Zen Buddhism and Its Teachings, Research Paper Example

Introduction

As the belief system of Buddhism spread around the world, teachings have changed, forming new practices and customs. The main difference in the various Buddhist traditions lies not in the religion’s principles, but the focus of the religion. The below essay will examine how Zen Buddhism, as a branch of Mahayana formed, and what contributed towards its growing popularity in the West.

History of Zen Buddhism

Zen Buddhism originates from the Japanese word “zen”, meaning meditation (Penney, 1999, p. 20). The main focus of this branch of Buddhism is becoming aware of the self and the universe through meditation. Meditation can silence thoughts that are not taking the individual closer to understanding. Developing from Mahayana Buddhism around the 6^th Century, based on the teachings of Bodhidharma.  Zen Buddhism arrived in Korea and China in the 7^th Century through monks. This is the reason why Zen focuses on simplicity and purity. The history of Buddhism can be described through influential Patriarchs who – through their teachings – formed the customs, beliefs, and philosophies related to Zen Buddhism. According to Hoover (1980), the foundation of Zen Buddhism lies in Chinese Taoism.

Teachings of Zen Buddhism

As Hoover (1980, p. 10) confirms: “Zen is based on the recognition of two incompatible types of thought: rational and intuitive”. This means that knowing and feeling should be aligned in order to deliver the ultimate wisdom and purity. The teachers of Zen Buddhism believe that the truth cannot be put in linguistic form or communicated. This means that – unlike some other Buddhist traditions –  Zen does not have an extensive literature and does not focus on communication. Instead, believers seek the truth inside their mind through meditation, as – according to Zen – the ultimate wisdom is in every one of us. The main teaching of Zen is Zazen, or a type of meditative absorption, which leads to a status of awakening. Enlightenment is in the focus of the tradition, and it is the ultimate goal of all Zen Buddhists. Enlightenment and the process to achieve it cannot be explained, though.

Briggs (2012) states that the foundations of Zen lie in wows, bowing, chanting, sitting meditation, and wisdom training. The five different Zen practices need to be integrated and aligned by the believer to achieve the state off enlightenment. Zen follows the Gautama Buddha.

Unique Features of Zen Buddhism

Shore (2004) states that the main unique feature of Zen is that people leave their selves behind. It is a pure practice, and rituals are reduced to minimum. Worship takes place in a pagoda or temple, while in other traditions, monasteries are the main places of religious practice. While in many traditions the main purpose of the religion is to reach the Nirvana, in Zen, the main goal is enlightenment. Instead of a complex belief system of Devas, Zen Buddhist believe in the immortal “Buddhas”.  While generally Buddhism is simply a philosophy based on the teachings of Buddha, Zen is considered to be a religion.

Conclusion

Based on the above review, it is evident that Zen Buddhism is a liberal, meditation-focused branch of the religion, and its simplicity, easy to apply principles and meditation practices make it extremely popular around the world. Zen is not a belief system but a religion that does not exclude people, and is free from bias.

References

Briggs, B. (2012) The path of Zen. Retrieved from http://www.oxherding.com/files/the-path-of- zen.pdf

Hoover, T. (1980) The Zen Experience. Retrieved from   http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34325/34325-pdf.pdf

Penney, S. (1999) Buddhism. Heinemann.

Shore, Jeff. (2004) No-self in Zen Buddhism. Retrieved from         https://beingwithoutself.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/noselfinzenbuddhism.pdf