Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism[note 1] that developed in China during the 6th century

as Chn. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and east
to Japan.[2]
Zen emphasizes rigorous meditation-practice, insight into Buddha-nature, and the personal
expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others.[3][4] As such, it
deemphasizes mere knowledge of sutrasand doctrine[5][6] and favors direct understanding
through zazen and interaction with an accomplished teacher.[7]
The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahyna thought, especially Yogcra,
the Tathgatagarbha Sutras and Huayan, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality,
and the Bodhisattva-ideal.[8][9] ThePrajpramit literature[10] and, to a lesser
extent, Madhyamaka have also been influential.

Etymology[edit]
The word Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word
(djen) (pinyin: Chn), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyna,*11+ which can
be approximately translated as "absorption" or "meditative state".[12]

Zen practice[edit]
Zen meditation[edit]
See also: Dhyna in Buddhism
Central to Zen is the practice of dhyana or meditation.

Observing the breath[edit]

Venerable Hsuan Hua meditating in the Lotus Position. Hong Kong, 1953.
During sitting meditation, practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position,
half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza postures, using the dhyna mudr. To regulate the mind,
awareness is directed towards counting or watching the breath or put in the energy center
below the navel (see also anapanasati).[web 1] 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. This practice may
simply be called sitting dhyna, which is zuchn () in Chinese, and zazen () in
Japanese.

Observing the mind[edit]

In the Soto school of Zen, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form
of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to
arise and pass away without interference. Considerable textual, philosophical, and
phenomenological justification of this practice can be found throughout Dgen's Shbgenz,
as for example in the "Principles of Zazen"[web 2] and the "Universally Recommended
Instructions for Zazen".[web 3] In the Japanese language, this practice is called Shikantaza.

Intensive group meditation[edit]

Intensive group meditation may be practiced occasionally in some temples. 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 the practice of sitting meditation. The numerous 3050 minute long
meditation periods are interwoven with rest breaks, meals, and short periods of work that are
performed with the same mindfulness; nightly sleep is kept to seven hours or less. In modern
Buddhist practice in Japan, Taiwan, and the West, lay students often attend these intensive
practice sessions, which are typically 1, 3, 5, or 7 days in length. These are held at many Zen
centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddha's attainment of Anuttar
Samyaksabodhi. One distinctive aspect of Zen meditation in groups is the use of a kyosaku - a
flat wooden slat used to keep meditators focused and awake.

Kan practice*edit+
Main article: Kan

Chinese character for "nothing", Chinese: w (Japanese: mu). It figures in the famous
Zhaozhou's dog kan
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, practice with the kan method became popular,
whereas others practiced "silent illumination."[13] This became the source of some differences
in practice between the Linji and Caodong traditions.

A kan, literally "public case", is a story or dialogue, describing an interaction between a Zen
master and a student. These anecdotes give a demonstration of the master's insight. Koans
emphasize the non-conceptional insight that the Buddhist teachings are pointing to. Koans can
be used to provoke the "great doubt", and test a student's progress in Zen practice.

Kan-inquiry may be practiced during sitting meditation (zazen), walking meditation (kinhin),
and throughout all the activities of daily life. Kan practice is particularly emphasized by the

Japanese Rinzai school, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the
teaching line.[14]

The Zen student's mastery of a given kan 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 kan, practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of
the kan and of Zen through their responses. The teacher may approve or disapprove of the
answer and guide the student in the right direction. The interaction with a Zen-teacher is
central in Zen, but makes Zen-practice, at least in the west, also vulnerable to
misunderstanding and exploitation.[15]

Zen chanting and liturgy[edit]

See also: Buddhist chant
A practice in many Zen monasteries and centers is a daily liturgy service. Practitioners chant
major sutras such as the Heart Sutra, chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra (often called the
"Avalokiteshvara Sutra"), the Song of the Jewel Mirror Awareness, the Great Compassionate
Heart Dharani (Daihishin Dharani), and other minor mantras.

