a normal day, with each period lasting thirty to forty minutes. Normally, a monastery will hold a monthly retreat period (sesshin), lasting between one and seven days. During this time, zazen is practiced more intensively: monks may spend four to eight hours in meditation each day, sometimes supplemented by further rounds of zazen late at night.

Dogen's teacher Rujing was said to sleep fewer than four hours each night, spending the balance in zazen. However, in practice, it is not uncommon for monks to actually sleep during zazen. Some meditation researchers have theorized that Zen adepts who are able to achieve the deeper levels of samadhi in meditation are actually fulfilling the same need as REM sleep, so that when zazen time is added to actual sleep time, they are in effect still getting the normal amount of daily sleep that the brain requires. However, such ability to enter into deep samadhi during zazen is apparently fairly rare, and may not arise even after decades of meditation.

Meditation as a practice can be applied to any posture. Walking meditation is called kinhin. Successive periods of zazen are usually interleaved with brief periods of walking meditation to relieve the legs.

The teacher

Because the Zen tradition emphasizes direct communication over scriptural study, the role of the Zen teacher has traditionally been central. Generally speaking, a Zen teacher is a person ordained in any tradition of Zen to teach the dharma, guide students of meditation, and perform rituals.

An important concept for all Zen sects in East Asia is the notion of Dharma transmission the claim of a line of authority that goes back to the Buddha via the teachings of each successive master to each successive student. This concept relates to the ideas expressed in a description of Zen attributed to Bodhidharma:

A special transmission outside the scriptures;
No dependence upon words and letters;
Direct pointing to the human mind;
Seeing into one's own nature and attaining Buddhahood.

Since at least the Middle Ages, Dharma transmission has become a normative aspect of all Zen sects. Normally, every Zen teacher must stand within one lineage or another. Some sects, including most Japanese lines, possess formal lineage charts documenting the lineage back to Gautama Buddha, drawn up for the ceremonial practice of transmission. It is common for daily chanting to include the lineage of the school, in whole or in part, reciting the names of all dharma ancestors and teachers that have transmitted Zen teaching.

In Japan during the Tokugawa period (1600–1868), some came to question the lineage system and its legitimacy. The Zen master Dokuan Genko (1630–1698), for example, openly questioned the necessity of written acknowledgement from a teacher, which he dismissed as "paper Zen." The only genuine transmission, he insisted, was the individual's independent experience of Zen enlightenment, an intuitive experience that needs no external confirmation. An occasional teacher in Japan during the Tokugawa period did not adhere to the lineage system; these were termed mushi dokugo ("independently enlightened without a teacher") or jigo jisho ("self-enlightened and self-certified"). They were generally dismissed and perhaps of necessity leave no independent transmission. Nevertheless, modern Zen Buddhists also consider questions about the dynamics of the lineage system, inspired in part by academic research into the history of Zen.

Honorific titles associated with teachers typically include, in Chinese, Fashi or Chanshi; in Korean, Sunim or Seon Sa; in Japanese, Osho, Roshi, or Sensei; and in Vietnamese, Thay. Note that many of these titles are not specific to Zen but are used generally for Buddhist priests; some, such as sensei are not even specific to Buddhism.

The English term Zen master is often used to refer to important teachers, especially ancient and medieval ones. However, there is no specific criterion by which one may be called a Zen master. The term is less common in reference to modern teachers.

Koan practice

Some Zen Buddhists practice meditation on koans during zazen. A koan is a story or dialog, generally related to Zen or other Buddhist history; the most typical form is an anecdote involving early Chinese Zen masters. Koan practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai schools, but it also occurs in other forms of Zen.

In some sense, a koan embodies a realized principle, or law of reality. Koans often appear paradoxical or linguistically meaningless dialogs or questions. The 'answer' to the koan involves a transformation of perspective or consciousness, which may be either radical or subtle, possibly akin to the experience of metanoia in Christianity. They are a tool to allow the student to approach enlightenment by essentially 'short-circuiting' the logical way we order the world. In order to try to answer these often unanswerable problems, the thinker may be forced to create new mental pathways. Those pathways then may be useful for other problems, thus producing a "mind expansion" effect.

