What is Zen and how to comprehend it. See what "Zen" is in other dictionaries. How Zen Buddhism Started

Zen (from Japanese 禅; Skt. ध्यान dhyana, Chinese 禪 chan, Korean 선 sŏn) is one of the largest and most widespread schools of Buddhism in China, Japan and other countries of East Asia. The word "Zen" comes from the Sanskrit-Pali term "dhyana/jnana", meaning deep concentration, contemplation, as well as detachment or deliverance. In the early texts, Zen is called the school of contemplation.

Zen is a development of Mahayana Buddhism. The scientific name for this path is "Heart of the Buddha" ("Buddha Hridaya"), and the more popular "Zen".

Today, Zen is one of the most famous schools of Buddhism, widely covered both in fiction and in the mass media.

Zen Buddhism was brought from India to China by Bodhidharma, after which it became widespread in the countries of East Asia (China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan). The traditions of Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen, Vietnamese Thien and Korean Son developed largely independently and now, while maintaining a single essence, have acquired their own characteristic features in teaching and style of practice. The scientific (official) name of the Zen tradition is the Heart of the Buddha (Buddha-hridaya). In Japan, Zen is represented by several schools: Rinzai, Obaku, Fuke and Soto.

Story

The transmission of the Zen tradition dates back to Shakyamuni Buddha, and he is considered the first in the Zen lineage. The second is considered Mahakashyapa, to whom the Buddha transmitted the state of awakening directly without words, thereby founding the Zen tradition in the form of a direct transmission of the teaching "from heart to heart."

One day the Buddha was standing in front of a gathering of people at Vulture Peak. All the people were waiting for him to start teaching the dharma, but the Buddha remained silent. Quite a lot of time has passed, and he has not yet uttered a single word, in his hand was a flower. The eyes of all the people in the crowd were turned to him, but no one understood anything. Then one monk looked at the Buddha with shining eyes and smiled. And the Buddha said: "I have the treasure of seeing the perfect Dharma, the magical spirit of nirvana, free from the impurity of reality, and I gave this treasure to Mahakashyapa." This smiling monk turned out to be just Mahakashyapa, one of the great disciples of the Buddha. (…) Mahakashyapa was awakened by the flower and his deep perception. Tit Nath Khan

Zen Buddhism spread to China in the 5th century CE. e. The teaching of Zen was brought to China by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (in the Chinese tradition - Putidamo or simply Damo, in the Japanese - Daruma), often called the successor of 27 Indian patriarchs of Buddhism, who later became the first Chan patriarch in China. Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Monastery, considered today the cradle of Chinese Chan Buddhism.

After Bodhidharma, there were five more patriarchs in China, after which the teaching split into the northern and southern schools. The second subsequently developed and transformed into five schools of Zen, of which only two have survived today: Caodong and Linji. As for the Vietnamese thien, at the end of the 6th century, Vinitaruchi, a student of Seng-ts'an, arrived in Vietnam and founded the first school of thien. The further development of the Vietnamese Thien is associated with the school of Vo Ngon Thong, a former student of Huai-hai, and the school of Thao Dyung. The last school was founded by Emperor Li Thanh Tong. A little earlier, in 968, Thien became the state ideology of Vietnam and later played an important role in its history. Later, the Chuklam school appeared in Vietnam, founded by Emperor Chan Nyan-tong and had no analogues in China, the Nguyen Thieu school, close to the Obak school, and the Lieu Kuan school, close to the Linji school.

In the 30s of the 20th century, the movement for the revival of Vietnamese Buddhism intensified in the country, and by the beginning of the 70s, many pagodas were being built in Vietnam. Currently, among the approximately 60 million Vietnamese, about a third of the population are Mahayana followers. Of all the schools of Mahayana, the most influential schools in the country at present, along with the schools of Pure Land Buddhism, are the Thien schools and, in particular, the Lamte (Linji) school.

