Wisdom Studies,
Issues of Our Time,
Counseling, and
Improvisational Music.
John Genyo Sprague, M.A.
Zen Basics
Written Sun, 2011-01-23
* The word Zen is the Japanese version of the Chinese Ch’an, which in turn is the Chinese version of the Sanskrit dhyana, which means meditation. Zen is thus a tradition centered on meditation practice, called zazen. Zen meditation emphasizes focusing the mind fully in the present moment, letting go of mental story lines, and sitting with complete awareness.
* The teaching of Zen incorporates a concept of direct mind-to-mind transmission from teacher to student going all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha. Thus, in Zen, the enlightened mind that the Buddha realized has been passed through the lineage to this very day.
* On the other hand, Zen, and indeed all of Mahayana Buddhism, affirms that enlightened Buddha nature is in fact present at all times in all beings. Therefore enlightenment is realizing what is already present – waking up to our own “true nature,” and the true nature of all things.
* Zen emphasizes a simple, direct experience of life, unmediated by concepts, ideas, and mental judgments.
* “Zen – it’s not what you think.”
* The Zen tradition really became what it is in China. The legendary Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, came to China, and enlivened Buddhism there, becoming the first Patriarch of the Ch'an lineage in China. It was in this lineage that great Chinese masters – such as the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng – developed it into Ch’an (or Zen) as we know it. In turn, the great Japanese master Dogen came to China and received the transmission of the lineage there, experienced personal awakening, and returned to Japan to establish Zen there. Zen is also an important tradition in Korea, where it is called Seon, and in Vietnam, where it is called Thien.
* Two prominent schools of Zen are Soto and Rinzai. The Soto school focuses on zazen sitting meditation, and a gradual process of waking up to ones enlightened nature. The Rinzai school, in addition to meditation, employs koan practice, which focuses on bringing about a sudden awakening or breakthrough into realizing ones true nature. Teachers from both these schools have come to the United States, given teachings, and established centers here. Zen practice and study is now available all over this country and the world.
* Koans, used in the Rinzai school, are a form of zen training which employs dialogues, brief stories, and questions from the Zen tradition that cannot be readily understood by the ordinary rational mind. To solve, or find the meaning of a koan, one has to break out of ones mental boxes and discover a direct, immediate state of awareness. Two examples:
– A monk asked Master Tozan, "What is Buddha?" Tozan said, "Three pounds of flax."
– Master Shuzan held up his staff, and showing it to the assembled disciples said, "You monks, if you call this a staff, you are committed to the name. If you call it not-a-staff, you negate the fact. Tell me, you monks, what do you call it?"
* The center where I practice, the Green River Zen Center (formerly the Montague Farm Zendo) under the spiritual direction of head teacher Roshi Eve Marko, is part of the Zen Peacemakers, founded by the American Zen teacher Bernie Glassman. The Zen Peacemakers lineage derives from both the Soto and Rinzai traditions, and emphasizes benefiting others through socially engaged practice.
* The three tenets of the Zen Peacemakers:
1. Not Knowing
2. Bearing Witness
3. Loving Action
* As I have suggested, the intention of Zen, is to be present with what is, to realize the oneness of life, and from that realization to act with compassion in order to benefit all beings.