The Butsudan is the altar in a monastery where offerings are made to the images of the
Buddha or Bodhisattvas. The same term is also used in Japanese homes for the altar where
one prays to and communicates with deceased family members. As such, reciting liturgy in Zen
can be seen as a means to connect with the Bodhisattvas of the past. Liturgy is often used
during funerals, memorials, and other special events as means to invoke the aid of
supernatural powers.[citation needed]

Chanting usually centers on major Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara (see also Guan Yin) and
Manjusri. According to Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are beings who have taken vows to
remain in Samsara to help all beings achieve liberation from the cycle of birth, death and
rebirth. Since the Zen practitioner's aim is to walk the Bodhisattva path, chanting can be used
as a means to connect with these beings and realize this ideal within oneself.

Lay services[edit]
Though in western Zen the emphasis is on zen-meditation, and the application of Zenteachings in daily life, Japanese Zen also serves a function in public religion. Funerals play an
important role as a point of contact between the monks and the laity. Statistics published by
the St school state that 80 percent of St laymen visit their temple only for reasons having

to do with funerals and death, while only 17 percent visit for spiritual reasons and a mere 3
percent visit a Zen priest at a time of personal trouble or crisis.[16]

Zen teachings[edit]
Main article: Doctrinal background of Zen
Though Zen-narrative states that it is a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not
stand upon words",[17] Zen does have a rich doctrinal background. Most essential are "the
most fundamental teaching [...] that we are already originally enlightened",[18] and the
Bodhisattva ideal, which supplements insight with Karu, compassion with all sentient
beings.[19]

To point out 'essential Zen-teachings' is almost impossible, given the variety of schools, the
extended history of 1500 years, and the emphasis on suchness, reality just-as-it-is, which has
to be expressed in daily life, not in words.[citation needed] But common to most schools and
teachings is this emphasis on suchness and Buddha-nature, the Bodhisattva-ideal, and the
priority of zazen.[citation needed]

Zen teachings can be likened to "the finger pointing at the moon".[20] Zen teachings point to
the moon, awakening, "a realization of the unimpeded interpenetration of the
dharmadhatu".[21] But the Zen-tradition also warns against taking its teachings, the pointing
finger, to be this insight itself.[22][web 4][web 5][23]

The various traditions lay various emphases in their teachings and practices:

There are two different ways of understanding and actually practicing Zen. These two different
ways are termed in Chinese pen chueh and shih-chueh respectively. The term pen chueh refers
to the belief that ones mind is from the beginning of time fully enlightened, while shih-chueh
refers to the belief that at some point in time we pass from imprisonment in ignorance and
delusion to a true vision of Zen realization: Our enlightenment is timeless, yet our realization
of it occurs in time. According to this belief experiencing a moment of awakening in this life is
of central importance.[24]

Rinzai[edit]
Main article: Rinzai school

The Rinzai-tradition emphasizes kensho, insight into one's true nature.[25] This is followed by
so-called post-satori practice, further practice to attain Buddhahood.[26][27][28]

Other Zen-teachers have also expressed sudden insight followed by gradual cultivation. Chinul,
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 kensho is at the start of the path to full enlightenment.[29]

To attain this primary insight and to deepen it, zazen and kan-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 the Four Ways of Knowing of Hakuin.[19] Another example of
depiction of stages on the path are the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures which detail the steps on the
Path.

