What is a word with zen in it

Zen
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	禪
Simplified Chinese	禅
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chán Wade–Giles Ch’an2 IPA [ʈʂʰǎn] Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Sàm Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Sim4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Siân Middle Chinese Middle Chinese dʑjen
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Thiền
Chữ Hán	禪
Korean name
Hangul	선
Hanja	禪
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Seon
Japanese name
Kanji	禅
Kana	ぜん
Transcriptions Romanization Zen
Filipino name
Tagalog	Zen

Zen (Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; Japanese: 禅, romanized: zen; Korean: 선, romanized: Seon; Vietnamese: Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (Chánzong 禪宗), and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.^[1]

The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word ध्यान dhyāna («meditation»).^{[note 1]} Zen emphasizes rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice and the subsequent insight into nature of mind (見性, Ch. jiànxìng, Jp. kensho, «perceiving the true nature») and nature of things (without arrogance or egotism), and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others.^[3][4] As such, it de-emphasizes knowledge alone of sutras and doctrine,^[5][6] and favors direct understanding through spiritual practice and interaction with an accomplished teacher^[7] or Master.

Zen teaching draws from numerous sources of Sarvastivada meditation practice and Mahāyāna thought, especially Yogachara, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and the Huayan school, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, and the Bodhisattva-ideal.^[8][9] The Prajñāpāramitā literature,^[10] as well as Madhyamaka thought, have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and sometimes iconoclastic nature of Zen rhetoric.^[11]

Furthermore, the Chan School was also influenced by Taoist philosophy, especially Neo-Daoist thought.^[12]

Etymology[edit]

The word Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation (kana: ぜん) of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (Middle Chinese: [dʑian]; pinyin: Chán), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna (ध्यान),^[2] which can be approximately translated as «contemplation», «absorption», or «meditative state».^[13]

The actual Chinese term for the «Zen school» is 禪宗 (pinyin: Chánzōng), while «Chan» just refers to the practice of meditation itself (Chinese: 習禪; pinyin: xíchán) or the study of meditation (Chinese: 禪學; pinyin: chánxué) though it is often used as an abbreviated form of Chánzong.^[14]

«Zen» is traditionally a proper noun as it usually describes a particular Buddhist sect. In more recent times, the lowercase «zen» is used when discussing the philosophy and was officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2018.^[15]

Practice[edit]

Dhyāna[edit]

The practice of dhyana or meditation, especially sitting meditation (坐禪，Chinese: zuòchán, Japanese: zazen / ざぜん) is a central part of Zen Buddhism.^[16]

Chinese Buddhism[edit]

The practice of Buddhist meditation first entered China through the translations of An Shigao (fl. c. 148–180 CE), and Kumārajīva (334–413 CE), who both translated Dhyāna sutras, which were influential early meditation texts mostly based on the Yogacara (yoga praxis) teachings of the Kashmiri Sarvāstivāda circa 1st–4th centuries CE.^[17] Among the most influential early Chinese meditation texts include the Anban Shouyi Jing (安般守意經, Sutra on ānāpānasmṛti), the Zuochan Sanmei Jing (坐禪三昧經，Sutra of sitting dhyāna samādhi) and the Damoduoluo Chan Jing (達摩多羅禪經,^[18] Dharmatrata dhyāna sutra).^[19] These early Chinese meditation works continued to exert influence on Zen practice well into the modern era. For example, the 18th century Rinzai Zen master Tōrei Enji wrote a commentary on the Damoduoluo Chan Jing and used the Zuochan Sanmei Jing as source in the writing of this commentary. Tōrei believed that the Damoduoluo Chan Jing had been authored by Bodhidharma.^[20]

While dhyāna in a strict sense refers to the four dhyānas, in Chinese Buddhism, dhyāna may refer to various kinds of meditation techniques and their preparatory practices, which are necessary to practice dhyāna.^[21] The five main types of meditation in the Dhyāna sutras are ānāpānasmṛti (mindfulness of breathing); paṭikūlamanasikāra meditation (mindfulness of the impurities of the body); maitrī meditation (loving-kindness); the contemplation on the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda; and contemplation on the Buddha.^[22] According to the modern Chan master Sheng Yen, these practices are termed the «five methods for stilling or pacifying the mind» and serve to focus and purify the mind, and support the development of the stages of dhyana.^[23] Chan also shares the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness and the Three Gates of Liberation (emptyness or śūnyatā, signlessness or animitta, and wishlessness or apraṇihita) with early Buddhism and classic Mahayana.^[24]

Pointing to the nature of the mind[edit]

According to Charles Luk, in the earliest traditions of Chán, there was no fixed method or formula for teaching meditation, and all instructions were simply heuristic methods, to point to the true nature of the mind, also known as Buddha-nature.^[25] According to Luk, this method is referred to as the «Mind Dharma», and exemplified in the story (in the Flower Sermon) of Śākyamuni Buddha holding up a flower silently, and Mahākāśyapa smiling as he understood.^[25] A traditional formula of this is, «Chán points directly to the human mind, to enable people to see their true nature and become buddhas.»^[26]

Observing the mind[edit]

According to John McRae, «one of the most important issues in the development of early Ch’an doctrine is the rejection of traditional meditation techniques,» that is, gradual self-perfection and the practices of contemplation on the body impurities and the four foundations of mindfulness.^[27] According to John R. McRae the «first explicit statement of the sudden and direct approach that was to become the hallmark of Ch’an religious practice» is associated with the East Mountain School.^[28] It is a method named «Maintaining the one without wavering» (shou-i pu i, 守一不移),^[28] the one being the nature of mind, which is equated with Buddha-nature.^[29] According to Sharf, in this practice, one turns the attention from the objects of experience, to the nature of mind, the perceiving subject itself, which is equated with Buddha-nature.^[30] According to McRae, this type of meditation resembles the methods of «virtually all schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism,» but differs in that «no preparatory requirements, no moral prerequisites or preliminary exercises are given,» and is «without steps or gradations. One concentrates, understands, and is enlightened, all in one undifferentiated practice.»^{[28][note 2]} Sharf notes that the notion of «Mind» came to be criticised by radical subitists, and was replaced by «No Mind,» to avoid any reifications.^{[32][note 3]}

Meditation manuals[edit]

Early Chan texts also teach forms of meditation that are unique to Mahāyāna Buddhism, for example, the Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind, which depicts the teachings of the 7th-century East Mountain school teaches a visualization of a sun disk, similar to that taught in the Sutra of the Contemplation of the Buddha Amitáyus.^[34]

Later Chinese Buddhists developed their own meditation manuals and texts, one of the most influential being the works of the Tiantai patriarch, Zhiyi. His works seemed to have exerted some influence on the earliest meditation manuals of the Chán school proper, an early work being the widely imitated and influential Tso-chan-i (Principles of sitting meditation, c. 11th century), which doesn’t outline a vipassana practice which leads to wisdom (prajña), but only recommends practicing samadhi which will lead to the discovery of inherent wisdom already present in the mind.^[35]

Common contemporary meditation forms[edit]

Mindfulness of breathing[edit]

During sitting meditation (坐禅, Ch. zuòchán, Jp. zazen, Ko. jwaseon), practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza, often using the dhyāna mudrā. Often, a square or round cushion placed on a padded mat is used to sit on; in some other cases, a chair may be used.

To regulate the mind, Zen students are often directed towards counting breaths. Either both exhalations and inhalations are counted, or one of them only. The count can be up to ten, and then this process is repeated until the mind is calmed.^[36] Zen teachers like Omori Sogen teach a series of long and deep exhalations and inhalations as a way to prepare for regular breath meditation.^[37] Attention is usually placed on the energy center (dantian) below the navel.^[38] Zen teachers often promote diaphragmatic breathing, stating that the breath must come from the lower abdomen (known as hara or tanden in Japanese), and that this part of the body should expand forward slightly as one breathes.^[39] Over time the breathing should become smoother, deeper and slower.^[40] When the counting becomes an encumbrance, the practice of simply following the natural rhythm of breathing with concentrated attention is recommended.^[41][42]

Silent Illumination and shikantaza[edit]

A common form of sitting meditation is called «Silent illumination» (Ch. mòzhào, Jp. mokushō). This practice was traditionally promoted by the Caodong school of Chinese Chan and is associated with Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091—1157) who wrote various works on the practice.^[43] This method derives from the Indian Buddhist practice of the union (Skt. yuganaddha) of śamatha and vipaśyanā.^[44]

In Hongzhi’s practice of «nondual objectless meditation» the mediator strives to be aware of the totality of phenomena instead of focusing on a single object, without any interference, conceptualizing, grasping, goal seeking, or subject-object duality.^[45]

This practice is also popular in the major schools of Japanese Zen, but especially Sōtō, where it is more widely known as Shikantaza (Ch. zhǐguǎn dǎzuò, «Just sitting»). Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of the practice can be found throughout the work of the Japanese Sōtō Zen thinker Dōgen, especially in his Shōbōgenzō, for example in the «Principles of Zazen»^[46] and the «Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen».^[47] While the Japanese and the Chinese forms are similar, they are distinct approaches.^[48]

Hua Tou and Kōan contemplation[edit]

Main article: Kōan

During the Tang dynasty, gōng’àn (Jp. kōan) literature became popular. Literally meaning «public case», they were stories or dialogues, describing teachings and interactions between Zen masters and their students. These anecdotes give a demonstration of the master’s insight. Kōan are meant to illustrate the non-conceptual insight (prajña) that the Buddhist teachings point to. During the Sòng dynasty, a new meditation method was popularized by figures such as Dahui, which was called kanhua chan («observing the phrase» meditation), which referred to contemplation on a single word or phrase (called the huatou, «critical phrase») of a gōng’àn.^[49] In Chinese Chan and Korean Seon, this practice of «observing the huatou» (hwadu in Korean) is a widely practiced method.^[50] It was taught by the influential Seon master Chinul (1158–1210), and modern Chinese masters like Sheng Yen and Xuyun. Yet, while Dahui famously criticised «silent illumination,»^[51][52] he nevertheless «did not completely condemn quiet-sitting; in fact, he seems to have recommended it, at least to his monastic disciples.»^[51]

In the Japanese Rinzai school, kōan introspection developed its own formalized style, with a standardized curriculum of kōans, which must be studied and «passed» in sequence. This process includes standardized «checking questions» (sassho) and common sets of «capping phrases» (jakugo) or poetry citations that are memorized by students as answers.^[53] The Zen student’s mastery of a given kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview (referred to in Japanese as dokusan, daisan, or sanzen). While there is no unique answer to a kōan, practitioners are expected to demonstrate their spiritual understanding through their responses. The teacher may approve or disapprove of the answer and guide the student in the right direction. The interaction with a teacher is central in Zen, but makes Zen practice also vulnerable to misunderstanding and exploitation.^[54] Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and throughout all the activities of daily life. The goal of the practice is often termed kensho (seeing one’s true nature), and is to be followed by further practice to attain a natural, effortless, down-to-earth state of being, the «ultimate liberation», «knowing without any kind of defilement».^[55]

Kōan practice is particularly emphasized in Rinzai, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line.^[56]

Nianfo chan[edit]

Nianfo (Jp. nembutsu, from Skt. buddhānusmṛti «recollection of the Buddha») refers to the recitation of the Buddha’s name, in most cases the Buddha Amitabha. In Chinese Chan, the Pure Land practice of nianfo based on the phrase Nāmó Āmítuófó (Homage to Amitabha) is a widely practiced form of Zen meditation which came to be known as «Nianfo Chan» (念佛禪). Nianfo was practiced and taught by early Chan masters, like Daoxin (580-651), who taught that one should «bind the mind to one buddha and exclusively invoke his name».^[57] The practice is also taught in Shenxiu’s Kuan-hsin lun (觀心論).^[57]

The Ch’uan fa-pao chi (傳法寶紀, Taisho # 2838, ca. 713), one of the earliest Chan histories, also shows this practice was widespread in early Chan:

Coming to the generation of [Hung-]jen, [Fa-]ju and Ta-tung, the dharma-door was wide open to followers, regardless of their capacities. All immediately invoked the name of the Buddha so as to purify the mind.^[57]

Evidence for the practice of nianfo chan can also be found in Changlu Zongze’s (died c. 1107) Chanyuan qinggui (The Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery), perhaps the most influential Ch’an monastic code in East Asia.^[57]

Nianfo continued to be taught as a form of Chan meditation by later Chinese figures such as Yongming Yanshou, Zhongfen Mingben, and Tianru Weize. During the late Ming, the tradition of Nianfo Chan meditation was continued by figures such as Yunqi Zhuhong and Hanshan Deqing.^[58] Chan figures like Yongming Yanshou generally advocated a view called “mind-only Pure Land” (wei-hsin ching-t’u), which held that the Buddha and the Pure Land are just mind.^[57]

This practice, as well as its adaptation into the «nembutsu kōan» was also used by the Japanese Ōbaku school of Zen. Nianfo chan is also practiced in Vietnamese Thien.