Zen (zen, chan) is the Japanese name for one of the schools of Mahayana Buddhism, mainly formed in medieval China. In China, this school is called Chan. Zen originated in India thanks to the activities of the monk Bodhidharma
The basis of the concept of Zen is the position about the impossibility of expressing the truth in human language and images, about the meaninglessness of words, actions and intellectual efforts in achieving enlightenment. According to Zen, the state of enlightenment can be achieved suddenly, spontaneously, solely through inner experience. To achieve the state of such an experience, Zen uses almost the entire range of traditional Buddhist techniques. The achievement of enlightenment can also be influenced by external stimuli - for example, a sharp cry, a blow, etc.

In Zen, the so-called koans were widely developed - “difficult questions”, to which it was necessary to give not logical, but spontaneous answers, which should follow not from the thoughts of the respondent, but from his inner self-awareness.
In the field of ritual and dogma, Zen has reached the extreme point of the Buddhist denial of authority, morality, good and evil, right and wrong, positive and negative.

The practice of Zen appeared in Japan as early as the 7th century AD, but the spread of Zen as an independent branch of Japanese Buddhism begins at the end of the 12th century. The first Zen preacher is Eisai, a Buddhist monk who, after a stay in China, founded the Rinzai school in Japan. In the first half of the 13th century, the preacher Dogen, also trained in China, founded the Soto school. Both schools have survived to our time. In the Middle Ages, a saying was common in Japan: "Rinzai is for samurai, Soto is for commoners."
Zen reached its peak during the Muromachi period, from the 14th to the 16th centuries, when Zen monasteries became centers of religious, political, and cultural life. Having acquired some traits of Japanese culture, Zen defined the martial art in particular as a path to perfection, similar to meditation.

In the 20th century, Zen became famous in European countries, especially due to the activities of D.T. Suzuki?, belonging to the Rinzai school. Zen Buddhism had a strong impact on Europeans, primarily the possibility of an "instant" achievement of enlightenment and the absence of long-term practices aimed at self-improvement. In many ways, the concepts of Zen were taken in Europe as concepts that applied to all of Buddhism, which could not help but give a wrong impression of Buddhism as a whole. The permissiveness and aspiration "inside" of Zen Buddhism, interpreted by the European worldview, formed the basis of the hippie movement.

Zen is a school of Japanese Buddhism that became widespread in the 12th-13th centuries. There are two main sects in Zen Buddhism: Rinzai, founded by Eisai (1141-1215), and Soto, whose first preacher was Dogen (1200-1253).
The peculiarity of this creed lies in the increased emphasis on the role of meditation and other methods of psycho-training in achieving satori. Satori means peace of mind, balance, a sense of non-existence, "inner enlightenment."

Zen was especially widespread in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. among the samurai, when his ideas began to enjoy the patronage of the shoguns. The ideas of strict self-discipline, constant auto-training, and the indisputability of the mentor's authority corresponded to the worldview of the warriors in the best possible way. Zen was reflected in national traditions and had a profound influence on literature and art. On the basis of Zen, the Tea Ceremony is cultivated, the technique of arranging flowers is being formed, and gardening art is being formed. Zen gives impetus to special trends in painting, poetry, drama, and promotes the development of martial arts.
The influence of the Zen worldview still extends to a significant part of the Japanese today. Zen adherents argue that the essence of Zen can only be felt, sensed, experienced, it cannot be understood by the mind.

Zen grew out of Buddhism and Taoism and for centuries remained the only form of Buddhism of its kind. Zen does not claim that only people who have grown up and educated in the Buddhist spirit can achieve its comprehension. When Meister Eckhart states, "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me," the Zen follower nods his head in agreement. Zen willingly accepts everything true in any religion, recognizes the followers of all beliefs who have reached full comprehension; however, he knows that a person whose religious upbringing was based on dualism, despite the great seriousness of his intentions, will experience unnecessary difficulties for a long time before reaching enlightenment. Zen sweeps aside everything that has no direct bearing on reality, however self-evident such truths may seem; and he will not sympathize with anything but the personal experience of the individual.

There are two main meanings of the term Zen - a spiritual state (and the exercises performed to achieve it) and a religious current. The latter is largely based on practice and belongs to Buddhism, although it was formed on the territory of present-day China at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries under the influence of then popular Taoism, a mystical and philosophical teaching.

