ZEN BELIEFS
Zen emphasizes intuitive insight and living for the "here and now." The idea of Zen is not to do something deliberately or with intent, but rather to remove yourself from what you are doing at let "higher forces" guide you. Zen looks down on the use of logic, intellect, idolatry and sacred texts and stresses self-reliance and meditation and emphasizes concrete thought over metaphysical speculation.
The aim of Zen Buddhism is to purify the soul and achieve salvation through inner enlightenment, something that happens for brief instant after 15 or 20 years of meditation. To reach the state of enlightenment, an individuals must unite his or her body and mind with the forces that drive nature. On the journey to enlightenment, Zen Buddhists believe, each level of achievement is just as important as the final state of divinity reached at the end.
Zen emphasizes teachings transmitted from master to disciple rather than a dependence on texts or iconography. Zen also teaches that every act in life, even mundane activities from of everyday life like eating and bathing and doing chores, are directly related to Zen practice and Are regulated by zen.
Christmas Humphreys, one of the leading pioneers in the history of Buddhism in Britain, wrote that "Zen is a subject extremely easy to misunderstand." Zen often seems paradoxical — it requires an intense discipline which, when practised properly, results in total spontaneity and ultimate freedom. This natural spontaneity should not be confused with impulsiveness. [Source: BBC |::|]
Because Zen is so hard to explain here are some quotations that may help you get an idea of it:
The essence of Zen Buddhism is achieving enlightenment by seeing one's original mind (or original nature) directly; without the intervention of the intellect.
The key to Buddhahood in Zen is simply self-knowledge.
To be a human being is to be a Buddha. Buddha nature is just another name for human nature — true human nature.
Zen is simply to be completely alive.
Zen is short for Zen Buddhism. It is sometimes called a religion and sometimes called a philosophy. Choose whichever term you prefer; it simply doesn't matter.
Zen is not a philosophy or a religion.
Zen Practices
According to the BBC: “Zen Buddhists pay less attention to scripture as a means of learning than they do to various methods of practising Zen. The most common way of teaching is for enlightenment to be communicated direct from master to pupil. [Source: BBC |::|]
Zen practices are aimed at taking the rational and intellectual mind out of the mental loop, so that the student can become more aware and realise their own Buddha-nature. Sometimes even (mild) physical violence is used to stop the student intellectualising or getting stuck in some other way.
Students of Zen aim to achieve enlightenment by the way they live, and by mental actions that approach the truth without philosophical thought or intellectual endeavour.Some schools of Zen work to achieve sudden moments of enlightenment, while others prefer a gradual process.
Some things to keep in mind when practicing Zen
Zen is concerned with what actually is rather than what we think or feel about what is.
Zen is concerned with things as they are, without trying to interpret them.
Zen is big on intuitive understanding, on just 'getting it', and not so hot on philosophising.
Zen points to something before thinking, before all your ideas.
Zen tries to free the mind from the slavery of words and the constriction of logic.
Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.
Zen is meditation.
Enlightenment Is on the Inside
According to the BBC: “Zen is something a person does. It's not a concept that can be described in words. Despite that, words on this site will help you get some idea of what Zen is about. But remember, Zen does not depend on words — it has to be experienced in order to 'understand'. Enlightenment is inside
The essence of Zen Buddhism is that all human beings are Buddha, and that all they have to do is to discover that truth for themselves. Hakuin Ekaku wrote:
All beings by nature are Buddhas,
as ice by nature is water.
Apart from water there is no ice;
apart from beings, no Buddhas.
Human beings can't learn this truth by philosophising or rational thought, nor by studying scriptures, taking part in worship rites and rituals or many of the other things that people think religious people do. The first step is to control our minds through meditation and other techniques that involve mind and body; to give up logical thinking and avoid getting trapped in a spider's web of words.
Zen Monks and Asceticism
Many ascetic holy men in Japan, known as “hijiri”, are Zen Buddhists. Followers of a strict discipline called the "ascetic way," they hope to acquire superhuman powers through the attainment of merit, attending shrines, working as shaman and seeking "ecstatic inspiration" by climbing mountains. One man who who sought out this way of life told National Geographic, "I felt nothingness and that was valuable but I would not go back to the yamabushi life [life of the mountain ascetics]. There was no newspaper, no TV. Fasting I can tolerate, but no information makes me restless." [Source: Patrick Smith, National Geographic, September 1994]
Some Zen Buddhists engage in highly ritualized behavior. Priests in the Soto Zen sect, of example, only bath on dates that include a four or nine. Before they bath they bow three times and say, "We bath vowing to benefit all beings: may pure bodies and minds be purified both inwardly and outwardly."