Bodhisattva virtues and vows[edit]

Since Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism, it is grounded on the schema of the bodhisattva path, which is based on the practice of the «transcendent virtues» or «perfections» (Skt. pāramitā, Ch. bōluómì, Jp. baramitsu) as well as the taking of the bodhisattva vows.^[59][60] The most widely used list of six virtues is: generosity, moral training (incl. five precepts), patient endurance, energy or effort, meditation (dhyana), wisdom. An important source for these teachings is the Avatamsaka sutra, which also outlines the grounds (bhumis) or levels of the bodhisattva path.^[61] The pāramitās are mentioned in early Chan works such as Bodhidharma’s Two entrances and four practices and are seen as an important part of gradual cultivation (jianxiu) by later Chan figures like Zongmi.^[62][63]

An important element of this practice is the formal and ceremonial taking of refuge in the three jewels, bodhisattva vows and precepts. Various sets of precepts are taken in Zen including the five precepts, «ten essential precepts», and the sixteen bodhisattva precepts.^{[64][65][66][67]} This is commonly done in an initiation ritual (Ch. shòu jiè, Jp. Jukai, Ko. sugye, «receiving the precepts»), which is also undertaken by lay followers and marks a layperson as a formal Buddhist.^[68]

The Chinese Buddhist practice of fasting (zhai), especially during the uposatha days (Ch. zhairi, «days of fasting») can also be an element of Chan training.^[69] Chan masters may go on extended absolute fasts, as exemplified by master Hsuan Hua’s 35 day fast, which he undertook during the Cuban missile crisis for the generation of merit.^[70]

Physical cultivation[edit]

Traditional martial arts, like Japanese archery, other forms of Japanese budō and Chinese martial arts (gōngfu) have also been seen as forms of zen praxis. This tradition goes back to the influential Shaolin Monastery in Henan, which developed the first institutionalized form of gōngfu.^[71] By the late Ming, Shaolin gōngfu was very popular and widespread, as evidenced by mentions in various forms of Ming literature (featuring staff wielding fighting monks like Sun Wukong) and historical sources, which also speak of Shaolin’s impressive monastic army that rendered military service to the state in return for patronage.^[72] These Shaolin practices, which began to develop around the 12th century, were also traditionally seen as a form of Chan Buddhist inner cultivation (today called wuchan, «martial chan»). The Shaolin arts also made use of Taoist physical exercises (taoyin) breathing and energy cultivation (qìgōng) practices.^[73] They were seen as therapeutic practices, which improved «internal strength» (neili), health and longevity (lit. «nourishing life» yangsheng), as well as means to spiritual liberation.^[74]

The influence of these Taoist practices can be seen in the work of Wang Zuyuan (ca. 1820–after 1882), a scholar and minor bureaucrat who studied at Shaolin. Wang’s Illustrated Exposition of Internal Techniques (Neigong tushuo) shows how Shaolin exercises were drawn from Taoist methods like those of the Yi jin jing and Eight pieces of brocade, possibly influenced by the Ming dynasty’s spirit of religious syncretism.^[75] According to the modern Chan master Sheng Yen, Chinese Buddhism has adopted internal cultivation exercises from the Shaolin tradition as ways to «harmonize the body and develop concentration in the midst of activity.» This is because, «techniques for harmonizing the vital energy are powerful assistants to the cultivation of samadhi and spiritual insight.»^[76] Korean Seon also has developed a similar form of active physical training, termed Sunmudo.

In Japan, the classic combat arts (budō) and zen practice have been in contact since the embrace of Rinzai Zen by the Hōjō clan in the 13th century, who applied zen discipline to their martial practice.^[78] One influential figure in this relationship was the Rinzai priest Takuan Sōhō who was well known for his writings on zen and budō addressed to the samurai class (especially his The Unfettered Mind) .^[79]

The Rinzai school also adopted certain Chinese practices which work with qi (which are also common in Taoism). They were introduced by Hakuin (1686–1769) who learned various techniques from a hermit named Hakuyu who helped Hakuin cure his «Zen sickness» (a condition of physical and mental exhaustion).^[80] These energetic practices, known as naikan, are based on focusing the mind and one’s vital energy (ki) on the tanden (a spot slightly below the navel).^[81][82]

The arts[edit]

Certain arts such as painting, calligraphy, poetry, gardening, flower arrangement, tea ceremony and others have also been used as part of zen training and practice. Classical Chinese arts like brush painting and calligraphy were used by Chan monk painters such as Guanxiu and Muqi Fachang to communicate their spiritual understanding in unique ways to their students.^[83] Zen paintings are sometimes termed zenga in Japanese.^[84] Hakuin is one Japanese Zen master who was known to create a large corpus of unique sumi-e (ink and wash paintings) and Japanese calligraphy to communicate zen in a visual way. His work and that of his disciples were widely influential in Japanese Zen.^[85] Another example of Zen arts can be seen in the short lived Fuke sect of Japanese Zen, which practiced a unique form of «blowing zen» (suizen) by playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute.

Intensive group practice[edit]

Intensive group meditation may be practiced by serious Zen practitioners. In the Japanese language, this practice is called sesshin. While the daily routine may require monks to meditate for several hours each day, during the intensive period they devote themselves almost exclusively to zen practice. The numerous 30–50 minute long sitting meditation (zazen) periods are interwoven with rest breaks, ritualized formal meals (Jp. oryoki), and short periods of work (Jp. samu) that are to be performed with the same state of mindfulness. In modern Buddhist practice in Japan, Taiwan, and the West, lay students often attend these intensive practice sessions or retreats. These are held at many Zen centers or temples.

Chanting and rituals[edit]

Most Zen monasteries, temples and centers perform various rituals, services and ceremonies (such as initiation ceremonies and funerals), which are always accompanied by the chanting of verses, poems or sutras.^[86] There are also ceremonies that are specifically for the purpose of sutra recitation (Ch. niansong, Jp. nenju) itself.^[87]

Zen schools may have an official sutra book that collects these writings (in Japanese, these are called kyohon).^[86] Practitioners may chant major Mahayana sutras such as the Heart Sutra and chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra (often called the «Avalokiteśvara Sutra»). Dhāraṇīs and Zen poems may also be part of a Zen temple liturgy, including texts like the Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi, the Sandokai, the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, and the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra.

The butsudan is the altar in a monastery, temple or a lay person’s home, where offerings are made to the images of the Buddha, bodhisattvas and deceased family members and ancestors. Rituals usually center on major Buddhas or bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara (see Guanyin), Kṣitigarbha and Manjushri.

An important element in Zen ritual practice is the performance of ritual prostrations (Jp. raihai) or bows.^[88]

One popular form of ritual in Japanese Zen is Mizuko kuyō (Water child) ceremonies, which are performed for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. These ceremonies are also performed in American Zen Buddhism.^[89]

A widely practiced ritual in Chinese Chan is variously called the «Rite for releasing the hungry ghosts» or the «Releasing flaming mouth». The ritual might date back to the Tang dynasty, and was very popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when Chinese Esoteric Buddhist practices became diffused throughout Chinese Buddhism.^[90] The Chinese holiday of the Ghost Festival might also be celebrated with similar rituals for the dead. These ghost rituals are a source of contention in modern Chinese Chan, and masters such as Sheng Yen criticize the practice for not having «any basis in Buddhist teachings».^[91]

Another important type of ritual practiced in Zen are various repentance or confession rituals (Jp. zange) that were widely practiced in all forms of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. One popular Chan text on this is known as the Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual, composed by Chan master Baozhi.^[92] Dogen also wrote a treatise on repentance, the Shushogi.^[93] Other rituals could include rites dealing with local deities (kami in Japan), and ceremonies on Buddhist holidays such as Buddha’s Birthday.^[94]

Funerals are also an important ritual and are a common point of contact between Zen monastics and the laity. Statistics published by the Sōtō school state that 80 percent of Sōtō laymen visit their temple only for reasons having to do with funerals and death. Seventeen percent visit for spiritual reasons and 3 percent visit a Zen priest at a time of personal trouble or crisis.^[95]

Esoteric practices[edit]

Depending on the tradition, esoteric methods such as mantra and dhāraṇī are also used for different purposes including meditation practice, protection from evil, invoking great compassion, invoking the power of certain bodhisattvas, and are chanted during ceremonies and rituals.^[96][97] In the Kwan Um school of Zen for example, a mantra of Guanyin («Kwanseum Bosal«) is used during sitting meditation.^[98] The Heart Sutra Mantra is also another mantra that is used in Zen during various rituals.^[99] Another example is the Mantra of Light (kōmyō shingon), which is common in Japanese Soto Zen and was derived from the Shingon sect.^[100]

In Chinese Chan, the usage of esoteric mantras in Zen goes back to the Tang dynasty. There is evidence that Chan Buddhists adopted practices from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in findings from Dunhuang.^[101] According to Henrik Sørensen, several successors of Shenxiu (such as Jingxian and Yixing) were also students of the Zhenyan (Mantra) school.^[102] Influential esoteric dhāraṇī, such as the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra and the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, also begin to be cited in the literature of the Baotang school during the Tang dynasty.^[103] Many mantras have been preserved since the Tang period and continue to be practiced in modern Chan monasteries. One common example is the Śūraṅgama Mantra,which has been heavily propagated by various prominent Chan monks, such as Venerable Hsuan Hua who founded the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.^[104] Another example of esoteric rituals practiced by the Chan school is the Mengshan Rite for Feeding Hungry Ghosts, which is practiced by both monks and laypeople during the Hungry Ghost Festival.^{[105][106][107]} Chan repentance rituals, such as the Liberation Rite of Water and Land, also involve various esoteric aspects, including the invocation of esoteric deities such as the Five Wisdom Buddhas and the Ten Wisdom Kings.^[108][109]

There is documentation that monks living at Shaolin temple during the eighth century performed esoteric practices there such as mantra and dharani, and that these also influenced Korean Seon Buddhism.^[110] During the Joseon dynasty, the Seon school was not only the dominant tradition in Korea, but it was also highly inclusive and ecumenical in its doctrine and practices, and this included Esoteric Buddhist lore and rituals (that appear in Seon literature from the 15th century onwards). According to Sørensen, the writings of several Seon masters (such as Hyujeong) reveal they were esoteric adepts.^[111]

In Japanese Zen, the use of esoteric practices within Zen is sometimes termed «mixed Zen» (kenshū zen 兼修禪), and the figure of Keizan Jōkin (1264–1325) is seen as introducing this into the Soto school.^[112][113] The Japanese founder of the Rinzai school, Myōan Eisai (1141–1215) was also a well known practitioner of esoteric Buddhism and wrote various works on the subject.^[114]

According to William Bodiford, a very common dhāraṇī in Japanese Zen is the Śūraṅgama spell (Ryōgon shu 楞嚴呪; T. 944A), which is repeatedly chanted during summer training retreats as well as at «every important monastic ceremony throughout the year» in Zen monasteries.^[115] Some Zen temples also perform esoteric rituals, such as the homa ritual, which is performed at the Soto temple of Eigen-ji (in Saitama prefecture). As Bodiford writes, «perhaps the most notable examples of this phenomenon is the ambrosia gate (kanro mon 甘露門) ritual performed at every Sōtō Zen temple», which is associated feeding hungry ghosts, ancestor memorial rites and the ghost festival.^[116] Bodiford also notes that formal Zen rituals of Dharma transmission often involve esoteric initiations.