Like a state

The origin of the concept of "Zen" is still debated. This word is not found in traditional Buddhist texts, as it is of Japanese origin and is translated as "contemplation", "meditation". However, the Hindus had a certain analogue, which sounds in Sanskrit as "dhyana" (immersion) - the doctrine of enlightenment. But this philosophy received the greatest theoretical and practical development in the Far East - in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

It should immediately be determined that in the sense of a philosophical state or a general Buddhist concept, the words “Zen”, “Dhyana”, “Chan” (in China), “Thien” (in Vietnam), “Sleep” (in Korea) are identical. Also, they all have similarities with the concept of "Tao".

In the narrowest sense of the term, all this is a state of enlightenment, an understanding of the basis of the world order. According to Buddhist practice and philosophy, everyone is able to do this, thereby becoming a bodhisattva or guru.

To find the key to understanding the world, one does not even have to strive for it. It is enough in practice to master the state of "Just So". After all, the more a person strives to comprehend the Tao, the faster he moves away from it.

Like a philosophy

In a more general philosophical understanding, Zen is a teaching that has nothing to do with religion:

it does not seek the meaning of life;
does not deal with issues of the world order;
The existence of God does not prove, but does not disprove.

The essence of philosophy is simple and is formulated by several theoretical principles:

Every person is subject to suffering and lust.
They are the result of certain events and actions.
Suffering and longing can be overcome.
Renunciation of extremes makes a person free and happy.

Thus, "Zen" is a practical way of detachment from the existing world and immersion in oneself. After all, a particle of the awakened Buddha is present inside every living being. This means that any person with due patience and diligence can achieve enlightenment and understand the true nature of the mind, and with it the essence of this world.

The essence of the philosophical concept of the term is well revealed by the psychoanalyst E. Fromm:

“Zen is the art of immersing yourself in the essence of human existence; it is the path leading from slavery to freedom; Zen releases the natural energy of man; he protects a person from madness and mutilation of himself; it encourages a person to realize his abilities to love and be happy ".

Practice

In a practical sense, Zen is meditation, immersion in a special state of contemplation. For this, a variety of tools can be used - everything is determined by the practice of each individual person, therefore rather non-standard ways of achieving enlightenment are often used. These can be sharp cries of the teacher, his laughter or blows with a stick, martial arts and physical labor.

According to Zen teaching, the best practice is monotonous work, which should be done not for the sake of achieving some end result, but for the sake of the work itself.

A vivid example of this approach is given in one of the legends about a famous Zen master who defined washing dishes in ordinary life as an effort to make them clean, and the same action in a philosophical sense as self-sufficient, suggesting that students wash dishes only for the sake of the action itself.

Another important philosophical practice is the koan. This is the name of a logical exercise in solving a paradoxical or absurd problem. It cannot be comprehended by the “ordinary” (unawakened) mind, but having spent enough time contemplating it, you can one day catch a feeling of understanding, that is, achieve the desired state instantly, at one moment, most often unexpectedly - without any underlying reason for this.

For example, one of the classic koans is the search for "clap with one hand", i.e. "silent sound".

Like a religious movement

As a branch of Buddhism, Zen teaching took shape in China and spread widely to nearby countries. But it is the term in relation to the religious movement that is used only in Japan and (oddly enough) in Europe. This philosophy is not theistic or atheistic, and therefore adapts well to any other religions.

In China, it mixed with Taoism, in Japan it “lay down” on Sintaism, in Korea and Vietnam it absorbed local shamanistic beliefs, and in the West it is actively intertwined with Christian traditions.

The peculiarity of any religious Zen direction is the non-recognition of the possibility of transferring knowledge in writing. Only a guru, enlightened or awakened, can teach to understand the world. Moreover, he is able to do it in a variety of ways - up to blows with a stick. Also in the religious understanding there is no clear definition of the concept itself.

Zen is everything around. It is any action that a knowledgeable person takes on an unknowing person in order to teach the latter, push him to understand, stimulate his body and mind.

Difference from other branches of Buddhism

An important part of Zen philosophy is the impossibility of expressing truth in the form of a text, therefore there are no sacred books in the course, and the transmission of the teaching is carried out directly from teacher to student - from heart to heart.