The Zen student's mastery of a given koan is presented to the teacher in a private interview, referred to as dokusan, daisan, or sanzen. Zen teachers advise that the problem posed by a koan is to be taken quite seriously, and to be approached as literally a matter of life and death. Koans do not have "no answer". There is a sharp distinction between right and wrong ways of answering a koan—although there may be many "right answers", practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the koan and of Zen through their answers.

While there is no single correct answer for any given koan, there are compilations of accepted answers to koans that serve as references for teachers. These collections are of great value to modern scholarship on the subject.

Radical teachings

When first visiting Zen temples and centers, people who are familiar with iconoclastic stories of medieval Zen master encounters are sometimes surprised by the conservative and ritualistic nature of the practice. For example, when Philip Kapleau first encountered Soen Nakagawa, a Japanese priest, at his temple, Kapleau was disturbed at the sight of Nakagawa bowing to a statue of an earlier Zen master. Kapleau exclaimed, "The old Chinese masters burned or spit on Buddha statues! Why do you bow down before them?", to which Nakagawa replied, "If you want to spit, you spit. I prefer to bow."

Most Zen monasteries and training centers, in the East and abroad, emphasize regular meditation, both on a daily basis and in monthly retreat, as well as a discipline based in practice schedules and everyday household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and gardening as an essential part of the path to enlightenment.

Zen in the Western world

Although it is difficult to trace when the West first became aware of Zen as a distinct form of Buddhism, the visit of Soyen Shaku, a Japanese Zen monk, to Chicago during the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 is often pointed to as an event that enhanced its profile in the Western world. It was during the late 1950s and the early 1960s that the number of Westerners, other than the descendants of Asian immigrants, pursuing a serious interest in Zen reached a significant level.

Zen and Western culture

In Europe, the Expressionist and Dada movements in art tend to have much in common thematically with the study of koans and actual Zen. The early French surrealist René Daumal translated D.T. Suzuki as well as Sanskrit Buddhist texts.

Eugen Herrigel's book Zen in the Art of Archery (1953), describing his training in the Zen-influenced martial art of Kyudo, inspired many of the Western world's early Zen practitioners. However, many scholars are quick to criticize this book.

The British-American philosopher Alan Watts took a close interest in Zen Buddhism and wrote and lectured extensively on it during the 1950s. He understood it as a vehicle for a mystical transformation of consciousness, and also as a historical example of a non-Western, non-Christian way of life that had fostered both the practical and fine arts.

The Dharma Bums, a novel written by Jack Kerouac and published in 1959, gave its readers a look at how a fascination with Buddhism and Zen was being absorbed into the bohemian lifestyles of a small group of American youths, primarily on the West Coast. Beside the narrator, the main character in this novel was "Japhy Ryder", a thinly-veiled depiction of Gary Snyder. The story was based on actual events taking place while Snyder prepared, in California, for the formal Zen studies that he would pursue in Japanese monasteries between 1956 and 1968.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) the Trappist monk and priest was internationally recognized as having one of those rare Western minds which was entirely at home in Asian experience. Like his friend, the late D.T. Suzuki, Merton belived that there must be a little of Zen in all authentic creative and spiritual experience. The dialogue between Merton and Suzuki ("Wisdom in Emptiness" in: Zen and the Birds of Appetite, 1968) explores the many congruencies of Christian mysticism and Zen. (Main publications: The Way of Chuang Tzu, 1965; Mystics and Zen Masters, 1967; Zen and the Birds of Appetite, 1968)

While Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig, was a 1974 bestseller, it in fact has little to do with Zen per se. Rather it deals with the notion of the metaphysics of "quality" from the point of view of the main character. Pirsig was attending the Minnesota Zen Center at the time of writing the book. He has stated that, despite its title, the book "should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice".

Western Zen lineages

Over the last fifty years, mainstream forms of Zen, led by teachers who trained in East Asia and by their successors, have begun to take root in the west. In North America, the Zen lineages derived from the Japanese Soto school are the most numerous type. Among these are the lineage of the San Francisco Zen Center, established by Shunryu Suzuki; the White Plum Asanga, founded by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and the Ordinary Mind school, founded by Joko Beck, one of Maezumi's heirs; and the Katagiri lineage, founded by Dainin Katagiri, which has a significant presence in the midwest. Note that both Taizan Maezumi and Dainin Katagiri served as priests at Zenshuji Soto Mission in the 1960's.