Doctrine[edit]

Zen teachings can be likened to «the finger pointing at the moon».^[117] Zen teachings point to the moon, awakening, «a realization of the unimpeded interpenetration of the dharmadhatu».^[118] But the Zen-tradition also warns against taking its teachings, the pointing finger, to be this insight itself.^{[119][120][121][122]}

Buddhist Mahayana influences[edit]

Though Zen-narrative states that it is a «special transmission outside scriptures», which «did not stand upon words»,^[123] Zen does have a rich doctrinal background that is firmly grounded in the Buddhist tradition.^[124] It was thoroughly influenced by Mahayana teachings on the bodhisattva path, Chinese Madhyamaka (Sānlùn), Yogacara (Wéishí), Prajñaparamita, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and other Buddha nature texts.^{[125][126][127]} The influence of Madhyamaka and Prajñaparamita can be discerned in the stress on non-conceptual wisdom (prajña) and the apophatic language of Zen literature.^{[125][128][129][note 4]}

The philosophy of the Huayan school also had an influence on Chinese Chan. One example is the Huayan doctrine of the interpenetration of phenomena, which also makes use of native Chinese philosophical concepts such as principle (li) and phenomena (shi).^[130] The Huayan theory of the Fourfold Dharmadhatu also influenced the Five Ranks of Dongshan Liangjie (806–869), the founder of the Caodong Chan lineage.^[131]

Buddha-nature and subitism[edit]

Central in the doctrinal development of Chan Buddhism was the notion of Buddha-nature, the idea that the awakened mind of a Buddha is already present in each sentient being^[132] (pen chueh in Chinese Buddhism, hongaku in Japanese Zen).^[133] This Buddha-nature was initially equated with the nature of mind, while later Chan-teachings evaded any reification by rejecting any positivist terminology.^{[134][note 3]} The idea of the immanent character of the Buddha-nature took shape in a characteristic emphasis on direct insight into, and expression of this Buddha-nature.^[135][136] It led to a reinterpretation and Sinification of Indian meditation terminology, and an emphasis on subitism, the idea that the Buddhist teachings and practices are comprehended and expressed «sudden,»^[137] c.q. «in one glance,» «uncovered all together,» or «together, completely, simultaneously,» in contrast to gradualism, «successively or being uncovered one after the other.»^[138] The emphasis on subitism led to the idea that «enlightenment occurs in a single transformation that is both total and instantaneous»^[139] (Ch. shih-chueh).^[140]

While the attribution of gradualism, attributed by Shenhui to a concurring faction, was a rhetoric device, it led to a conceptual dominance in the Chan-tradition of subitism, in which any charge of gradualism was to be avoided.^{[135][note 5]} This «rhetorical purity» was hard to reconcile conceptually with the actual practice of meditation,^[142][135] and left little place in Zen texts for the description of actual meditation practices, apparently rejecting any form of practice.^{[143][135][134][note 6]} Instead, those texts directly pointed to and expressed this awakened nature, giving way to the paradoxically nature of encounter dialogue and koans.^[135][134]

Caodong/Sōtō/Tào Động[edit]

Main article: Sōtō

Sōtō is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Dongshan Liangjie. The Sōtō-school has de-emphasized kōans since Gentō Sokuchū (circa 1800), and instead emphasized shikantaza.^[145] Dogen, the founder of Soto in Japan, emphasized that practice and awakening cannot be separated. By practicing shikantaza, attainment and Buddhahood are already being expressed.^[146] For Dogen, zazen, or shikantaza, is the essence of Buddhist practice.^[147] Gradual cultivation was also recognized by Dongshan Liangjie.^[148]

A lineage also exists in Vietnam, founded by 17th-century Chan master Thông Giác Đạo Nam. In Vietnamese, the school is known as «Tào Động.»^[149]

Linji/Rinzai[edit]

The Rinzai school is the Japanese lineage of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan. The Rinzai school emphasizes kensho, insight into one’s true nature.^[150] This is followed by so-called post-satori practice, further practice to attain Buddhahood.^{[151][152][153]}

Other Zen-teachers have also expressed sudden insight followed by gradual cultivation. Jinul, a 12th-century Korean Seon master, followed Zongmi, and also emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full buddhahood. This is also the standpoint of the contemporary Sanbo Kyodan, according to whom kenshō is at the start of the path to full enlightenment.^[154]

To attain this primary insight and to deepen it, zazen and kōan-study is deemed essential. This trajectory of initial insight followed by a gradual deepening and ripening is expressed by Linji in his Three Mysterious Gates and Hakuin Ekaku’s Four Ways of Knowing.^[155] Another example of depiction of stages on the path are the Ten Bulls, which detail the steps on the path.

Scripture[edit]

The role of the scripture[edit]

Zen is deeply rooted in the teachings and doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism.^[156] Classic Zen texts, such as the Platform sutra, contain numerous references to Buddhist canonical sutras.^[157] According to Sharf, Zen monastics «are expected to become familiar with the classics of the Zen canon».^[158] A review of the early historical documents and literature of early Zen masters clearly reveals that they were well versed in numerous Mahāyāna sūtras,^{[5][note 7][note 8][5][note 9]} as well as Mahayana Buddhist philosophy such as Madhyamaka.^[125]

Nevertheless, Zen is often pictured as anti-intellectual.^[156] This picture of Zen emerged during the Song Dynasty (960–1297), when Chán became the dominant form of Buddhism in China, and gained great popularity among the educated and literary classes of Chinese society. The use of koans, which are highly stylized literary texts, reflects this popularity among the higher classes.^[135] The famous saying «do not establish words and letters», attributed in this period to Bodhidharma,^[161]

…was taken not as a denial of the recorded words of the Buddha or the doctrinal elaborations by learned monks, but as a warning to those who had become confused about the relationship between Buddhist teaching as a guide to the truth and mistook it for the truth itself.^[162]

What the Zen tradition emphasizes is that the enlightenment of the Buddha came not through conceptualization but rather through direct insight.^[163] But direct insight has to be supported by study and understanding (hori^[164]) of the Buddhist teachings and texts.^{[165][note 10]} Intellectual understanding without practice is called yako-zen, «wild fox Zen», but «one who has only experience without intellectual understanding is a zen temma, ‘Zen devil‘«.^[167]

Grounding Chán in scripture[edit]

The early Buddhist schools in China were each based on a specific sutra. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, by the time of the Fifth Patriarch Hongren (601–674), the Zen school became established as a separate school of Buddhism.^[168] It had to develop a doctrinal tradition of its own to ascertain its position^[135] and to ground its teachings in a specific sutra. Various sutras were used for this even before the time of Hongren: the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra (Huike),^[169] Awakening of Faith (Daoxin),^[169] the Lankavatara Sutra (East Mountain School),^[169][5] the Diamond Sutra^[170] (Shenhui),^[169] and the Platform Sutra.^[5][170] The Chan tradition drew inspiration from a variety of sources and thus did not follow any single scripture over the others.^[171] Subsequently, the Zen tradition produced a rich corpus of written literature, which has become a part of its practice and teaching. Other influential sutras are the Vimalakirti Sutra,^{[172][173][174]} Avatamsaka Sutra,^[175] the Shurangama Sutra,^[176] and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.^[177]

In his analysis of the works of the influential Hongzhou school of Chan, Mario Poceski notes that they cite the following Mahayana sutras: the Lotus Sutra 法華經, the Huayan 華嚴經, the Nirvana 涅盤經, the Laṅkāvatāra 楞伽經, the Prajñāpāramitās 般若經, the Mahāratnakūta 大寶積經, the Mahāsamnipāta 大集經, and the Vimalakīrti 維摩經.^[178]

Literature[edit]

The Zen-tradition developed a rich textual tradition, based on the interpretation of the Buddhist teachings and the recorded sayings of Zen-masters. Important texts are the Platform Sutra (8th century), attributed to Huineng ;^[135] the Chán transmission records, teng-lu,^[179] such as The Records of the Transmission of the Lamp (Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu), compiled by Tao-yün and published in 1004;^[180] the «yü-lü» genre^[181] consisting of the recorded sayings of the masters, and the encounter dialogues; the koan-collections, such as The Gateless Barrier and the Blue Cliff Record.

Organization and institutions[edit]

Religion is not only an individual matter, but «also a collective endeavour».^[182] Though individual experience^[183] and the iconoclastic picture of Zen^[184] are emphasised in the Western world, the Zen-tradition is maintained and transferred by a high degree of institutionalisation and hierarchy.^[185][186] In Japan, modernity has led to criticism of the formal system and the commencement of lay-oriented Zen-schools such as the Sanbo Kyodan^[187] and the Ningen Zen Kyodan.^[188] How to organize the continuity of the Zen-tradition in the West, constraining charismatic authority and the derailment it may bring on the one hand,^{[189][190][54]} and maintaining the legitimacy and authority by limiting the number of authorized teachers on the other hand,^[182] is a challenge for the developing Zen-communities in the West.

Narratives[edit]

The Chán of the Tang Dynasty, especially that of Mazu and Linji with its emphasis on «shock techniques», in retrospect was seen as a golden age of Chán.^[135] It became dominant during the Song Dynasty, when Chán was the dominant form of Buddhism in China, due to support from the Imperial Court.^[135] This picture has gained great popularity in the West in the 20th century, especially due to the influence of D.T. Suzuki,^[191] and further popularized by Hakuun Yasutani and the Sanbo Kyodan.^[183] This picture has been challenged, and complemented, since the 1970s by modern scientific research on Zen.^{[135][192][193][194][195][196]}

Modern scientific research on the history of Zen discerns three main narratives concerning Zen, its history and its teachings: Traditional Zen Narrative (TZN),^[197][198] Buddhist Modernism (BM),^[191] Historical and Cultural Criticism (HCC).^[197] An external narrative is Nondualism, which claims Zen to be a token of a universal nondualist essence of religions.^[199][200]

History[edit]

Chinese Chán[edit]

Zen (Chinese: Chán 禪) Buddhism, as we know it today, is the result of a long history, with many changes and contingent factors. Each period had different types of Zen, some of which remained influential, while others vanished.^[135] The history of Chán in China is divided into various periods by different scholars, who generally distinguish a classical phase and a post-classical period.