Moreover, from the point of view of this religious trend, books do not play any significant role in a person's life at all. Teachers often burned scriptures in order to show students the futility of this way of knowing and push them towards enlightenment.

From all this, four basic principles of Zen Buddhism follow:

Knowledge and wisdom can only be transferred directly through communication - from a knowing person to an unknowing person, but striving to know the essence of reason and things.
Zen is the great knowledge that is the reason for the existence of the sky, the earth of the universe and the world as a whole.
There are many ways to find the Tao, but the goal is not enlightenment itself, but the path to it.
The awakened Buddha is hidden in every person, and therefore anyone can learn Zen with hard practice and a lot.

This direction has significant differences from traditional Buddhism in practical aspects, for example, meditation. The Zen school considers it not as a way to stop mental activity and purify consciousness, but as a method of contact with existing reality.

In general, this direction is considered the most "practical" and mundane of all Buddhist schools. It does not recognize logic as an instrument of knowledge, opposing it with experience and sudden enlightenment, and regards action as the primary way of obtaining spiritual experience.

In addition, it denies the need for meditative detachment from the world. On the contrary, one must come to peace (that is, "contemplation") here and now, becoming a Buddha in one's body, and not after a series of rebirths.

Zen - Buddhism is not a religion, in a narrow aspect, but it is not a philosophy, although it embodies all the philosophies of the Eastern teachings. He does not accept logical analysis, does not teach how to act, but only indicates the path that should be followed in order to acquire inner contemplative experience.

The goal of Zen Buddhism, or as it is also called in China - Chan - Buddhism, is the enlightenment of the mind and the acquisition of inner experience in order to achieve freedom from all external interference and conventions.

According to the concept of Zen Buddhism, a person's mental potential is most fully revealed when his thinking becomes unconscious, spontaneous, not bound by any norms and rules. The correct feeling of consciousness comes when a person does not concentrate his thoughts on the problem, but trusts his thoughts to the edge of the subconscious, looking at everything that happens inside him as if with peripheral vision.

These qualities are achieved as a result of systematic practice of meditation - "Dhyana-Zen" which is often interpreted as "thinking", but this is fundamentally wrong. "Dhyana Zen" is a meditation that has no object of concentration, it leads to the release of the mind, without a thought process.

Where to look for followers of Zen Buddhism?

In its purest form, Zen Buddhism is practiced in monasteries. Only in Japan there are about sixty such communities. These cloisters are remote from the outside world, located in forests or on hard-to-reach mountain slopes, where nothing distracts the novices from the inner world.

Basically, two areas of Zen Buddhism are practiced at monasteries - the Rinzai school, more dynamic and more significant, and the Soto school, static and less common. But in the direction of any school, the goal is to achieve enlightenment, which appeared to the Buddha. It is to achieve this goal that the practice of Dhyana Zen contributes.

Adherents of Zen Buddhism believe that a person who has comprehended the mysteries of this teaching has a mind like a mirror. He perceives, but does not store, not denying either bad or good, but only sliding the edge of an unclouded consciousness along the foggy images of his purified mind. There is no purpose to suppress your thoughts, there is no purpose to keep them or interfere with their course. This is achieved by training awareness of their sensations, thoughts and feelings.

The goal is the crystal clarity of consciousness, in which everything that happens outside or inside leaves, only reflected in the mind, fleetingly, as a cloud on a hot summer day is reflected from the water surface. The philosophy of Zen Buddhism, in general terms, educates a mind that is calm, unruffled, but not idle and not at all inactive. A person who follows the teachings of Zen Buddhism achieves complete harmony of his personality, through the comprehension of the truth, which is hidden deep in the human mind.