Soto[edit]
Main article: St
The St-school has de-emphasized kans since Gent Sokuch (circa 1800), and instead
emphasized shikantaza.[30] Dogen, the founder of Soto in Japan, emphasised that practice and
awakening cannot be separated. By practicing shikantaza, attainment and Buddhahood are
already being expressed.[31] For Dogen, zazen, or shikantaza, is the essence of Buddhist
practice.[32]

Gradual cultivation is also recognized by the Caodong-teacher Tozan. The first syllable of his
name is part of the word "Soto".[web 6]

Sanbo Kyodan[edit]
The Sanbo Kyodan combines Soto and Rinzai teachings.[29][33] It is a Japanese lay
organization, which is highly influential in the West through the work of Hakuun Yasutani,
Philip Kapleau, Yamada Koun, and Taizan Maezumi. Yasutani mentions three goals of Zen:
development of concentration (joriki), awakening (kensho-godo), and realization of Zen in daily
life (mujodo no taigen).[29] Kensho is stressed,[33] but also post-satori practice.[34] Yasutani
discerns five kinds of Zen:[29]

Bompu Zen: aimed at bodily and mental health

Gedo Zen:, practices like dhyana, Yoga and Christian contemplation which are akin to Zen, but
not Buddhist
Shojo Zen: the Hinayana, aimed at one's own liberation
Daijo Zen: the Mahayana, aimed at attaining kensho and the realisation of Zen in daily life
Saijojo Zen: in which practice is enlightenment
Zen scripture[edit]
Main article: Zen and Sutras
The role of scripture in Zen[edit]
Contrary to the popular image, literature does play a role in the Zen-training. Zen is deeply
rooted in the teachings and doctrines of Mahyna Buddhism.*35+ Unsui, Zen-monks, "are
expected to become familiar with the classics of the Zen canon".[36] A review of the early
historical documents and literature of early Zen masters clearly reveals that they were well
versed in numerous Mahyna Buddhist stras.*5+*note 2+*note 3+*5+*note 4+

Nevertheless Zen is often pictured as anti-intellectual.[35] This picture of Zen emerged during
the Song Dynasty (9601297), when Chn 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.[39] The famous saying "do not establish words and letters", attributed in this period to
Bodhidharma,[40]

...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.[41]

What the Zen tradition emphasizes is that enlightenment of the Buddha came not through
conceptualization, but rather through direct insight.[42] But direct insight has to be supported
by study and understanding (hori[43]) of the Buddhist teachings and texts.[44][note 5]
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"".[46]

Grounding Chn 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 (601674), the Zen school
became established as a separate school of Buddhism.[47] It had to develop a doctrinal

tradition of its own to ascertain its position,[39] and to ground its teachings in a specific sutra.
Various sutra's were used for this, even before the time of Hongren: the rmldev Stra
(Huike),[48] Awakening of Faith (Daoxin),[48] the Lankavatara Sutra (East Mountain
School),[48][5] the Diamond Sutra[49] (Shenhui),[48] the Platform Sutra.[5][49] 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,[50][51][52]
Avatamsaka Sutra,[53] the Shurangama Sutra,[54] and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.[55]

Zen literature[edit]
See also: Zen literature
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 ;[39] the Chn transmission records, teng-lu,[56]
such as The Records of the Transmission of the Lamp (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu), compiled by
Tao-yn and published in 1004;[57] the "y-l" genre[58] consisting of the recorded sayings of
the masters, and the encounter dialogues; the koan-collections, such as the "Gateless Gate"
and the "Blue Cliff Record". 'and Dogen's Shobogenzo.

Zen organisation and institutions[edit]

Main articles: Zen organisation and institutions, Zen ranks and hierarchy, Dharma transmission
and Zen lineage charts
Religion is not only an individual matter, but "also a collective endeavour".[59] Though
individual experience[60] and the iconoclastic picture of Zen[61] are emphasised in the
western world, the Zen-tradition is maintained and transferred by a high degree of
institutionalisation and hierarchy.[62][63] In Japan, modernity has led to criticism of the formal
system and the commensement of lay-oriented Zen-schools such as the Sanbo Kyodan[33] and
the Ningen Zen Kyodan.[web 7] 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,[64][65][15] and maintaining the legitimacy and authority by limiting the number of
authorized teachers on the other hand,[59] is a challenge for the developing Zen-communities
in the west.