Ferguson distinguishes three periods from the 5th century into the 13th century:

1. The Legendary period, from Bodhidharma in the late 5th century to the An Lushan Rebellion around 765 CE, in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Little written information is left from this period.^[201] It is the time of the Six Patriarchs, including Bodhidharma and Huineng, and the legendary «split» between the Northern and the Southern School of Chán.^[135]
2. The Classical period, from the end of the An Lushan Rebellion around 765 CE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty around 950 CE.^[201] This is the time of the great masters of Chán, such as Mazu Daoyi and Linji Yixuan, and the creation of the yü-lü genre, the recordings of the sayings and teachings of these great masters.
3. The Literary period, from around 950 to 1250,^[201] which spans the era of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). In this time the gongan-collections were compiled, collections of sayings and deeds by the famous masters, appended with poetry and commentary. This genre reflects the influence of literati on the development of Chán. This period idealized the previous period as the «golden age» of Chán, producing the literature in which the spontaneity of the celebrated masters was portrayed.

Although McRae has reservations about the division of Chán-history in phases or periods,^[202] he nevertheless distinguishes four phases in the history of Chán:^[203]

1. Proto-Chán (c. 500–600) (Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 to 589) and Sui Dynasty (589–618 CE)). In this phase, Chán developed in multiple locations in northern China. It was based on the practice of dhyana and is connected to the figures of Bodhidharma and Huike. Its principal text is the Two Entrances and Four Practices, attributed to Bodhidharma.^[204]
2. Early Chán (c. 600–900) (Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE)). In this phase Chán took its first clear contours. Prime figures are the fifth patriarch Daman Hongren (601–674), his dharma-heir Yuquan Shenxiu (606?–706), the sixth patriarch Huineng (638–713), protagonist of the quintessential Platform Sutra, and Shenhui (670–762), whose propaganda elevated Huineng to the status of sixth patriarch. Prime factions are the Northern School, Southern School and Oxhead school.^[205]
3. Middle Chán (c. 750–1000) (from An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) till Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960/979)). In this phase developed the well-known Chán of the iconoclastic zen-masters. Prime figures are Mazu Daoyi (709–788), Shitou Xiqian (710–790), Linji Yixuan (died 867), and Xuefeng Yicun (822–908). Prime factions are the Hongzhou school and the Hubei faction^{[note 11]} An important text is the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952), which gives a great amount of «encounter-stories», and the well-known genealogy of the Chán-school.^[208]
4. Song Dynasty Chán (c. 950–1300). In this phase Chán took its definitive shape including the picture of the «golden age» of the Chán of the Tang-Dynasty, and the use of koans for individual study and meditation. Prime figures are Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) who introduced the Hua Tou practice and Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157) who emphasized Shikantaza. Prime factions are the Linji school and the Caodong school. The classic koan-collections, such as the Blue Cliff Record were assembled in this period,^[209] which reflect the influence of the «literati» on the development of Chán.^[210][161] In this phase Chán is transported to Japan, and exerts a great influence on Korean Seon via Jinul.

Neither Ferguson nor McRae give a periodisation for Chinese Chán following the Song-dynasty, though McRae mentions «at least a post-classical phase or perhaps multiple phases».^[211] According to David McMahan:

During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) Chán was part of a larger, syncretic Buddhist culture. A final phase can be distinguished from the 19th century onward, when western imperialism had a growing influence in South-East Asia, including China. A side effect of this imperial influence was the modernisation of Asian religions, adapting them to western ideas and rhetorical strategies.^[191]

Origins[edit]

Before the arrival of the «founder» of Chan, Bodhidharma, various Buddhist masters of meditation or dhyana (i.e. Chan) had taught in China. These figures also brought with them various meditation texts, called the Dhyāna sutras (Chinese: 禪經 chan jing). These early meditation works mainly drew from the teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir.^[17] These texts include the translations of the Parthian An Shigao (147–168 CE) like the Anban shouyi jing (Sanskrit: Ānāpānasmṛti-sūtra), the numerous translations of Kumārajīva (334–413 CE, such as the Zuochan sanmei jing (Sutra of Sitting Dhyāna samādhi) and those of Buddhabhadra (like the Damoduoluo chan jing, Dharmatrāta Dhyāna sūtra).^{[212][213][214]} These early meditation texts laid the groundwork for the practices of Chan Buddhism (Zen) and the works of the Tiantai meditation master Zhiyi.^[215]

The translation work of Kumārajīva (especially his Prajñāpāramitā translations and his Vimalakirti Sutra), Buddhabhadra (Avatamsaka Sutra) and Gunabhadra (Lankāvatāra sūtra) were also key formative influences on the origins of Chan. These Buddhist texts are some of the key sources for later Chan masters.^[216] Indeed, in some early Chan texts (like the Masters of the Lankāvatāra), it is Gunabhadra, not Bodhidharma, which is seen as the first patriarch who transmits the Chan lineage (here seen as synonymous with the Lankāvatāra tradition) from India.^[217] The meditation works of the fourth Tiantai patriarch Zhiyi, such as his monumental Mohezhiguan, were also important sources on later Chan meditation manuals, like the Tso-chan-i.^[35]

A further possible influence on the origin of Chan Buddhism is Taoism. Some of the earliest Chinese Buddhists were influenced by Daoist thought and terminology and this has led some scholars to see a Taoist influence on Chan.^{[218][219][220][221]} In his history of Zen, Heinrich Dumoulin argued that Chan Buddhist developed out of the confluence of Indian Mahayana and Chinese Taoism.^[222] Two Chinese disciples of Kumārajīva, Sengzhao and Tao Sheng were influenced by Taoist works like the Laozi and Zhuangzi.^[221] These Sanlun figures in turn had an influence on some early Chan masters.^[223]

Proto-Chán[edit]

Proto-Chán (c. 500–600) encompasses the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420 to 589) and Sui Dynasty (589–618 CE). In this phase, Chán developed in multiple locations in northern China. It was based on the practice of dhyana and is connected to the figures of Bodhidharma, Seng-fu and Huike, though there is little actual historical information about these early figures and most legendary stories about their life come from later, mostly Tang sources. What is known is that they were considered Mahayana meditation masters.^[224][135]

An important text from this period is the Two Entrances and Four Practices, found in Dunhuang, and attributed to Bodhidharma.^[204] Later sources mention that these figures taught using the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra though there is no direct evidence of this from the earliest sources.^[225][226] According to John McRae, the earliest Chan sources on these masters show considerable influence from Madhyamaka thought, while the influence from the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra is actually much less pronounced and it is questionable if it was there at all with regards to the earliest figures like Bodhidharma and Huike.^[224]

Early Chán[edit]

Early Chán refers to early Tang Dynasty (618–750) Chán. The fifth patriarch Daman Hongren (601–674), and his dharma-heir Yuquan Shenxiu (606?–706) were influential in founding the first Chan institution in Chinese history, known as the «East Mountain school» (Dongshan famen).^[227] Hongren taught the practice of shou-hsin, «maintaining (guarding) the mind,» in which «an awareness of True Mind or Buddha-nature within» is maintained, «[exhorting] the practitioners to
unremittingly apply themselves to the practice of meditation.»^[228]

Shenxiu was the most influential and charismatic student of Hongren, he was even invited to the Imperial Court by Empress Wu.^[229] Shenxiu also became the target of much criticism by Shenhui (670–762), for his «gradualist» teachings. Shenhui instead promoted the «sudden» teachings of his teacher Huineng (638–713) as well as what later became a very influential Chán classic called the Platform Sutra.^[230] Shenhui’s propaganda campaign eventually succeeded in elevating Huineng to the status of sixth patriarch of Chinese Chán.^[231][135] The sudden vs. gradual debate that developed in this era came to define later forms of Chan Buddhism.^[232]

Middle Chán[edit]

The Middle Chán (c. 750–1000) period runs from the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960/979). This phase saw the development new schools of Chan. The most important of these schools is the Hongzhou school of Mazu Daoyi (709–788), to which also belong Shitou, Baizhang, and Huangbo. This school is sometimes seen as the archetypal expression of Chán, with its emphasis on the personal expression of insight, and its rejection of positive statements, as well as the importance it placed on spontaneous and unconventional «questions and answers during an encounter» (linji wenda) between master and disciple.^[126][233]

However, modern scholars have seen much of the literature that presents these «iconoclastic» encounters as being later revisions during the Song era, and instead see the Hongzhou masters as not being very radical, instead promoting pretty conservative ideas, such as keeping precepts, accumulating good karma and practicing meditation.^[233] The school did produce innovative teachings and perspectives such as Mazu’s views that «this mind is Buddha» and that «ordinary mind is the way», which were also critiqued by later figures, such as the influential Guifeng Zongmi (780–841), for failing to differentiate between ignorance and enlightenment.^[234]

By the end of the late Tang, the Hongzhou school was gradually superseded by various regional traditions, which became known as the Five Houses of Chán. Shitou Xiqian (710–790) is regarded as the Patriarch of Cáodòng (Jp. Sōtō) school, while Linji Yixuan (died 867) is regarded as the founder of Línjì (Jp. Rinzai) school. Both of these traditions were quite influential both in and outside of China. Another influential Chán master of the late Tang was Xuefeng Yicun. During the later Tang, the practice of the «encounter dialogue» reached its full maturity. These formal dialogues between master and disciple may have used absurd, illogical and iconoclastic language as well as non-verbal forms of communication such as the drawing of circles and physical gestures like shouting and hitting.^[235]

It was also common to write fictional encounter dialogues and attribute them to previous Chán figures.^[235] An important text from this period is the Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952), which gives many «encounter-stories», as well as establishing a genealogy of the Chán school.^[208] The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution in 845 was devastating for metropolitan Chan, but the Chan school of Mazu survived, and took a leading role in the Chan of the later Tang.^[236]

Song Dynasty Chán[edit]

During Song Dynasty Chán (c. 950–1300), Chán Buddhism took its definitive shape, through the development of the use of koans for individual study and meditation. It was also during the Song that Chan literati developed their own idealized history of Chan, particularly promoting the idea of a Tang «golden age» of Chan.^[238] During the Song, Chán became the largest sect of Chinese Buddhism and had strong ties to the imperial government, which led to the development of a highly organized system of temple rank and administration.^[239]

The dominant form of Song Chán was the Linji school due to support from the scholar-official class and the imperial court.^[240] This school developed the study of gong’an («public case») literature, which depicted stories of master-student encounters that were seen as demonstrations of the awakened mind. Most of these stories depicted the idealized encounters of past Chan masters, particularly from the Tang era, and show the influence of the Chinese literati class.^{[241][238][210][161]} The most influential of these works are the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Equanimity and The Gateless Gate.^[209]

During the 12th century, a rivalry emerged between the Linji and the Caodong schools for the support of the scholar-official class. Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157) of the Caodong school emphasized silent illumination or serene reflection (mòzhào) as a means for solitary practice, which could be undertaken by lay-followers. The Linji school’s Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) meanwhile, introduced k’an-hua chan («observing the word-head» chan), which involved meditation on the crucial phrase or «punch line» (hua-tou) of a gong’an.^[242][243]

The Song also saw the syncretism of Chán and Pure Land Buddhism by Yongming Yanshou (904–975), which would later become extremely influential.^[244] Yongming also echoed Zongmi’s work in indicating that the values of Taoism and Confucianism could also be embraced and integrated into Buddhism. Chán also influenced Neo-Confucianism as well as certain forms of Taoism, such as the Quanzhen school.^[245][246]

During the Song, Chán was also transported to Japan by figures like Eisai and exerted a great influence on Korean Seon via Jinul.

