is also the official faith of the Kingdom of Laos and is tied closely to the government, as it is in Thailand. In Laos, Buddhism has for centuries existed side by side with the cult of the spirits so that the two together constitute a belief system. The Theravada Buddhism that thrives in Sri Lanka and other areas of Southeast Asia is one of the earliest variants of Buddhism, a tradition that preserves a clear understanding of the Buddha as a man who achieved enlightenment and developed monks as accomplished followers of his teachings.
Buddhism is defined in these regions first by the particular tenets of the religion which separate it from other religions and second by the manner in which it is integrated into the different societies of Southeast Asia. Buddhism is one of the major religions in Japan, but at the same time Japan has never become a truly Buddhist country:
The authority of the great shrines which had survived from ancient times was maintained; also the Ise Shrine and the imperial accession ceremony and the harvest festival remained as before. At the same time, however, Buddhist temples were going up all over Japan and there were fervent Buddhist believers among both Emperors and Empresses.
"Zen" is an abbreviation of the word "zenna" and is the Japanese way of reading the Chinese word "ch'an-na," or in short form, "ch'an." In turn, this is the Chinese word for the Sanskrit term "dhyana," which refers to collectedness of mind or meditative absorption in which all dualistic distinctions, such as I/you, subject/object, or true/false, are eliminated. Zen can be regarded both exoterically and esoterically. Exoterically, Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism, which developed in the sixth and seventh centuries in China from the meeting of Dhyana Buddhism and Taoism. Zen is in this sense a religious sect, the teachings and practices of which are directed toward self-realization leading finally to complete awak...