Zen is the path of loneliness:
think for yourself
act oneself
practice by yourself
suffer yourself
Zen has nothing to do with peace or an indifferent mind.
Zen means not to live with eyes closed to the reality of the world.
A person walks alone, with wide-open eyes, he does not depend on anyone and remains integral in himself.
Zen is, first of all, knowing how to live and how to die.
Zen is not a casting mold for the production of Buddhists.
Man himself is responsible for his thoughts, words and actions.
Nobody can breathe for him.
There is no one below or above him.
There is no one and nothing to worship, no ideology.
Zen reality is nothing but reality as it is.
Only a courageous person can practice Zen.
This is the way of a warrior who always keeps his eyes open and whose attention is always at the limit.
So in Zen we don't seek love, wisdom, or peace.
These three jewels, they are already in the depths of us.
It is enough to be natural, authentic and sincere.
How to come to this?
Through the practice of zazen.
Practicing zazen means following the breath as it is, with great attention and sincerity.
Don't seek or imagine any buddha, no exalted state, no merit, no insight, no reward of any kind.
If we are sincere in our breath and posture, we are sincere in everything.
When we are authentic in our breath, we are authentic in our thinking, words, actions.
Don't look for Zen anywhere else.
Not in false advertising
Not in long speeches about Buddhism.
Why is Zen not related to philosophy, psychology, morality or spirituality?
Not to religion, and least of all to the mind or personal knowledge?
Why is the position of zazen so important?
Because the real spirit, the real consciousness lives in the heart of matter.
It is in matter that we find the key to our life.
Not at all in the clouds and heights of the so-called spiritual realization.
Why can anyone practice zazen?
Because everyone has a material body.
When we awaken to the consciousness of matter,
we can free ourselves from all obstacles
and expand our consciousness beyond our habits,
beyond our knowledge and our little being.
A chicken can only come into this world by breaking its shell.
This shell is not spiritual.
It is a shell of matter, created from proteins and all the minerals of the world.
It is impossible to awaken outside of this matter.
Therefore, without practice, any spirituality is nothing more than a dream and an illusion and a product of the mind.
This position is not Zen, not Buddhist, not Christian.
This is the release of all that you have so carefully stored in the habits of the body.
In the face of death, no one will come to your aid.
It's time to wake up to reality as it is.
This is a Zen teaching. Genuine, like the preaching of a river that carries its endless stream.

monk Kaise

Zen is a trend in Buddhism of the Mahayana tradition, which originated in China in the Shaolin monastery, where it was brought by Bodhidharma and became widespread in the Far East (Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan). In a narrower sense, Zen is understood as the direction of Japanese Buddhism, brought to Japan from China in the 12th century. In the future, the traditions of Japanese Zen and Chinese Chan developed largely independently - and now, while maintaining a single essence, they have acquired their own characteristic features. Japanese Zen is represented by several schools - Rinzai (Chinese: Linji), Soto (Chinese: Caodong) and Obaku (Chinese: Huangbo).

Zen cannot be taught, Zen goes directly from master to student, from mind to mind, from heart to heart. Zen itself is a certain “seal of the mind (heart)”, which cannot be found in the scriptures, since it is “not based on letters and words” - A special transfer of the awakened consciousness from the heart of the teacher to the heart of the student without relying on written signs - transferring in a different way that what cannot be expressed by speech is "direct indication", a kind of non-verbal way of communication, without which the Buddhist experience could never be passed on from generation to generation. everyone has their own way to achieve personal enlightenment, it is necessary to feel their natural nature, the flow and desires of their soul, to become themselves, to feel what the soul is born to.

If unfulfilled desires serve as the cause of suffering, then it is necessary to fulfill your desires, and thereby get rid of internal tension, because it is precisely this tension, as dissatisfaction with the fact that what you wanted did not come true, is suffering. But since no one can fulfill all his desires, it is necessary to separate those desires that can be realized from those that cannot be realized, or at least very difficult. This is the suppression of desires in Zen: not all, but only "problematic". This is a simple and clear idea: “problematic” desires must either be fulfilled or get rid of them.

There is no other path to inner liberation, understood as liberation from frustrations, from all states of dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety and confusion in Zen. Zen does not require the abandonment of all desires, leaving to its followers the fullness of living, natural being. When all "problematic" desires are removed, that happy state of permanent peace will come, which, in turn, will free the forces of the soul for "satori". This path can be easily expressed by the phrase: "Calm down - and everything will come."

Satori - "Enlightenment", sudden awakening. Since all people are originally, by nature, enlightened, the efforts of the Zen practitioner are aimed at ensuring that, without any effort, Satori comes suddenly, like a flash of lightning. Enlightenment knows no parts and divisions, so it cannot come gradually.

