Why is Zen the characteristic of Buddhism in China?

Why is Buddhism in China unique in Zen?

"Zen" was originally a religious practice method in ancient India, and it was often combined with "meditation". It refers to the thinking practice activities to achieve a specific object or principle, and to make the mind in a quiet and meditative state by paying attention to a certain situation. This method of using irrational psychological adjustment to guide people's spiritual activities once played an extremely important role in Sakyamuni's enlightenment and the establishment of Buddhism.

Zen, as a thinking practice to prove the wisdom of Buddhism and thoroughly understand the essence of life and everything, spread to China with the eastward spread of Buddhism in the Han Dynasty, and formed many schools or veins of Zen in the middle-earth society. From the early Anban Zen, Prajna Zen, Buddhist chanting Zen, Lengga Zen, Tiantai Zen and Huayan Zen to Zen. In Zen, there are different views, such as Tathagata Zen, ancestor Zen, and Yue Zufen Zen. Although they all come from Huineng, the six ancestors, due to different Zen methods, they can be divided into Mazu Zen, Stone Zen, Lin Ji Zen and Cao Dong Zen. Master Taixu once put forward that "China Buddhism is characterized by Zen", and specifically talked about two reasons why China Buddhism is characterized by Zen: First, the manners and manners of Buddhist missionaries who came to China for the first time, as well as their magical skills of practicing Zen and holding spells, attracted people to further explore profound and mysterious Buddhism, and scholars learned from Zen, making China Buddhism characterized by Zen; Secondly, most China literati advocate Hyunri's concise and comprehensive essence, with lofty, quiet and self-cultivation, which is suitable for literati's customs and habits, thus forming the characteristics of China Buddhism in Zen.

The spirit of Zen Buddhism and its practice methods are deeply immersed in all aspects of Buddhism in China, affecting the development of various schools of religion, purity and law. The founders or founders of Tiantai, Huayan, Zhixue and Zen are all closely related to Zen. Some of them are Zen masters, and then they develop in teaching. For example, Huiwen and Huisi, the founders of Tiantai Sect, are famous Zen masters in the north, and Zhiyi, the founder of Tiantai Sect, is also a Zen master, focusing on "stopping the line". He learned the Zen method of "one thought and three views" created by Huiwen, and further developed the viewpoint of "three truths and three thousand thoughts" on this basis, linked "one thought and three views" with the reality of various laws, and integrated various Zen methods into his theory of meditation, thus constructing Tiantai Sect's unique ideological theory with both teaching views and ideas. Another example is San Lun Zong, which has always been famous for spreading Hyunri. However, its theoretical pioneers, such as Lang Monk, Quan Monk and Fa Lang, also attached great importance to Zen, and often discussed Zen methods with Zen master, striving for both wisdom and Taoism. Others, such as the "five-fold view of knowledge" of the legalist school, Hua Yanzong's "view of law world" and "ten-fold view of knowledge", all show the position of Zen in this school. After the Song Dynasty, the integration of religion and Zen became one of the important features of Buddhism in China.

Zen Buddhism, named after Zen Buddhism, is a typical sect of Buddhism in China and gradually becomes the representative of Buddhism in China. Since Dharma, Zen thought has integrated the theory of mind and nature in Lengga and the theory of reality in Prajna into Zen theory, taking the road of the integration of the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism. In the early Zen Buddhism, although the emphasis on empty thoughts varied from time to time, it was always the characteristic of Zen Buddhism to break all laws with Prajna and to discuss mind and nature with Lengga. The appearance of Huineng Nanzong established the whole Zen theory on the basis of the product of the fusion of the two schools-the heart of the present, which laid an ideological foundation for the mainstream of Zen that has been circulating and developed in China for thousands of years.

Zen is not only an important part of Buddhism in China, but also has a far-reaching influence on China's traditional Confucianism and Taoism. For example, Zhu, a representative figure of Neo-Confucianism, borrowed from Buddhism, especially from Zen, both in ontology philosophy and practicing kung fu. Later, Yan Yuan once commented that Zhu Xi's study was "studying for half a day and sitting in silence for half a day, which means being a monk for half a day and being a Confucian in China for half a day". Wang Yangming is more influenced by Zen Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. He once said: "when you don't think about good and evil, you should recognize your true colors." This Buddhist set up this convenience for people who don't know their true colors. The true face is what we call conscience. " Wang Xuezhi's "conscience" is very similar to the "consciousness" of Zen. Zhang Boduan, the southern Sect of Quanzhen Sect, advocated the combination of Taoism and Zen, and was outspoken about Taoist absorption, imitation and Zen practice. He not only directly incorporated the Zen practice method into the Taoist practice system, but also regarded Buddhism's "the way to perfection and purity" as higher than the traditional Taoist's "the art of keeping fit and shaping the body".

The most fundamental difference between Zen and other religious sects lies in how to get rid of the pain of life. On the choice of value, Zen inherited the excellent tradition of China culture-the spirit of pragmatism, and believed that human happiness is not illusory but realistic, not abstract realization, but concrete realization. Therefore, Zen does not pin the happiness of life on the afterlife or the kingdom on the other side, but believes that happiness lies in the present real life and in the heart of life. "Normal mind is the Tao".

China's Zen is not only a humanistic ideal, but also a unique practice method to pursue the ideal realm of life, a philosophy of life and a superb, ordinary and chic art of life. The fundamental spirit of Zen lies in transcendence. A series of contradictions faced by human beings, such as the subject of life and the object of the universe, are all objects transcended by Zen. The results of its transcendence are mainly manifested in: people's emotions can be vented, troubles can be eliminated, emotions tend to be stable, pain can be alleviated, mentality can be balanced, and artistic conception of life can be improved. On the basis of fully affirming human's dominant position and personal dignity, the ultimate unity of human's inner nature and Buddha's nature is established, so that people can gain new understanding and reach a new realm of life.

(Excerpted from Hong and Xu Ying's Buddhist Q&A)