The Flavor of Zen
© Yeshe Chodon
Greetings. In this month's column, I dare an attempt to explain Zen. What a responsibility! Again, all my disclaimers! I am just a student whose wandering attention has been, mercifully, more fixed upon her subject than it used to be because I have the task of writing this monthly column.
A thumbnail history is the easy part. A convenient source is: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Partheno... a website named AS ZEN REPLACES THE ID. This in itself is mysterious; the parts I read did not deal with the id as I understand it...anyway, the site offers this history which they quote from the Tricycle site: http://www.tricycle.com/
To do the topic of Zen any justice at all, I will strive only to establish its tantalizing, elusive flavor and trust the reader to go further. There are centers all over the world, in both the Rinzai and the Soto traditions. Enter the Dharma Ring at my Dharma bulletin board: http://members.xoom.com/yeshe, to locate training centers.
We rely on the right brain to enter this realm. Here is an evocative poem:
A special transmission outside the scriptures;
No dependence on words and letters;
Direct pointing to the mind of man;Bodhidharma
A thumbnail history is the easy part. A convenient source is: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Partheno... a website named AS ZEN REPLACES THE ID. This in itself is mysterious; the parts I read did not deal with the id as I understand it...anyway, the site offers this history which they quote from the Tricycle site: http://www.tricycle.com/
"Zen: Japanese; Ch'an (Chinese); a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which developed in China during the sixth and seventh centuries after Bodhidharma arrived; it later divided into the Soto and Rinzai schools; Zen stresses the importance of the enlightenment experience and the futility of rational thought, intellectual study and religious ritual in attaining this; a central element of Zen is zazen, a meditative practice which seeks to free the mind of all thought and conceptualization."
--from the Tricycle magazine website glossary http://www.tricycle.com
Then the authors add this:
"Zen Buddhism, commonly called 'Zen,' developed from Buddhism which originated in India around 600 BC. As Buddhism gained popularity and moved eastward through China and to Japan, local philosophies and religions, notably Taoism (pronounced "Daoism"), were mingled together with Buddhism. New schools were formed in China, such as 'Chan', which became 'Zen' in Japan. Retaining the original message of the Buddha, stress was put on meditative practice, downplaying rational thought and the study of scripture and ritual.
The keystone of Buddhism is the 'Four Noble Truths:'
1. Existence is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by desires and attachments.
3. There is a way to end worldly suffering.
4. The way to end all worldly suffering is to follow the 'Eightfold Path.'"
As you probably recall, the Four Noble Truths are the conceptual starting point for the other branches of Buddhism we have covered previously: Vajrayana and Vipassana, as well as for Zen.
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