What is Zen in Buddhism and what does it mean?

Zen is an act based on "stillness", which originated from human instincts and was developed by ancient ancestors into various systematic practices and existed in various sects.

In Buddhism, "zen" is a shortened form of "jhana," which translates as "meditation," "mindfulness," and "abandonment. It translates as "meditation", "thinking and practicing", "renunciation of evil" and so on. It means to quietly filter the debris in one's life, to correct wrong thinking, and to abandon evil thoughts.

Buddhism is a common practice, originating from the Brahmin classic "Upanishads", namely: sit quietly to adjust the mind, control the will, beyond the joy and worry to achieve the "Brahma" realm. The practice of Zen can quieten and cure boredom, realizing the transformation from evil to good, from foolishness to wisdom, and from defilement to purity. It enables the practitioner to move from tranquility of mind to pleasure of mind and body, and to enter the realm of clarity and emptiness of mind.

Three kinds of Zen

1. Worldly Zen is the meditation of the colorless and colorless realms, and there are two kinds of Zen:

1) Fundamental Zen: There are three kinds of Zen: the Four Ch'ans, the Four Immeasurables, and the Four Emptinesses, collectively known as the Twelve Gates of Zen. It is the practice of the four zazen for those who are tired of the dispersion of the desire realm, the practice of the four immeasurables for those who want to seek great blessings, and the practice of the four emptinesses for those who are tired of the color cage.

2 Fundamental Pure Zen: When the Buddha appeared in the world, heard the Buddha's statement, then you can rely on it to develop the wisdom of non-leakage, so it is called Pure Zen. There are six wonderful doors, sixteen special victories, and three types of Zen, which are practiced for the wisdom of the many, the qualitatively many, and the determination of wisdom, respectively.

2. Worldly Zen: Viewing, practicing, cultivating, and practicing:

1) Viewing Zen: Viewing is the observation and illumination. It is called koan because it is a clear view of the impure and other realms. There are four types: the nine thoughts, the eight backsheds, the eight victorious places, and the ten all-embracing places.

②Practice Zen: practice for exercise, that is, the nine times, this Zen from shallow to deep, the order of exercise in the four Zen, the end of the world, according to the non-mixed thoughts, the exercise of non-leakage method to extinguish the leakage, through the eight places.

3) Kaoru Zen: Kaoru is the meaning of Kaoru, such as the Lion's Enlightenment Samadhi, which can get rid of distractions between different thoughts, and get the freedom to go forward and backward at will!

4) Cultivation of Zen: Beyond samadhi, cultivate the former fixation, make it subtle, can go beyond the entry and exit of freedom!

3. Worldly superior Zen: The three kinds of Zen - the Nine Great Zen of Volume 5 of the Earth Holding Sutra

1) Self-nature Zen: The practice of observing the reality of the mind without seeking it from the outside.

2) All-embracing Zen: The attainment of all the virtues of self-transformation.

3) Difficult Zen: A Zen of great depth and difficulty.

4) All Doors Zen: All zazen is realized through this door.

5. Zen for the good: practiced by beings of great virtue.

6) All-action zazen: all the actions of the Mahayana are included.

7. Vexation-removing Zen: eliminating the suffering of living beings.

8. This World and the Other Worldly Joys Zen: To enable all beings to realize the happiness of the two worlds.

9 Pure Pure Zen: The pure reward of attaining the great Bodhi through the elimination of confusion and karma.

Expanded Information

The emergence and development of Zen in China is a product of the gradual adaptation and integration of Indian Buddhism with Chinese culture after its spread to the east. Both the creation of monk Zhao's theories and Dao Sheng's sayings, and the promotion of Buddhism by these Eastern masters laid a solid foundation for the emergence of Zen in China.

Between Qi and Liang, Zen Master Baozhi's "Mahayana Praise" was quite close to the later Zen sect's idea of the Sutra, and the Zen practice of Shanhui had already started the first "Chinese Zen" (for details, please refer to the article in the Hong Kong Nei Ming, issue 298). It was only because of this Mahayana atmosphere in the East that the Dharma Master's journey to the East found the right conditions for the smooth propagation of his teachings.

Also because the foundation for the propagation of Zen was available in China at an early stage, Zen Buddhism after the Sixth Patriarch was bound to develop towards the path of single-mindedness and instant attainment. This direction of development, although once developed to the "Buddha scolded the ancestors" situation, but after all, only in the sense of breaking the students of the I and Dharma on the work, and as the real eternal Dharma is scolding can not be scolded off, and the true realization of the person is not scolded.

The so-called "Danxia burns the wooden Buddha, and the master of the courtyard falls on his face", and herein lies the reason for this. If, as Mr. Hu Shih said, the Zen masters do not practice meditation and do not pursue the ultimate goal of life, then naturally they cannot find their own home (i.e., "30 days of the waxing moon," as the monk Yunmen put it). And Zen Buddhism, as the liberation of the mind, will also be reversed from the orbit of Buddhism and transformed into a purely academic direction.

The most Chinese characteristic of Buddhism is Zen, that is, because Zen, without violating the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, is able to pay full attention to the integration with the Chinese culture of the East, so as to make it thoroughly "Chinese", without departing from the basic rules of Buddhism. If such a basic principle is left out, there is no way to talk about "Chinese Zen", let alone Chinese Buddhism.

Baidu Encyclopedia of Zen

Baidu Encyclopedia of Chinese Zen