Post-Classical Chán[edit]

During the Ming Dynasty, the Chán school was so dominant that all Chinese monks were affiliated with either the Linji school or the Caodong school.^[247]

Some scholars see the post-classical phase as being an «age of syncretism.»^[248] The post-classical period saw the increasing popularity of the dual practice of Chán and Pure Land Buddhism (known as nianfo Chan), as seen in the teachings of Zhongfeng Mingben (1263–1323) and the great reformer Hanshan Deqing (1546–1623). This became a widespread phenomenon and in time much of the distinction between them was lost, with many monasteries teaching both Chán meditation and the Pure Land practice of nianfo.^{[249][250][58]}

The Ming dynasty also saw the efforts of figures such as Yunqi Zhuhong (1535–1615) and Daguan Zhenke (1543–1603) to revive and reconcile Chan Buddhism with the practice of Buddhist scriptural study and writing.^[248]

In the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Chán was «reinvented», by the «revival of beating and shouting practices» by Miyun Yuanwu (1566–1642), and the publication of the Wudeng yantong («The strict transmission of the five Chan schools») by Feiyin Tongrong’s (1593–1662), a dharma heir of Miyun Yuanwu. The book placed self-proclaimed Chan monks without proper Dharma transmission in the category of «lineage unknown» (sifa weixiang), thereby excluding several prominent Caodong monks.^[251]

Modern era[edit]

After further centuries of decline during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), Chán activity was revived again in the 19th and 20th centuries by a flurry of modernist activity. This period saw the rise of worldly Chan activism, what is sometimes called Humanistic Buddhism (or more literally «Buddhism for human life», rensheng fojiao), promoted by figures like Jing’an (1851–1912), Yuanying (1878–1953), Taixu (1890–1947), Xuyun (1840–1959) and Yinshun (1906–2005). These figures promoted social activism to address issues such as poverty and social injustice, as well as participation in political movements. They also promoted modern science and scholarship, including the use of the methods of modern critical scholarship to study the history of Chan.^[253]

Many Chán teachers today trace their lineage back to Xuyun, including Sheng-yen and Hsuan Hua, who have propagated Chán in the West where it has grown steadily through the 20th and 21st centuries. Chán Buddhism was repressed in China during the 1960s in the Cultural Revolution, but in the subsequent reform and opening up period in the 1970s, a revival of Chinese Buddhism has been taking place on the mainland, while Buddhism has a significant following in Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as among Overseas Chinese.

Spread outside of China[edit]

Vietnamese Thiền[edit]

Chan was introduced to Vietnam during the early Chinese occupation periods (111 BCE to 939 CE) as Thiền. During the Lý (1009–1225) and Trần (1225 to 1400) dynasties, Thiền rose to prominence among the elites and the royal court and a new native tradition was founded, the Trúc Lâm («Bamboo Grove») school, which also contained Confucian and Taoist influences. In the 17th century, the Linji school was brought to Vietnam as the Lâm Tế, which also mixed Chan and Pure land. Lâm Tế remains the largest monastic order in the country today.^[254]

Modern Vietnamese Thiền is influenced by Buddhist modernism.^[255] Important figures include Thiền master Thích Thanh Từ (1924–), the activist and popularizer Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022) and the philosopher Thích Thiên-Ân. Vietnamese Thiền is eclectic and inclusive, bringing in many practices such as breath meditation, nianfo, mantra, Theravada influences, chanting, sutra recitation and engaged Buddhism activism.

Korean Seon[edit]

Seon (선) was gradually transmitted into Korea during the late Silla period (7th through 9th centuries) as Korean monks began to travel to China to learn the newly developing Chan tradition of Mazu Daoyi and returned home to establish the Chan school. They established the initial Seon schools of Korea, which were known as the «nine mountain schools» (九山, gusan).

Seon received its most significant impetus and consolidation from the Goryeo monk Jinul (1158–1210), who is considered the most influential figure in the formation of the mature Seon school. He founded the Jogye Order, which remains the largest Seon tradition in Korea today. Jinul founded the Songgwangsa temple as a new center of Seon study and practice. Jinul also wrote extensive works on Seon, developing a comprehensive system of thought and practice. From Dahui Zonggao, Jinul adopted the hwadu method, which remains the main meditation form taught in Seon today.

Buddhism was mostly suppressed during the strictly Confucian Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), and the number of monasteries and clergy sharply declined. The period of Japanese occupation also brought numerous modernist ideas and changes to Korean Seon. Some monks began to adopt the Japanese practice of marrying and having families, while others such as Yongseong, worked to resist the Japanese occupation. Today, the largest Seon school, the Jogye, enforces celibacy, while the second largest, the Taego Order, allows for married priests. Important modernist figures that influenced contemporary Seon include Seongcheol and Gyeongheo. Seon has also been transmitted to West, with new traditions such as the Kwan Um School of Zen.

Japanese Zen[edit]

Zen was not introduced as a separate school until the 12th century, when Myōan Eisai traveled to China and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which eventually perished.^[256] Decades later, Nanpo Shōmyō (南浦紹明) (1235–1308) also studied Linji teachings in China before founding the Japanese Otokan lineage, the most influential and only surviving lineage of Rinzai in Japan.^[256] In 1215, Dōgen, a younger contemporary of Eisai’s, journeyed to China himself, where he became a disciple of the Caodong master Tiantong Rujing. After his return, Dōgen established the Sōtō school, the Japanese branch of Caodong.

The three traditional schools of Zen in contemporary Japan are the Sōtō (曹洞), Rinzai (臨済), and Ōbaku (黃檗). Of these, Sōtō is the largest, and Ōbaku the smallest, with Rinzai in the middle. These schools are further divided into subschools by head temple, with two head temples for Sōtō (Sōji-ji and Eihei-ji, with Sōji-ji having a much larger network), fourteen head temples for Rinzai, and one head temple (Manpuku-ji) for Ōbaku, for a total of 17 head temples. The Rinzai head temples, which are most numerous, have substantial overlap with the traditional Five Mountain System, and include Myoshin-ji, Nanzen-ji, Tenryū-ji, Daitoku-ji, and Tofuku-ji, among others.

Besides these traditional organizations, there are modern Zen organizations that have especially attracted Western lay followers, namely the Sanbo Kyodan and the FAS Society.

Zen in the West[edit]

Although it is difficult to trace the precise moment 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 the profile of Zen 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 who were pursuing a serious interest in Zen began to reach a significant level. Japanese Zen has gained the greatest popularity in the West. The various books on Zen by Reginald Horace Blyth, Alan Watts, Philip Kapleau and D. T. Suzuki^{[citation needed]} published between 1950 and 1975, contributed to this growing interest in Zen in the West, as did the interest on the part of beat poets such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder.^[257] In 1958, the literary magazine Chicago Review played a significant role in introducing Zen to the American literary community^[258] when it published a special issue^[259] on Zen featuring the aforementioned beat poets and works in translation. Erich Fromm quotes D. T. Suzuki in his 1960 book Psychoanalysis and Zen Buddhism.^[260]

The publication in 1974 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by American writer Robert Pirsig brought the application of Zen thinking into a way of understanding non dualism in a practical sense. Drawing on a wide range of philosophical and logical sources, the book became the biggest selling work on philosophy ever published.

See also[edit]

• List of Buddhists
• Outline of Buddhism
• Timeline of Buddhism
• Chinese Chán
• 101 Zen Stories
• Chinso
• Shussan Shaka
• Katsu

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

Printed sources

Further reading[edit]

Modern popular works

• D.T. Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism, First Series (1927), Second Series (1933), Third Series (1934)
• R. H. Blyth, Zen and Zen Classics, 5 volumes (1960–1970; reprints of works from 1942 into the 1960s)
• Alan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957)
• Lu K’uan Yu (Charles Luk), Ch’an and Zen Teachings, 3 vols (1960, 1971, 1974), The Transmission of the Mind: Outside the Teaching (1974)
• Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957)
• Philip Kapleau, The Three Pillars of Zen (1966)
• Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1970)
• Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods & Philosophy (1975)

Classic historiography

• Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005), Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 1: India and China. World Wisdom Books.ISBN 978-0-941532-89-1
• Dumoulin, Heinrich (2005), Zen Buddhism: A History. Volume 2: Japan. World Wisdom Books.ISBN 978-0-941532-90-7

Critical historiography

Overview

• Heine, Steven (2007), «A Critical Survey of Works on Zen since Yampolsky» (PDF), Philosophy East & West, 57 (4): 577–592, doi:10.1353/pew.2007.0047, S2CID 170450246

Formation of Chán in Tang & Song China

• McRae, John (2004), The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra (PDF), Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, ISBN 1886439311, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2014
• Welter, Albert (2000), «Mahakasyapa’s smile. Silent Transmission and the Kung-an (Koan) Tradition», in Steven Heine; Dale S. Wright (eds.), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Schlütter, Morten (2008), How Zen became Zen. The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China, Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-3508-8

Japan

• Bodiford, William M. (1993), Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1482-7

Modern times

• Victoria, Brian Daizen (2006), Zen at war (Second ed.), Lanham e.a.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Orientalism and East-West interchange

• Borup, Jorn (n.d.), Zen and the Art of inverting Orientalism: religious studies and genealogical networks
• King, Richard (2002), Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and «The Mystic East», Routledge
• McMahan, David L. (2008), The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-518327-6

Contemporary practice

• Borup, Jørn (2008), Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism: Myōshinji, a Living Religion, Brill
• Hori, Victor Sogen (1994), «Teaching and Learning in the Zen Rinzai Monastery» (PDF), Journal of Japanese Studies (1): 5–35, doi:10.2307/132782, JSTOR 132782
• Buswell, Robert E. (1993a), The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea, Princeton University Press

External links[edit]

• thezensite
• Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library
• Chart of (Asian) Zen schools
• Glossary of Japanese Zen terms
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: entry on Japanese Zen Buddhism
• What is Zen Buddhism?

Zen. It is a very commonly used term in our world today—and one that many of us use in our daily lives. However, the phrase  ” What is Zen ” is pretty common, and while many people have a general idea of what the word Zen means, it can be difficult to define.

This is why we have created a spiritual guide for you that will help you gain a better understanding of what Zen is and how to incorporate it into your life so you can live more spiritually.

What is Zen?

 Zen is actually a Japanese term that is derived from the Chinese word “Ch’an.” Translated, it means concentration or meditation. The practice itself is a type of Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes the value of meditation and intuition.

In western culture, the term “Zen” is used quite liberally, and with a few definitions, but at its core, Zen is a type of traditional wisdom that encourages people to have a peaceful and personal relationship with your own mind and a higher power outside of yourself.

Simply put, if you want to “be” Zen, you are in a state of being at peace with your own thoughts and being self-aware of your place within the universe.

What is Zen Meditation?