Taisen Deshimaru was Soto Zen priest from Japan who taught in France. The International Zen Association, which he founded, remains influential.

The Sanbo Kyodan is a Japan-based reformist Zen group, founded in 1954 by Yasutani Hakuun, which has had a significant influence on Zen in the West. Sanbo Kyodan Zen is based primarily on the Soto tradition, but also incorporates Rinzai-style koan practice. Yasutani's approach to Zen first became prominent in the English-speaking world through Philip Kapleau's book The Three Pillars of Zen (1965), which was one of the first books to introduce Western audiences to Zen as a practice rather than simply a philosophy. Among the Zen groups in North America, Hawaii, Europe, and New Zealand which derive from Sanbo Kyodan are those associated with Kapleau, Robert Aitken, and John Tarrant.

There are also a number of Rinzai Zen centers in the West, such as the Rinzaiji lineage of Kyozan Joshu Sasaki and the Dai Bosatsu lineage established by Eido Shimano.

Not all the successful Zen teachers in the West have been from Japanese traditions. There have also been teachers of Chan, Seon, and Thien Buddhism.

The first Chinese Buddhist priest to teach Westerners in North America was Hsuan Hua, who taught Zen, Chinese Pure Land, Tiantai, Vinaya, and Vajrayana Buddhism in San Francisco during the early 1960s. He went on the found the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a monastery and retreat center located on a 237 acre (959,000 m²) property near Ukiah, California. Another Chinese Zen teacher with a Western following is Sheng-yen, a master trained in both the Caodong and Linji schools (equivalent to the Japanese Soto and Rinzai, respectively). He first visited the United States in 1978 under the sponsorship of the Buddhist Association of the United States, and, in 1980, founded the Ch’an Mediation Society in Queens, New York.

The most prominent Korean Zen teacher in the West was Seung Sahn. Seung Sahn founded the Providence Zen Center in Providence, Rhode Island; this was to become the headquarters of the Kwan Um School of Zen, a large international network of affiliated Zen centers.

Two notable Vietnamese Zen teachers have been influential in Western countries: Thich Thien-An and Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Thien-An came to America in 1966 as a visiting professor at UCLA and taught traditional Thien meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh was a monk in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, during which he was a peace activist. In response to these activities, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1966, he left Vietnam in exile and now resides at Plum Village, a monastery in France. He has written more than one hundred books about Buddhism, which have made him one of the very few most prominent Buddhist authors among the general readership in the West. In his books and talks, Thich Nhat Hanh emphasizes mindfulness (sati) as the most important practice in daily life.

(Source : wikipedia)

Zen Quotes:

- Shunryu Suzuki:

"If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few."

"If enlightenment comes, it just comes."

"Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine."

"When you forget all your dualistic ideas, everything becomes your teacher, and everything can be the object of worship."

"Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity. Real calmness should be found in activity itself."

"Many sensations come, many thoughts or images arise, but they are just waves of your own mind. Nothing comes from outside your mind. To realize pure mind in your delusion is practice. If you try to expel the delusion it will only persist the more. Just say, "Oh, this is just delusion." And do not be bothered by it."

"The result is not the point; it is the effort to improve ourselves that is valuable. There is no end to this practice."

- D.T. Suzuki:

"Man is a thining reed but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking. "Childlikeness" has to be restored with long years of training in the art of self-forgetfulness. When this is attained, man thinks yet he does not think. He thinks like showers coming down from the sky; he thinks like the waves rollling on the ocean; he thinks like the stars illuminating the mighty heavens; he thinks like the green foliage shooting forth in the relaxing spring breeze. Indeed, he is the showers, the ocean, the stars, the foliage."

- Huang Po:

"Do not permit the events of your daily lives to bind you, but never withdraw yourselves from them. Only by acting thus can you earn the title of"A liberated One.""

- Seng-ts'an:

"The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinctions... and heaven and earth are set apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for or against anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind."

- Bodhidharma:

"People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something, always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up."

"All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring. Calamity forever alternates with prosperity."

"When you seek nothing, you are on the Path."

- Diamond Sutra:

"One should produce a thought which is nowhere supported."

- Click here to meditate on nothingness. Letting go of everything. Here and Now...

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