Zen
When the Chinese mind came in contact with Indian thought in the form
of Buddhism, around the first century A.D., two parallel developments
took place. On the one hand, the translation of the Buddhist sutras
stimulated Chinese thinkers and led them to interpret the teachings
of the Indian Buddha in the light of their own philosophies. Thus
arose an immensely fruitful exchange of ideas which culminated in the
Hua-yen (Sanskrit: Avatamsaka) school of Buddhism in China and in the
Kegon school in Japan.
On the other hand, the pragmatic side of the Chinese mentality
responded to the impact of Indian Buddhism by concentrating on its
practical aspects and developing them into a special kind of
spiritual discipline which was given the name Ch'an, a word usually
translated as "meditation." This Ch'an philosophy was eventually
adopted by Japan, around A.D. 1200, and has been cultivated there,
under the name of Zen, as a living tradition up to the present day.
Zen is thus a unique blend of the philosophies and idiosyncrasies of
three different cultures. It is a way of life which is typically
Japanese, and yet it reflects the mysticism of India, the Taoists'
love of naturalness and spontaneity and the thorough pragmatism of
the Confucian mind.
In spite of its rather special character, Zen is purely Buddhistic in
its essence because its aim is no other than that of the Buddha
himself: the attainment of enlightenment, an experience known in Zen
as satori. The enlightenment experience is the essence of all schools
of Eastern philosophy, but Zen is unique in that it concentrates
exclusively on this experience and is not interested in any further
interpretations. In the words of Suzuki, "Zen is discipline in
enlightenment." From the standpoint of Zen, the awakening of the
Buddha and the Buddha's teaching that everybody has the potential of
attaining this awakening are the essence of Buddhism. The rest of the
doctrine, as expounded in the voluminous sutras, is seen as
supplementary.
The experience of Zen is thus the experience of satori, and since
this experience, ultimately, transcends all categories of thought,
Zen is not interested in any abstraction or conceptualization. It has
no special doctrine or philosophy, no formal creeds or dogmas, and it
asserts that this freedom from all fixed beliefs makes it truly
spiritual.
More than any other school of Eastern mysticism, Zen is convinced
that words can never express the ultimate truth. it must have
inherited this conviction from Taoism, which showed the same
uncompromising attitude. "If one asks about the Tao and another
answers him," said Chuang Tzu, "neither of them knows it."'
Yet the Zen experience can be passed on from teacher to pupil, and it
has, in fact, been transmitted for many centuries by special methods
proper to Zen. In a classic summary of four lines, Zen is described
as:
A special transmission outside the scriptures,
Not founded upon words and letters,
Pointing directly to the human mind,
Seeing into one's nature and attaining Buddhahood.
This technique of "direct pointing" constitutes the special flavor of
Zen. It is typical of the Japanese mind which is more intuitive than
intellectual and likes to give out facts as facts without much
comment. The Zen masters were not given to verbosity and despised all
theorizing and speculation. Thus they developed methods of pointing
directly to the truth, with sudden and spontaneous actions or words,
which expose the paradoxes of conceptual thinking and, like the koans
I have already mentioned, are meant to stop the thought process to
make the student ready for the mystical experience. This technique is
well illustrated by the following examples of short conversations
between master and disciple. In these conversations, which make up
most of the Zen literature, the masters talk as little as possible
and use their words to shift the disciples' attention from abstract
thoughts to the concrete reality.
A monk, asking for instruction, said to Bodhidharma: "I have no peace
of mind. Please pacify my mind."
"Bring your mind here before me," replied Bodhidharma, "and I will
pacify it!"
"But when I seek my own mind," said the monk, "I cannot find it."
"There!" snapped Bodhidharma, "I have pacified your mind!"
A monk told Joshu: "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach
me."
Joshu asked: "Have you eaten your rice porridge?"
The monk replied: "I have eaten"
Joshu said "Then you had better wash your bowl"
These dialogues bring out another aspect which is characteristic of
Zen. Enlightenment in Zen does not mean withdrawal from the world but
means, on the contrary, active participation in everyday affairs.
This viewpoint appealed very much to the Chinese mentality which
attached great importance to a practical, productive life and to the
idea of family perpetuation, and could not accept the monastic
character of Indian Buddhism. The Chinese masters always stressed
that Ch'an, or Zen, is our daily experience, the 'everyday mind' as
Ma-tsu proclaimed. Their emphasis was on awakening in the midst of
everyday affairs and they made it clear that they saw everyday life
not only as the way to enlightnment but as enlightment itself.
In Zen, satori means the immediate experience of the Buddha nature of
all things first and foremost among these things are the objects,
affairs and people involved in everyday life, so that while it
emphasizes life's practicalities, Zen is nevertheless profoundly
mystical. Living entirely in the present and giving full attention to
everyday affairs, one who has attained satori, experiences the wonder
and mystery of life in every single act.
How wondrous this, how mysterious!
I carry fuel, I draw water.
The perfection of Zen is thus to live one's everyday life naturally
and spontaneously. When Po-chang was asked to difine Zen, he
said, "When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep." Although this sounds
simple and obvious, like so much in Zen, it is in fact quite a
difficult task. To regain the naturalness of our original nature
requires long training and constitutes a great spritual achievement.
In the words of a famous Zen saying,
Before you study Zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers;
while you are studying Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and
rivers are no longer rivers; but once you have had enlightenment
mountains are once again mountains and rivers again rivers.
Zen's emphasis on naturalness and spontaneity certainly shows it
Taoist roots but the basis for this emphasis is strictly Buddhistic.
It is the belief in the perfection of our original nature, the
realization that the process of enlightenment consists merely in
becoming what we already are from the beginning. When the Zen master
Po-chang was asked about seeking for the Buddha nature, he
answered, "It's much like riding an ox in search of the ox."
Zen
NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:
www.adishakti.org/www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/ — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/ — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/ — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/ — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/ — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/ — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/ — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/ — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)