Zen meditation, also known as Zazen, is an ancient Buddhist tradition that has a long and detailed history. Zen meditation can be dated back to 7^th century China, and is a traditional Buddhist discipline that provides insight on how the mind works.

The goal of Zen meditation is to uncover clarity and workability of the mind. Many people who practice Zen meditation experience a unique type of awakening as they are able to learn how to let go of thoughts and feelings that cloud their minds. This form of meditation also helps practicing meditators have a better insight into the nature of the body and mind.

While some forms of meditation may be all about relaxation and stress relief—Zen meditation goes much deeper and attempts to help people tackle life questions and deep-rooted issues.

There are three common Zen Meditation techniques.

1. Observation of Breath- This is where you sit on a padded cushion and draw awareness to your breath and how it moves in and out of your body.
2. Quiet Awareness- This form of meditation encourages those meditating to allow their thoughts to flow through their minds. During this time, you are not supposed to have a goal, but instead should just “sit” and allow the mind to be with judgment, thought, grasping or rejection.
3. Intensive Group Meditation- More serious meditators can choose to practice group meditation in special centers or temples. This is a Japanese practice known as sesshin and involves sessions that last nearly an hour and are alternated with a walking meditation and meals taken in silence.

This unique type of meditation can help you reach a spiritual understanding unlike any other type of meditation can.

What is Zen Buddhism?

Zen Buddhism is a very simple, focused and stripped-down version of Buddhism. It is meditation-based and does not rely on scriptures or rituals like other forms of Buddhism. Instead, it focuses on personal experiences.

This type of Buddhism is also passed down from master to disciple through intimate training. One of the major cornerstones of this type of Buddhism is Zen meditation.

Benefits of a Zenful Life

So, whether you are just trying to have a more Zen attitude in your day-to-day life, or if you are looking to study the ancient forms of Zen Buddhism—there are many benefits of living a more Zenful life.

• Greatly Improved Health

Embracing a more Zen life, and learning to be at peace with your mind, wont just have mental and spiritual benefits—it will have physical benefits as well. Studies on Zen and health have found that Zen meditation can actually help improve the immune system. If you want to make sure that you are well-protected against colds and flu—regular meditation may be able to help.

Other proven effects of those who regularly practice Zen meditation includes the ability to lower heart rate, improve blood circulation and lower blood pressure.

• More Restful Sleep

If there is one thing that all people today could benefit from—it is more restful sleep and living a Zenful life can help you achieve that calm, relaxing, restoring sleep you have always wanted.

Short, Zen Meditation practices before bed is a great way to help make sure that you get this restful sleep—although you may start noticing a better quality of sleep simply from your more relaxed and peaceful state during the day.

Focus on breathing exercises and the feeling of letting go of all that weighs you down, and practice this form of meditation for 5-15 minutes before bed to start enjoying the type of sleep that actually helps you feel restored.

• Improved Compassion and Creativity

Being Zenful is all about working on the relationship with yourself, but embracing a more Zen life won’t just help you become more self-aware, it can also help improve your understanding of others. Through regular practices that help you understand your place in the universe and be more mindful of other people, places and things around you—you can learn to be more compassionate.

This self-awareness is also known to trigger a heightened sense of creativity within many people. With a clear, centered and focused mind—there is less clouding your thoughts and more opportunities for you to expand your mind and tap into your more creative side.

• Less Stress

If there is one benefit of living a more Zenful life that everyone could take advantage of—it is the fact that it can help with stress. Regular Zen meditation can also help reduce pain and sensitivity as it can teach those who practice hope to cope with the pain that they deal with—as it can be a big help with stress reduction.

By lowering stress levels, Zen meditation can also help increase the production of serotonin—which is a hormone which can cause headaches, depression and even obesity.

The History of Zen

Zen Buddhism was brought to China by the Indian monk Bodhiharm in the 6^th century CE. By the 7^th century CE, it spread to Korea and then eventually to Japan in the 12 century CE. By this time, Zen Buddhism had become a global practice and one that was only growing.

What is most impressive about this spread of Buddhism is that, according to tradition the transmission from Zen must go from master to disciple. This creates a spiritual bloodline, and it has been that way for more than 2,500 years.

Throughout its history, Zen has been based upon the belief that awakening can be achieved by anyone—but must be taught by one of these masters.

How is Zen Practiced?

There are two primary activities that are involved with formal Zen practices: sitting and breathing. You should always do this with awareness, paying close attention to your breath.

Once you master the art of sitting and breathing, also known as Zazen, you can start incorporating this awareness and breathing into your other everyday activities.

Over time, you can start incorporating your Zen awareness into your everyday activities, such as walking, eating, working and even chanting. This is how Zen becomes a part of your everyday life—not only in your meditative practices.

Zazen

During Zazen, the meditator must initially focus on breath—allowing your breath to flow softly and naturally. Zazen’s primary focus must be on attention to breath, which is common not only in Zazen, but in other forms of meditative practices.

Zazen is actually quite simple—it is all about devoting the mind’s attention to sitting and breathing. Formal meditation sessions can last anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, or event longer.

Here are some tips on how to practice Zazen:

• Sit in a quiet location, with a tall, strong posture.
• Use a cushion, mat, blanket or meditation bench to make sure you are in proper form.
• Hold your hands either in cosmic mudra- with the left hand on the right palm facing up, encircling the navel, or on the natural shelf. This is where the elbows are held slightly away from the core.
• Sit and take several deep breaths in and out—to make sure that you are keeping your mind from wandering, every ten breaths, return your wandering mind to your breath.

It is simple as that. Experts recommend that you engage in this practice daily for up to 45 minutes per day to get the best results.

Walking Zen

Walking Zen, also known as walking meditation or Kinhin. While you are walking with this type of meditation, you can do this practice on your own, focusing your attention on movement and breath.

However, if you really want to practice this form of meditation in the correct manner—you will need to do it in a group. Here is how:

• Walk in a single file line, close to the person in front of you.
• Hold hands in shashu—at waist level, where the right hand holds the left thumb and the left hand covers the right.
• Hold the elbows slightly lifted so that the lower arms form a line parallel to the floor.
• Walk in a line appreciating your breath, movement and the environment around you.

If you are practicing Zen walking on your own—then all you need to do is take a leisurely walk focusing on your breathing and awareness as you do.

Koan Practice

Koan in Zen Buddhism is a succinct paradoxical statement or question that is used in Zen meditative practices. It is a discipline that can help novices who are looking to master the art of Zen.

This exercise is a way to test a novice’s competence and fosters communication between the Zen master and the learner. There are a few different examples of how this practice goes, one of the most common being a question-and-answer form.

For example, the teacher may ask “What is Buddha?”

And the novice will answer “three pounds of flax.”

There are also clapping exercises and other ways to test the novice as they learn about the intricacies of Zen.

Zen Resources

The best way to learn about Zen of course is to go to a school of Zen or to a meditation center that specializes in Zen Buddhism. There is no better resource. However, if you are unable to make it to a center for an appropriate education on Zen Buddhism—there are other resources available that can help you learn.

Books on Zen

Books are some of the best resources available for those looking to learn more about Zen practices. Here are a few different books on Zen that can help you learn more about this practice. These are particularly helpful for those who are beginners and just getting started.

• Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practices by Shunryu Suzuki, Trudy Dixon, et al.
• Buddhism for Beginners: Buddhist Rituals and Practices to Eliminate Stress and Anxiety by Dharma Hazari
• Zen: Beginner’s Guide: Happy Peaceful and Focused Lifestyle for Everyone by Ian Tuhovsky
•  Plain Talk for a Beginner’s Mind by Norman Fischer and Susan Moon

Keep these books in mind when you are looking to do a little casual reading on Zen Buddhism so you can learn more about this practice, what it entails and how to incorporate Zen practices into your everyday life.

Conclusion

You can start embracing a more Zenful life each and every day. Sometimes, the smallest steps towards being more mindful, at peace and in-tune with the world around you can go a long way in transforming your life—as you truly become more “Zen.”

Take the time to learn more about the milestones of Zen Buddhism and about what resources can help you on your journey towards a more Zenful life.

Do you know what it means to be zen? First, this article will teach you what the word zen means. Then, it will provide the history of the word zen and example sentences containing the word zen, translations of the word zen, and synonyms and antonyms. 

Finally, this article might even help you find your zen!

What Does Zen Mean?

According to Dictionary, zen is both a noun and an adjective. As a proper noun, zen refers to a 6th-century Chinese practice and 12th-century Japanese practice of meditation, insights, and discipline. During the Tang Dynasty, the school of Mahayana Buddhism originated in China. 

When lowercase, zen refers to a state of meditative calm. Zen is also an adjective that describes either qualities relating to a Zen Buddhist or the state of being relaxed and calm. The pronunciation of zen is zɛn.

How Can We Use Zen in a Sentence?

Common usage of zen often refers to a sense of meditative calm. Less commonly, people can use it to refer directly to the Buddhist practice of Zen. You can tell the difference between both uses of the word zen from their capitalization. If zen is lowercase, it is a common noun or adjective. If the word Zen is uppercase, it is a proper noun or adjective.

In the below example sentences containing the word zen, see if you can determine if the word zen is a common noun, a proper noun, or another part of speech. Then, see if you can develop your own example sentences for zen as both a common noun and a proper noun!

Example #1: A Zen Practice

The stressed and frazzled woman found relaxation, focus, and calm through her zen practice of archery. It was the only thing that would quiet her nerves.

Question: What part of speech is the word zen in the above sentence? If it is a noun, is it a proper noun or a common noun?

Answer: In the above sentence, zen is an adjective.

Example #2: The Whirlwind Trip

My zen philosophy of “whatever will be, will be” got me through my travels in New York, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. If I did not have this go with the flow perspective, IO would have had a breakdown when I lost my passport and was denied entry to the countries.

Question: What part of speech is the word zen in the above sentence? If it is a noun, is it a proper noun or a common noun?

Answer: In the above sentence, zen is a common noun.

Example #3: The Zen Master

Everything I know I learned from Buddha, the Zen master.

Question: What part of speech is the word zen in the above sentence? If it is a noun, is it a proper noun or a common noun?

Answer: In the above sentence, Zen is a proper noun.

Example #4: The Zen Monk

The Zen monk spent his days in solitude and silence.

Question: What part of speech is the word zen in the above sentence? If it is a noun, is it a proper noun or a common noun?

Answer: In the above sentence, Zen is an adjective.

What Is the Etymology of Zen?

The Japanese zen is a pronunciation of chán, a transliteration of a Middle Chinese word that is an abbreviation of chánnà. Chánnà comes from the Pali jhāna, Sanskrit dhyāna, and Sanskrit verb dhyāt. These all come from the Proto-Indo-European roots dheiə-, dhyeə-, and dhyā-.

What Are Translations of Zen?

Several languages contain translations of the word zen. For example, in American English and British English, we simply take the Japanese pronunciation of the word zen and use the word directly. Many languages worldwide do this, too, which you can see in this list of translations of zen from Nice Translator.

• Hebrew: זן
• Italian: zen
• Latvian: dzena
• Bulgarian: Дзен
• Serbian: зен
• Russian: дзен
• Urdu: زین
• Hungarian: zen
• Portuguese (Brazil): zen
• Arabic: زن
• Slovak: zan
• Basque: lub
• Catalan: zen
• Spanish: zen
• Kannada: zತ
• Swedish: zen
• Estonian: zen
• Gujarati: ઝેન
• Thai: เซน
• Amharic: ዚን
• Korean: 선
• Portuguese (Portugal): zen
• German: Zen
• Bengali: জেন
• Vietnamese: thiền học
• Hindi: जेन
• Telugu: జెన్
• Japanese: 禅
• Tamil: ஜென்
• Chinese (Taiwan): 禪
• Finnish: zen
• Greek: ζενός
• Marathi: झेन
• Welsh: zen
• Ukrainian: дзен
• Chinese (PRC): 禅

What Are Synonyms of Zen?

