Zen Buddhism: Characteristics and Origins

This paper is a general description of Zen Buddhism, covering its origins in China, its spread to Japan, and how it differs from other forms of Buddhism. The paper will also touch on its similarities to other forms of mystical religion in other traditions. Zen is very paradoxical and hard to define, let alone understand, as are mystical religions in general, but at least some general things can be usually said in comparing them, even though a Zen Buddhist would probably deny both that Zen is mystical and that it is a religion.

Zen Buddhism is derived from the Chinese ch'an, which is derived in turn from the Sanskrit dhyana; all three terms mean "meditation." Meditation had, of course, always been a part of all Indian religion. Indian texts on yoga and meditation were among the first to be translated into Chinese, and were received enthusiastically, especially by the Taoists, who already were involved with similar practices. However, because they were technical and difficult, interpretation of these texts went through an evolutionary process to adapt these techniques to Chinese society and culture. This evolution of theology and practice eventuated in Zen Buddhism.

Ch'an Buddhist meditation was of a new type. Indian thought had long talked of using meditation to silence the "monkey mind," the incessant chattering of the ordinary ego, in order to achieve what one supposes would these days be called stress reduction and to perhaps access the intuitive and other abilitie

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the pricks." By happily cooperating with the Divine Plan, or, in Western terms, by surrendering to the will of God, one avoids that pain, thus accomplishing the Buddhist goal of detachment, and yet becomes an active participant in the Divine Plan of salvation for all humanity, without withdrawing from the world. It may be that this sort of experience is thus the explanation for the pattern emphasized by Arnold Toynbee, that among world religious leaders there is a noticeable tendency for there to be a withdrawal from the world, an internal experience of some sort, and then a return to activity in the world. Another aspect of this sort of Enlightenment experience is its "timelessness," not merely in the sense of its being a universal experience that is to some degree not culturally determined, but also in the sense that usually during the experience one is aware of the absence of the ordinary experience of time. That is, the Enlightenee is almost never sure how long the experience lasted--perhaps it was instantaneous, or perhaps it lasted for hours--because the ordinary sense of time passing does not operate. Usually a person concludes from this experience that time, at least as ordinarily conceived, is as much of an illusion

Category: Philosophy - Z