Zen monks usually have a shaved head and wear black robes and white “tabi” (socks). They sometimes go out begging. It is not so important whether they collect anything or not. What matters is the act of begging. Monks in the Soto sect are expected to adopt one of three basic poses at all times. When standing or walking they are supposed to adopt the “ shashu” pose in which both hands are held over the heart with elbows horizontal and the left hand formed into a fist with right hand placed on top of the fist. The posture represents concealing one’s ego.
Zen Meditation
In Zen Buddhism the purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless (or even a purposeful) stream of thoughts. People often say that the aim of meditation is "to still the mind". Zen stresses meditation and disciplined aesthetics are expressed through traditional Japanese arts such as the tea ceremony, landscape gardening, archery, flower arranging or doing things like playing a shakuhachi flute with a basket over one's head. The calm orderly nature of these activities is supposed to free the mind and induce an inner sense of calm.
According to the BBC: “Zen Buddhism offers a number of methods of meditation to people — methods which have been used for a long time, and which have been shown to work. Zen Buddhists can meditate on their own or in groups. Meditating in a group — perhaps at a retreat called a sesshin or in a meditation room or zendo — has the benefit of reminding a person that they are both part of a larger Buddhist community, and part of the larger community of beings of every species. [Source: BBC]
The concept of clearing one’s mind was articulated by Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) as “ shikantaza”. Meditating monks are taught to cast their eyes downward, assume the lotus position, keep their backs straight, breath rhythmically, block sensation and attempt to clear their mind in such a way that enlightenment is allowed to grow out of the state of nothingness. If novice monks droop their head or fall asleep while mediating their instructor whacks them on the shoulder with a stick, telling them to "concentrate."
See Separate Article: ZEN MEDITATION factsanddetails.com
Koans and One Hand Clapping
Zen does not rely on scripture or the following of a particular teacher, as many other religions do. Instead, Zen often uses koans, or question-and-answer sessions between masters and disciples. The questions asked in koans often seem illogical and require a great deal of self-examination to understand. They are thought to help the person gain greater self-knowledge and achieve enlightenment, or satori.
According to the BBC: Koans are questions or statements, often paradoxes, that provoke spiritual understanding. They are often used by masters as a way of teaching pupils, and also to test enlightenment. Don't think that the koan and its solution are themselves wisdom and truth. They may be, but their particular importance here is their use as tools to help you understand the true nature of yourself and of everything, and to increase your awareness of what is. A well known koan is "In clapping both hands a sound is heard; what is the sound of one hand?" Koans can't be solved by study and analytical thought. [Source: BBC |::|]
In order to solve a koan, the pupil must leave behind all thoughts and ideas in order to respond intuitively. Koans don't have a right answer. Western pupils often find this very frustrating, since most westerners are used to trying to get the right (and only) answer to a problem. For the same reason, the truths of Zen can't be learned just by reading a scripture or getting a solution from a a teacher or a text book. The best way to work with koans is with a teacher. Without a teacher it can be too easy to fool yourself into thinking that you've solved a koan. The first collection of koans was made in the 11th century CE. They are a favourite teaching tool of the Rinzai school of Buddhism.”
In the book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones there is the story of the pupil being asked by the master, "You can hear the sound of two hands when they clap together. Now show me the sound of one hand." The pupil goes off to meditate on this matter. He hears some geisha music through his window and thinks that this is the answer. So he returns to his teacher, and on being asked the question he plays the geisha music as his answer. No! The teacher sends him away to meditate further.
While contemplating the question again, the pupil hears water dripping from a gutter. Back he goes to the teacher and imitates 'the sound of one hand' as dripping water. No! "That's the sound of dripping water, not the sound of one hand," says the teacher, and sends him away to practise more.
The pupil keeps trying. 'The sound of one hand' is the sighing of the wind. No!
'The sound of one hand' is the hooting of an owl. No!
'The sound of one hand' is the chirping of locusts. No!
At last, after almost a year, he went to his teacher. "What is the sound of one hand?" asked the teacher. But now the pupil was different; he had transcended all sounds and come to the soundless sound, the sound of one hand, and he demonstrated his realisation to the teacher.
