The practitioner comes to intense presence with body and breath, and then brings up the koan almost as a physical object, repeating it over and over again with breathing, until words and meaning dissolve and the koan is “seen.” In koan Zen, contemplation of a koan begins with zazen practice. This sense of being present, with illumination and intensity, is the essence of zazen, and although there are many approaches to Zen meditation, they all come back to this. “Just sit!” the master admonishes, by which he or she means, sit upright in good posture, paying careful attention to breathing in your belly until you are fully alert and present. It is generally taught without steps, stages, or frills. What is Zazen? It literally means “sitting Zen.” Put simply, it’s “seated meditation” as done in the Zen style - upright in good posture, paying careful attention to breathing in your belly until you are fully alert and present. “Sitting Zen” (Japanese: zazen) has always been central in Zen training centers, where monks rise early each morning for meditation practice and do long retreats consisting of many, many silent unmoving hours on the cushion.

What are the methods of Zen practice? Zazen, or Zen meditationĪlthough Zen Buddhism eventually developed traditions of study and ritual, its emphasis on personal experience has always made it a practice-oriented tradition. It has also appealed, over many generations, to millions of Buddhist practitioners in the Far East, who, conditioned by the Taoism and Confucianism that had been imported everywhere from China, could relate to the Zen message and style. This shoot-from-the-hip Zen spirit appeals to the American mind, which is as iconoclastic and anti-authoritarian as it is religious. Seeing into one’s nature and attaining Buddhahood. Here are four Zen dicta, ascribed to Zen’s legendary founder Bodhidharma, which are always quoted to illustrate the essential Zen spirit:Ī special transmission outside the scriptures. Liberally flavored with doses of Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese poetry, and written in informal language studded with Chinese folk sayings and street slang, much of classical Zen literature is built on legendary anecdotes of the great masters. Though Zen recognizes - at least loosely - the validity of normative Buddhist scriptures, it has created its own texts over the generations. Not relying on scripture, doctrine or ritual, Zen is verified by personal experience and is passed on from master to disciple, hand to hand, ineffably, through hard, intimate training. Zen Buddhism is a stripped-down, determined, uncompromising, cut-to-the-chase, meditation-based Buddhism that takes no interest in doctrinal refinements. What are the characteristics of Zen Buddhism?

Today, the word “Zen” is in more general use in the West. The word “Zen” is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese “Ch’an,” which means “meditation.” Ch’an came to Japan and became “Zen” around the eighth century.

Zen definition