Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism originating in India from the enlightenment-experience of Sakamuni and transmitted to Bodai-Daruna, considered to be the founder of Zen in China, around 520 A.D. Zen, as a Chinese product, emerged in the teachings of Hui-neng around 675. Zen masters claim that conceptual knowledge, including religious texts, will not lead to a direct experience of one's own true nature. D.T. Suzuki writes that Zen is universal and is "being life itself". Suzuki explains: "When I say that Zen if life, I mean that zen is not to be confined within conceptualization, that Zen is what makes conceptualization possible, and therefore that Zen is not to be identified with any particular brand of 'ism.'"

Conventionally regarded as an Eastern philosophy, Zen is not a philosophy in the traditional Western sense where intellectual understanding is a goal. Zen teachers frequently employ the koan, a kind of question which admits of no immediate rational answer, as a teaching tool to bring about a "Satori" without which there is no Zen

Koan

The koan, a kind of poem, is not something that can be analyzed. For example one koan states "The sound of one hand clapping." While this may sound paradoxical to a rational mind, it is very obvious to anyone who has done that.

Zen is not a doctrine to be studied. Enlightenment does not come from a book or transmission. For example one koan goes like this - "Do not mistake the pointing finger for the moon." Our concepts are but pointing fingers and are dualistic in that there is that which is pointed at and there is that which is not pointed at.

Zazen

Because Zen is action, several methodologies are employed in order to bring about a Satori and subsequent "enlightenment." One of those techniques is meditation or "Zazen." Here the goal is to take control of the mind with the eventual goal of leaving the mind behind much like one leaves a boat behind after crossing the stream.

Perhaps more importantly, because Zen is freedom from the constraints of the mind, proper thought and action must come first.

External links

• The International Research Insitute for Zen Buddhism's list of Zen Centers in North America.
• alt.zen's Frequently asked questions about Zen