Power Thesaurus lists several synonyms for zen. Since zen can be a common noun, proper noun, or adjective, studying this list can prove useful if you need to clarify what you mean by zen.

• aloof
• apathetic
• as cool as a cucumber
• at ease
• calm
• carefree
• casual
• collected
• composed
• confident
• controlled
• cool
• cool-headed
• detached
• dispassionate
• easy
• easygoing
• equable
• even-tempered
• impassive
• imperturbable
• indifferent
• insouciant
• laid-back
• level-headed
• mild
• moderate
• nonchalant
• pacific
• peaceful
• phlegmatic
• placid
• poised
• quiet
• rational
• relaxed
• remote
• secure
• sedate
• self-controlled
• self-possessed
• serene
• smooth
• sober
• steady
• still
• stolid
• together
• tranquil
• unagitated
• unbothered
• unconcerned
• undisturbed
• unemotional
• unexcitable
• unfazed
• unfeeling
• unflappable
• unflustered
• unmoved
• unperturbed
• unruffled
• untroubled
• unworried

What Are Antonyms of Zen?

Power Thesaurus also provides several antonyms of the word zen.

• agitated
• angry
• anxious
• apprehensive
• beside oneself
• distressed
• disturbed
• edgy
• emotional
• excessive
• excitable
• excited
• fierce
• flustered
• frantic
• frenzied
• fretful
• furious
• harsh
• having kittens
• hot under the collar
• hysterical
• ill at ease
• in a flap
• in a state
• in a state of agitation
• in a tizzy
• jumpy
• keyed up
• mad
• nasty
• nervous
• on pins and needles
• on tenterhooks
• overwrought
• passionate
• restless
• rough
• ruffled
• stormy
• tempestuous
• tense
• troubled
• turbulent
• twitchy
• uncontrolled
• uneasy
• unquiet
• unreasonable
• unsettled
• upset
• uptight
• violent
• wild
• windy
• worked up
• worried
• wrought up

Conclusion

The definition of zen is a sense of calm or a Buddhist practice of meditative focus and calmness. Try using this word of the day today!

Sources:

1. 1 102 Adjective Synonyms for Calm | Power Thesaurus 
2. 739 Adjective Antonyms for Calm | Power Thesaurus 
3. Zen Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com 
4. Japanese Zen Buddhist Philosophy | Stanford 
5. Zen | Nice Translator 

It is likely at some point you have heard someone say the word «zen» in more than one context but you might have never written it yourself. In such a case, you might question if you are to capitalize the word «Zen» in a sentence and if so, then when are we required to capitalize it?

The word «Zen» is capitalized at those times when it acts as a proper noun or when it is the starting word of any sentence. At other times, you must ensure that the word «Zen» isn’t capitalized in any part of the sentence unless otherwise, it is an exceptional case. 

Going forward, you might have multiple questions regarding the meaning and use of the word «Zen». Not only that, but you may also want to know the rules and exceptions of such words. Thus, we will explain all such cases so that you don’t hesitantly question yourself when capitalizing the word «Zen» in a sentence.

What Does the Word «Zen» Itself Mean and Is It Ever Capitalized?

You might have a straight to the point and basic question regarding the meaning of the word «Zen» when you ask yourself if you capitalize the word «Zen» in a sentence. In order to provide a clear cut answer, the word «Zen» when used as a noun refers to a specific school in the Japanese culture that gives prominence to the understanding of intuition and meditation.

For example,

•  She decided to embark on a journey to understand the philosophies of Zen.

In this example, the word «Zen» was used as a noun. Not only that, but the word «Zen» also means tranquility or peace as it can be used as an adjective. For example,

•  Even with a completely simple lifestyle, he wasn’t feeling zen at all.

In this scenario, the word was used as an adjective to reflect the meanings of tranquility. In the very first example, the word «Zen» was capitalized as it reflected the distinct school of thought whereas in the second example the word was merely used to refer to the state of feeling of the second pronoun «he». Thus, the varying meaning and use of the word «Zen» in a sentence causes it to be capitalized in those varying instances.

Are There Any Definitive Criteria in Which the Word «Zen» Is Capitalized?

It is no doubt true that the word «Zen» in fact causes confusion when you ask yourself if you capitalize the word «Zen» in a sentence. The reason is very clear that the meaning and the use of the word either allows it to be capitalized or not in a sentence. But there are some general criteria or rules that cover a wide range of circumstances.

Following are some of the main rules that cover a wide range of instances where and when the word «Zen» is to be capitalized:

1. The Word «Zen» Referring to a Unique Name

As mentioned earlier, the word «Zen» has a meaning which reflects a particular school of thought. So if it is used in a sentence to resonate that meaning as a noun, then it must be capitalized as it is a unique name. For instance,

• They were determined to know all about the philosophies of Zen.
• She admired that her colleague regularly practices Zen meditation.

In both of these examples, the word «Zen» was referring to the unique name that the word itself meant. So, in both of these cases, as it was acting as a proper noun, it was capitalized.

2. Being the Title Name of a Noun

In very few instances, the word itself acts as a title of another proper noun. Thus, it makes the word «Zen» and the other proper noun refer to even a more distinct aspect of the combined word itself. For instance, if we say «The true knowledge of Buddhism is present to very specific individuals», the word «Buddhism» is a proper noun so it is capitalized.

But if it is used with the word «Zen», then both words will remain capitalized. For example:

• It was the very first time that he heard about Zen Buddhism.
• As a Zen Buddhist, he often preaches some refined values.

In both of these examples, the word «Zen» acted as a title of the proper noun and thus referred to even a more distinct and unique name. Thus, the word is capitalized.

3. Sentences Starting With the Word «Zen»

If any sentence, no matter what the circumstance is, starts with the word «Zen» then the word has to be capitalized. This general rule of capitalization is always followed for the initial word to highlight the start of a new sentence. For instance,

• Zen is a feeling that entices a person to feel at rest all the time.

Since the very first word of the sentence initiated with the word «Zen», hence it is capitalized in the example.

These main rules of capitalization of the word «Zen» majorly stretch their wings to almost all the general rules of the capitalization of the various terms. So, when deciding on capitalization just remind yourself with these easy and basic rules.

Can These Basic Rules of Capitalization be Affected by Various Exceptions?

Although some people quickly assume that such types of words won’t have any exceptions to the easy rules of capitalization mentioned above. But the truth is that the word «Zen» and other words such as these always have certain exceptions to the main rule that must be kept in mind to avoid various grammatical errors.

A few exceptions that apply to the word «Zen» are given below:

 1. The Word «Zen» is Within Quotation Marks

Even though it is not a direct exception, but in this scenario, the word «Zen» will be capitalized if it is present in the quotation marks. It does not necessarily mean that the entire sentence is within quotation marks and that the word itself is the very first word of the sentence within quotation marks. For example,

• He came to ask me whether I should capitalize the word «Zen».
• She didn’t quite understand the meaning of the word «Zen».

In both of the examples mentioned above, the word «Zen» is within quotation marks as it was referred exclusively to the actual word itself.

 2. The Word is Used as an Adjective For Specific Common Noun

It is very easy to consider that if the word «Zen» comes right before a common noun then it won’t be capitalized. However, the actual use of the word tends to make it act as a proper noun and thus it has to be capitalized. For example,

• She feels that Zen meditation won’t help her to achieve her mental stability.

This very example provides better clarity that whenever the word «Zen» comes right before a common noun that the word «Zen» will be capitalized.

These exceptions even though may seem trivial for understanding the point of view but it is important to know that the absence of this knowledge may impair your general concepts.

Are There Examples that Can Cumulatively Explain These Rules and Exceptions?

Since the concept for understanding is vitally important, therefore the following examples will cover the rules and exceptions cumulatively for ease in clarification.

Here are a few examples:

•  The Zen Buddhist decided not to teach the art of Zen meditation.

In this very first example, the second and first point of the rule and exception respectively has been covered where it’s used as a title of a proper and common noun is illustrated. Another example to illustrate the remaining rules can be:

•  Zen is the state of feeling in which one can easily find mental stability.
•  Come to think of it, she doesn’t acknowledge the teachings of Zen.
•  Every once in a week, they try to practice Zen meditation but ultimately fail.

These examples altogether will allow you to answer your question of whether you capitalize the word «Zen» in a sentence. Not only that, these examples will help clarify all the angles of the rules and the exceptions no matter how they are interpreted.

However, if it is used as an adjective used to express the meaning of either «calm» or «tranquility» then the word won’t be capitalized. For example,

•  He isn’t feeling the zen energy that he usually feels while working.
•  His zen energy is completely depleted because of his hectic lifestyle.

So, is It Safe to Say that The Word «Zen» is Generally Capitalized?

Yes, it is safe to say that in more than 80% of the cases when the word «Zen» is used it will be capitalized. However, it is still very important and crucial to keep in mind other rules and exceptions.

As a summary, we will capitalize «zen» when used as a proper noun and when used as a compound noun like in «Zen Buddhism» or «Zen Buddhist». However, when using it as an adjective to describe the ambiance or mood of a place or person it does not need to be capitalized.

Your Moment of Zen

 Exploring the Meaning of a Word

James Myoun Ford

A Talk Delivered at the Inaugural of the
Anaheim Zen Sangha

A member community of the
Empty Moon Zen Network

6 April, 2019

As is my wont I was rummaging around the interwebs exploring how people use and, okay, sometimes abuse the word “Zen.” At a delightful webpage, “Pain in the English,” I ran across a query from someone using the handle “vindibul2” saying,

“I recently had the urge to use ‘zen’ to describe a way of traveling light, calm, and without want. However, after looking in a dictionary, I learned that ‘zen’ is not listed as ever being an adjective. How can this be so? I am absolutely sure I have heard things being described as ‘zen’ on television and in media.”

Of course, the writer is right. Zen has become a very elastic word, and as an adjective conveying a calm and perhaps detached approach is one of them. The Daily Show provides another. While I’ve always been too old to watch it in real time, over the years I would be treated to clips and occasionally see reruns of the full shows. This was especially true when Jon Stewart hosted the program.

I don’t recall when I first heard him say “And now for your moment of Zen.” Although I looked it up and this segment has been going since 1996. The first time it was announced I thought, oh, something about Zen! Silly me. It’s the regular concluding segment featuring a video clip that vaguely connects to some earlier episode. I find the subtext tends toward either irony or on occasion flat out non sequitur.

I think that non sequitur use is the least used. The word from Zen usage that is used for that is “koan.” But today we’re talking Zen. In the comments to that query on “Pain in the English,” “ps60s”responded, “’Zen’ used casually nowadays seems to me to mean ‘mellow,’ ‘mature without being stodgy or Establishment, ‘savvy,’ ‘cool’ and most importantly, with an insight of how all things are One, peace is a primary goal of being alive, and reverence for Nature and inner beauty is another.”

Zen practitioners, people involved in the religion and spiritual discipline called Zen are often amused, and sometimes offended by at least some of these usages. More, I think, are amused. Like my friend the Zen priest and author Gesshin Greenwood who named her blog “That’s So Zen,” Me, I too fall into the amused category. Mostly.