Zen practice

European thinking is accustomed to a linear perception of reality: being is embodied in concrete forms, representations are molded into final formulas, life is a certain sequence of events, presumably having meaning.

The Asian vision of the world is fundamentally opposite: the human being is only one of the components of the great cycle of elements, observing which a person has a chance to realize himself and choose a path that does not contradict the harmony of the general movement of world forces. Since ancient times, various people of India, Japan, Korea, China, from a representative of the ruling class to a commoner, in search of answers to their moral, psychological, spiritual questions, turned to teachers (masters) of Zen.

"Zen" is an understanding of oneself, a direct experience of comprehending one's true nature, true substance.

We quite often use the expression "I feel myself", adding, depending on the situation, "good", "bad", "great", etc. And at the same time, we identify ourselves with what we feel: “I feel good” or “I feel bad”, or “I suffer”, etc.

Thus, this “I”, which has at its disposal so many useful and necessary tools for existence in society, as well as “weapons” for defense and attack, up to self-destruction (suicide), is a “driver, bodyguard and guardian in one face."

A child comes into this world without yet having such a caring nanny, this role, for the time being, is performed by parents and society, creating all the conditions for the formation of a “nanny”. The child is free from complexes, social clichés, taboos, depressions, phobias and other side effects - from the "nanny" (until this is laid into him). Being initially free, enlightened, he is not aware of his freedom and therefore loses it in exchange for a description.

The goal of “Zen practice” is the ability to consciously perceive the freedom of our inner child, which is currently languishing in each of us (as evidenced by depression), but for this it needs to be freed from the “nanny-bodyguard” mentioned above, or rather, to establish harmony in our mind.

Here is one of the Zen stories. The Japanese Zen master Nan Ying once hosted a university professor who came to ask him about Zen.
Nan Ying poured tea. Having poured a full cup for the guest, he continued to pour further.
The professor looked for some time at the overflowing tea, but finally, unable to bear it, exclaimed:
- The cup is full. No more included!
“Just like this cup,” Nan Ying replied, “so you are filled with your opinions and judgments. Can I show you zen if you haven't emptied your cup?

Thus, "emptying our cup" is the first step on the path to understanding Zen practice.

Brief essence of the doctrine

Zen cannot be taught. One can only suggest the way to achieve personal enlightenment. Zen is a way to experience your natural nature, the flow and desires of your soul. To become oneself, to be oneself every day, is the goal of effort. A person has the abilities given to him by nature at birth, but these are not necessarily the abilities for some profession or the ability to do something in the usual sense. This may be the ability to feel, understand and absorb, which, without understanding one's own nature, a person does not want to show while living someone else's life.

Zen mentors ("masters") often say not "to achieve enlightenment", but "to see one's own nature." Enlightenment is not a state. It is the ability to feel what the soul is born to. This feeling is very individual, and does not lend itself to any formulation. Words immediately distort the feelings that we are trying to verbalize or convey to another person. This is similar to the change in the properties of microparticles in quantum mechanics when an observer appears behind them. In addition, the path to the vision of one's own nature is different for everyone, since everyone is in their own conditions, with their own baggage of experience and ideas.

That is why it is said that in Zen there is no certain path, there is no one certain entrance. These words should help the Zen practitioner not to replace his nature with the mechanical execution of some practice or idea. That is why you can only learn from nature, not from books. Books are only an opportunity to compare your experience with the experience of other people, but under no circumstances can they be the highest authority.

The Zen teacher must see his nature himself, because then he can correctly see the state of the "student" and give him instructions or shocks that are suitable for him. At different stages of practice, the “student” may be given different, “opposite” advice, for example:

* “meditate to calm the mind; try harder";

* “don’t try to achieve enlightenment, but just let go of everything that happens”…

According to general Buddhist ideas, there are three root poisons from which all suffering and delusion arise:

ignorance of one's nature (cloudiness of the mind, dullness, confusion, anxiety),
disgust (to "unpleasant", the idea of something as an independent "evil", generally hard views),
attachment (to the pleasant - unquenchable thirst, clinging) ...