Zen Aesthetics and Art
Zen is often applies to the arts. The shakuhachi, a kind of flute that arrived in Japan via China about 1,400 years ago, has a long association Zen and is said to have a meditative quality because its sound is so closely linked with human breath. Patterson Clark, an American who studied the shakuchi in Japan, told the Washington Post, the shakuhachi is “notoriously difficult to play...It forces a face-to-face confrontation with expectation, self-criticism, disappointment, frustration, and impatience — all in a single breath. Exhaling through all these impediments and releasing one’s attachments to them can dissolve the ego so that one experiences only the sound — and become the sound.”
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Today, ink monochrome painting is the art form most closely associated with Zen Buddhism. In general, the first Japanese artists to work in this medium were Zen monks who painted in a quick and evocative manner to express their religious views and personal convictions. Their preferred subjects were Zen patriarchs, teachers, and enlightened individuals. In time, however, artists moved on to secular themes such as bamboo, flowering plums, orchids, and birds, which in China were endowed with scholarly symbolism. The range of subject matter eventually broadened to include literary figures and landscapes, and the painting styles often became more important than personal expression. [Source:Metropolitan Museum of Art]
“Zen Buddhism’s emphasis on simplicity and the importance of the natural world generated a distinctive aesthetic, which is expressed by the terms wabi and sabi. These two amorphous concepts are used to express a sense of rusticity, melancholy, loneliness, naturalness, and age, so that a misshapen, worn peasant’s jar is considered more beautiful than a pristine, carefully crafted dish. While the latter pleases the senses, the former stimulates the mind and emotions to contemplate the essence of reality. This artistic sensibility has had an enormous impact on Japanese culture up to modern times.
Zen calligraphy
Life in a Japanese Zen Monastery
At Eiheji Temple in Fukui Prefecture, monks wake up at 3:30am in the summer and 4:30am in the winter. They are allowed a single bowl of water with which to wash their face and clean their teeth. After that they spend 40 minutes meditating and one hour to 2½ hours at a morning service.
Daily routine in a Zen monastery
3:30am — wake up
4:15 — breakfast
4:45 to 6:00 — meditation
7:00 to 11:15 — cleaning up and chores
11:30 — lunch
1:00pm — cleaning up and other tasks
6:05 — dinner
9:30 to around midnight — meditation
Breakfast usually consists of rice with soup and pickles. The better part of the morning is taken up with chores such as cleaning corridor floors or working in the garden. Cell phones, televisions and newspapers are forbidden, On monk told the Daily Yomiuri he didn’t find out about a Prime Minister resigning until two weeks after the fact when he saw news about on scrap newspapers he was using for cleaning.
Monks often spend a lot of time sweeping, scrubbing floors and cleaning. These activities are regarded as part of their monastic training. One monk told the Daily Yomiuri he didn’t mind that, “The shortage of sleep still annoys me most, although I have become used to other hardships.”
Staying at a Japanese Zen Monastery
Describing his experience at a Zen monastery Patrick Smith wrote in National Geographic: "I ate an austere dinner of rice and fresh, cold vegetables. Under the watchful eye of a youthful priest-trainee, I spent 30 minutes at “zazen” meditation that evening. Before I could begin it took him that time to get my position just right — legs properly crossed, hands correctly placed, head at the desired angle. Then I was to follow my thoughts wherever they led. I slept on a tatami mat on the floor." [Source:"Inner Japan" by Patrick Smith, National Geographic September 1994]
"At 3:30 the next morning," Smith continued, "I was awakened and led to a room where row upon row of priests, kneeling on a vast spread of tatami, were softly chanting a Buddhist sutra. So the monastery began its day. It was cold and breakfast (as austere as dinner) was hours away; hunger gnawed at my attention, and my eyes wandered across the old plaster walls and the heavy ceiling beams, darkened by the smoke of countless sticks of incense."
See Eiheiji Temple Under KANAZAWA AND FUKUI factsanddetails.com
Image Sources: 1) 1st Daruma, British Museum, 2) 2nd daruma, Onmark Productions, 3) Koyasan and diagrams JNTO 4) Monks, Ray Kinnane, 5) 19th century monks and hermit 6) Visualizing Culture, MIT Education 7) calligraphy, painting, Tokyo National Museum.
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Daily Yomiuri, Times of London, Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated January 2024