This made me wonder how long that word “zen” has been floating around in English. I queried some friends who care about such things. Zen priest Eshin Godfrey noted Engelbert Kaempfer’s 1727 “History of Japan” as the likely earliest citation. In his book Zen is spelled Sen.

However, several, starting with the Zen priest Jisho Warner noted the earliest generally available book to use ‘zen” was the Japanese Zen master Soen Shaku’s 1906 Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot. He is a very, very important person in Western convert Zen. Soen Roshi provided the Zen presence at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, and later also brought two disciples to the West, the priest Nyogen Senzaki and the scholar D. T. Suzuki.

I would hazard our contemporary loose and sometimes muddled use of Zen in fact traces to that scholar. D. T. Suzuki wrote widely in English about Zen and tended to focus on the experience of awakening as an a-historical encounter with fundamental reality. Which is a true thing. But also, Zen is something that exists within a historical context. More on that in a bit. I believe its Suzuki’s admirer a young Alan Watts, who took that idea of Zen as something beyond time and space and just ran with it. His 1926 Spirit of Zen, and more, his best-selling 1957 Way of Zenwould present Zen as only tangentially connected to an ancient spiritual tradition. It made Zen very much the thing of the moment. And led to all those uses we commonly hear today.

Zen is in fact a Japanese word, their pronunciation of the Chinese word Chan, which is the Chinese pronunciation of the Sanskrit Dhyana. Dhyana literally translates as concentration but is usually understood as meditation. So, the most normative use of the word Zen is to describe a school of Buddhism focusing on meditation.

It’s more than that. Of course. Actually, with some qualifications I like the wild usages ranging from, okay, my least favorite, non sequitur, and cool, right to harmonizing with the way things are, to the more etymologically correct type of Buddhist meditation, and the community of practice rooted in that meditation style.

In fact, Zen has always been approached from many different angles. In the early Ninth century the renowned Chinese master of both Zen and philosophical Huayen, Guifeng Zongmi spoke of five styles of Zen. In the Twentieth century the Japanese Zen master Haku’un Yasutani adapted Guifeng’s list to express his own observations about the various ways people engage Zen.

That adaptation is captured in Philip Kapleau’s monumental 1965 book Three Pillars of Zen. Yasutani took Guifeng’s lifelong attempt at reconciling the indigenous wisdoms of China, particularly Confucianism with Buddhism, and then applied it to our contemporary concern for Zen in the context of East meeting West.

Now, the list is arbitrary, both as to what it gives attention and what it ignores. It is further problematic with the implicit hierarchy in its ordering. So, hold all of it lightly, and especially please don’t take the order as suggesting the first mentioned is the least true while the last is the truest true. Rather, take this list as an invitation to consider the various things that capture our human hearts on what we might call the spiritual path. Who knows which of these is going to be that truest true for us, for you or me?

That said, the list begins with Bompu Zen. Bompu is usually rendered into English as “ordinary Zen.” But, maybe it’s better to call it “secular Zen.” This is where we encounter Zen the way many people engage yoga or Chinese movement practices – as a form of mental exercise. Often it is completely stripped of its original religious content. Zen is engaged for health, in this case mental health. Perhaps Jon Kabat-Zinn’sMindfulness Based Stress Reduction and similar programs could be seen as examples of “bompu Buddhism.”

Over the many years I’ve encountered any number of people who have come to our Zen sangha because they wanted to lower their blood pressure, get a little calmer in the storm of. Life, just finding some perspective as they live their lives. And, here’s the deal. People can practice for their health and as the practice does the practice, well, things happen. What I’ve learned watching folk who practice for health reasons, physical or mental, is they often find something of enormous value. And if that’s your goal, well, you have a place here.

Second, Shojo Zen. Rendered into English as “self-centered Zen,” is similar to Bompu. In fact all of these variations are going to overlap one way or another. I think this describes the most common ways Zen and psychology meet.

There’s a rapidly growing literature exploring Zen and Western psychology. And, me, I’ve noted psychological corrections to some aspects of Zen that have been desperately needed. I think of the work of the early American Zen teacher Joko Beck, as well as that of her successors Ezra Bayda and perhaps most importantly Barry Magid.

The focus here is on self-cultivation. Frankly, some of the wisest teachers I’ve encountered lead from this direction. If this is the Zen that calls to you, again, you’re welcome here.

Third is Gedo Zen, or “Zen outside the Way.” This is the adaptation of Zen by other spiritual traditions. I think of Christian Zen as the most vital example of this kind of Zen. The one-time Jesuit priest, scholar and Zen teacher Ruben Habito’s Living Zen, Loving God, provides a small peek into what this can look like within the Christian adaptation of Zen & its practices.

For Christian and Buddhist partisans any “Christian Zen” often feels like describing a bumble bee. It just should not be able to fly. The parts are wrong. And, yet, it does. I’ve seen people grow deep and wise in this style of Zen. So, of course, if you find this your Zen, you are most welcome here.

And, the list doesn’t end there. In fact, within what we might call “normative” or Zen there are two rather distinct variations.

Godo Zen is usually designated “Buddhist Zen.” Here we find a type of Zen focused on the saving of all beings, and the striving for awakening. The fundamental practices of Mahayana Buddhism. The reality of this way is that it actually opens the heart to the fullness of who we are. And if you’re a Buddhist looking for a Buddhist practice, welcome.

And, finally, Saijojo Zen, or “Perfected Zen.” Did I mention the difficulty of creating hierarchies simply by how we order a list? But, this is the Zen of cutting to the chase. Here is the Zen where zazen does zazen, where striving and rest are not two. Nor are they one. So, if this quiet awareness without picking or choosing is your path, welcome.

Zen. With all this a real question. What Zen will you find here?

For Zen to authentically be Zen, at least as I see it, the great matter is always about awakening. Zen in the last analysis is always about awakening – that great step away from the constraints of our sense of isolation, beyond what on the Zen way we call form and emptiness. In awakening we are neither trapped by the dualism of our mind’s engagement with the world, nor with the profound intuition of unity or boundlessness.

This is the great gift of Zen, the salving of the heart, the quickening of the spirit, the enlivening of matter. Call it the nondual life. But only if you understand these words fall short.

And, of course this nondual consciousness is not the sole property of Zen. But, Zen, I honestly believe, brings the best bag of tools going. The spiritual technologies of Zen, especially zazen, shikantaza, and koan introspection – especially as it developed in the Hakuin inheritance, are unparalleled gifts to longing human hearts. And that’s what we do here.

There are more things needed. Awakening by itself is not enough. I’ve learned that the hard way. I’ve seen people bypass their lives in the quest of that awakening beyond form and empty, who end up monsters of the spirit, people with “an eye” as we say, but who cannot balance a checkbook and sometimes incapable of governing their passions. So. Awakening is everything. And it’s not enough.

And so Zen needs something more than simply awakening and its tools. It needs larger contexts of support and integration. It needs to become not simply a private practice. Although, that intimate engagement of the individual is at the heart of it. However, it is also a communal practice. It is people rubbing up against each other, held together within a container of presence and focused with liturgy and study, work and play.

All of this taken together is a Zen of humility and spiritual friendship. Here we hold ourselves and each other accountable. And here we support each other as we explore a life worth living. And living it.

All of this.

Your moment of Zen.

Welcome.

Some people genuinely try to express what they believe to be the meaning of Zen via their work or blog. Others may simply be riding on the popularity of Zen Habits, with its more than two million readers.

And some credit for the popularity of the word should go to the icons who introduced Zen into mainstream consciousness starting in the ’50’s:  Jack Kerouac with the book The Dharma Bums, the philosopher and writer Alan Watts, the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, and Robert M. Pirsig known for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

But just to set the record straight, Zen is not…

• a habit

• simplicity

• a state of peace

• a state of mind, in the ordinary sense

• a minimalist aesthetic

• living simply

• a destination

• nor is it just being in the moment

These are merely popular concepts about Zen.  In reality, true Zen is far beyond concepts.

What is the True Meaning of Zen?

So what is Zen? Zen is a remarkable wisdom tradition.

It’s a path to fully awaken to your original nature, which is present right here, right now.  It’s the essence of wisdom and compassion embodied in Zen masters like Shunryu Suzuki-roishi and Thich Nhat Hahn.  It is a living lineage of tradition passed on since the time of the Buddha.

If you’re curious about the official Zen definition, according to the Random House Dictionary 2010, Zen is «…a Mahayana movement, introduced into China in the 6th century and into Japan in the 12th century, that emphasizes enlightenment for the student by the most direct possible means.»

«Zen» is actually shorthand for Zen Buddhism.  Zen is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam although there are many Zen meditation centers in Europe and the United States as well.

The word Zen is derived from the Chinese word «chán» and the sanskrit word «dhyana,» which mean «meditation.» In sanskrit, the root meaning is «to see, to observe, to look.»

Zen is a noun. Zenic is an adjective.

A Deeper Look At Zen from Suzuki Roishi

It’s not uncommon to misunderstand Zen even when you study and practice it. That’s why it helps to have a teacher.  In these Zen quotes, the great spiritual master Shunryu Suzuki-roishi explains the deeper meaning of Zen.

«And this misunderstanding—the misunderstanding you have about Zen, I think—when we say:  Zen, oh, Zen is wonderful [laughs].  Whatever you do, that is Zen [laughing].  Even though you are doing something wrong, that is Zen.  Whatever you do is Zen.  That is why I like Zen.  [Laughs, laughter.]  This kind of misunderstanding I think you will have about Zen.  But what we actually mean is quite opposite.»

There is nothing imprecise about Zen.  At the same time, it’s almost impossible to put your finger on true Zen.

«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.» — from the introduction to Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki-roishi.

Zen mind cannot be understood from the perspective of our ordinary, dualistic mind.

«We say «big mind,» or «small mind,» or «Buddha mind,» or «Zen mind,» and these words mean something, you know, but something we cannot and should not try to understand in terms of experience. We talk about enlightenment experience, but it is not some experience we will have in terms of good or bad, time or space, past or future. It is experience or consciousness beyond those distinctions or feelings.  …Enlightenment cannot be asked for in your ordinary way of thinking. When you are not involved in this way of thinking, you have some chance of understanding what Zen experience is.» —  from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki-roishi.

«When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer.»

«Even though waves arise, the essence of your mind is pure; it is just like clear water with a few waves. Actually water always has waves. Waves are the practice of the water.. To speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion. Water and waves are one.» —  from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki-roishi.

If you would like a taste of true Zen, a good place to start would be with Shunryu Suzuki’s spiritual classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

The Allure of the Word «Zen»

There’s no turning back from the fact that “Zen” has acquired a colloquial meaning in modern life.  But bear in mind, before you name your next child “Zen,” a word can loose its power when overused and start to feel commercialized or gimmicky. Still, chances are there will be many more blogs with «Zen» in their titles and many more businesses with names that capitalize on its new promise of a calmer and simpler life.

This is just a gentle reminder, amidst the pull of popular trends, let’s not forget the profound and true meaning of Zen.

If you liked this article, you might also want to read:

• 21 Meditation Tips You Need to Know As a Beginner

• How to Let Go of Self-Attachment (And Why It’s Important)

• The True Meaning of Non-Attachment and How It Sets You Free

Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious!  Don’t forget to  sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self. 

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