Therefore, awakening is promoted by:

calming the mind
liberation from rigid views
release from attachment.

The two main types of regular Zen practice are sitting meditation and simple physical labor. They are aimed at calming and unifying the mind. When the self-churning ceases, "the haze settles", ignorance and restlessness decrease. A clearer mind can more easily see its nature.

At a certain stage, the mentor - seeing the "obstacle" in the practitioner's mind: hard views or attachment - can help to get rid of it. Thus, the path of a Zen practitioner is both the disclosure of "one's own" wisdom, and not the closure from "another's". Rather, it is the removal of a false barrier between "my" wisdom and "alien". This is a feeling of the unity of man and nature - that which lives according to the same laws. Nature here is a much deeper concept than flowers, stones and trees. Rather, they are forces that give rise to being and permeate being. At the same time, there is no symbolism here: these forces always exist in a concrete, tangible form.

Thought is compared in Zen with ripples on the water: ripples on the water are thought in one of its countless manifestations given to us in sensation.

The masters say that the practice can be "gradual" or "sudden", but the awakening itself is always sudden - or rather, not gradually. It is simply discarding the superfluous and seeing what is. Since it is just a drop, it cannot be said that it is somehow achieved. Or that there are "disciples" and "mentors" in it. The mentors can impart Dharma teachings - that is, the ideas and methods of Zen. Dharma Mind, that is, the essence of enlightenment, is already present. She doesn't need any achievements.

The practice and teachings of Zen are aimed at calming the soul, at freeing the soul from secondary desires, liberation from hard views and the extinction of unnecessary attachments. This facilitates the vision of one's own nature, which itself is beyond all practice and all paths.

In general, the same is true for the rest of the Buddhist traditions; The Zen school aims at maximum simplicity and flexibility of methods and concepts.

Zen Buddhism denies the superiority of the intellect over pure experience, considering the latter, together with intuition, to be faithful helpers.

Zen is the doctrine of full awareness of the nature of reality, of enlightenment. It is believed that this type of Buddhism was brought to China by the Indian monk Bodhidharma, and from there spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and in the 19th and 20th centuries to the West. Bodhidharma himself defined Zen Buddhism as "a direct transition to awakened consciousness, bypassing tradition and sacred texts."

It is believed that the truth of Zen lives in each of us. You just need to look inside and find it there without resorting to outside help. Zen practice stops all mental activity by focusing your thoughts on what you are doing at the present moment, here and now.

Zen style life

“Master, you have reached a respectable age and deep enlightenment. How did you do it?
“That’s because I don’t stop practicing Zen.
- Zen - what is it?
- Nothing special. Knowing Zen is easy. When I want to drink, I drink; when I want to eat, I eat; when I want to sleep, I sleep. As for the rest, I follow nature and the laws of naturalness. These are the basic ideas of Zen Buddhism.
But doesn't everyone do the same?
- Not. Judge for yourself: when you need to drink - you go over your problems and failures in your head, when you need to eat - you think about anything but food, when you need to sleep - you try to solve all the world's problems. Drinks, eats, sleeps only your body. Your thoughts revolve around money, fame, sex, food and much more. But when I'm hungry, I just eat. When I'm tired, I only sleep. I have no thinking, and therefore I have no inner and outer.

The challenge for a Zen practitioner is to see the uniqueness, simplicity, and essence of each thing. And seeing this - to find harmony with the world, every thing in it and with oneself.

The man of Zen Buddhism does not attach to anything, and does not reject anything. He is like a cloud that moves wherever he wants. He lives with an open heart and allows life to flow calmly through him, accepting all its gifts: grief and joy, gains and losses, meetings and partings. To be Zen means to do everything perfectly. Being completely deluded, suffering from stomach pain, watching a butterfly, making soup or writing a report.

In this way, you are able, by discarding prejudices and limitations, to penetrate into the essence of life itself. Right now. Zen philosophy is directly in front of you at this moment.

What is Zen? 10 Rules of Zen Buddhism for Harmony

— Be mindful of everything you are doing at the moment. If you wash the cup, wash the cup. Invest 100% with your mind and heart in what you are doing right now, and then you will achieve really good results. The mind will always be sharp and fresh if you learn to focus on the present moment. It's easy, you just need to remind yourself to be careful.

When you eat, be aware of the taste and texture of food - by the way, it is very easy to lose weight this way, because you will no longer automatically eat too much. As you walk down the stairs, focus on the descent, don't think about the papers waiting for you in the office or about the person who lives in another city. Monks practice walking meditation, where they become aware of their feet touching or leaving the ground. A great way to get rid of thoughts is to listen to your breath. And when such attentiveness becomes a habit, your efficiency will increase several times. You will learn to concentrate easily, not to be distracted by anything. Become a great negotiator, subtly feeling the interlocutor. And in general, in work you will not be equal. (But for you zen, ambition doesn't matter.)

— Act, don't just talk. Here is the real secret to success. In the East, words without practice are worthless: mastery can be achieved by laying bricks every day, but not by reading books about it. Bodhidharma asked his disciples to burn scriptures so that they would not become slaves to words instead of practicing the teaching expressed by the word. Knowledge is a map on which the ultimate goal is indicated, but in order to achieve it, you need to go through the entire route yourself.

— Take direct action. Hours of thinking about “what will happen if…” is not about Zen. It is simple, direct and direct. So if you want to say or do something, just say or do it without complicating it. For example, hug your father with the words: "You know, dad, I love you very much." Or tell your boss that you need a raise. (Or hug your boss and say, “You know, dad, you need a raise for me.”)

— Relax. This is the most enjoyable part of everyday Zen. True, if the world is illusory, is it worth straining? Why bother if events cannot be changed? And if you can, then there is nothing to worry about. Let yourself live a little, like grass, go with the flow ... Accept yourself and your manifestations: there are no shortcomings, it is people who invented them. You are perfect. And stop blaming yourself for everything. When you reproach yourself, you reproach the divine principle, the Absolute in yourself, as if it could be imperfect. It's like blaming the moon for not being yellow enough and the sun for being too hot.

— Rest. Use the quiet moments that arise during the day as a time of self-observation and calmness, meditation or a short nap. Even young people can benefit from a short afternoon break. Learn some of the qigong exercises or learn how to breathe with your stomach. Contemplate something pleasant. Don't forget to recharge the internal batteries.

— listen to your heart. Reach out to him every time you make an important decision. Don Juan warned: if your Way has no heart, it will kill you. Stop doing what you don't like and do what you love. If you have not yet chosen the Path, remember your dreams. About the most secret childhood desires. Maybe this is just what you need right now?

— Accept things as they are. Get used to them. Events happen the way they happen, and we divide them into good and bad instead of looking at the facts directly. You know, anything can become a source of conflict, threat or violence. But maybe - compassion, love and joy. It all depends on the angle of view. Watch life and move according to its flow: this will help you live and develop.

— Be open. Listen to people not only with your head, but with your whole heart, and not for the sake of continuing your monologue when there is a pause. Embrace new ideas and principles, no matter how wise and experienced you feel. Open up to change and unexpected opportunities - sometimes what seems like a detour turns out to be the shortest path to your goal. Keep looking for new friends, do not shut yourself off from strangers - one of them can change your life and be of great help.

— Find funny things in everyday life. Give free rein to your sense of humor, don't take everything too seriously. Seriousness is a way of making simple things complex. Read the Beginning Meditator's Guide: “You've been set up. You were thrown at all your money to the cent. All money is an illusion. You have nothing. And it wasn't." Or: “Don't be afraid to be alone with yourself. You don't bite."

— Just be. Enter your pure existence without boundaries. Zen contains nothing that fetters human nature. Among the stories about Zen there is this: a student comes to the Master and asks to show him the way to liberation. "Who dislikes you?" the Teacher asks. “No one,” the student answers, and immediately achieves enlightenment.

Enlightenment is the main goal of Zen. No one can comprehend Zen without achieving enlightenment, because this experience is the most important experience.

For the European consciousness, enlightenment is a special kind of art that immerses us in human existence. This is how we see the path that leads us away from slavery to freedom. And freedom here means the opportunity to realize all the most noble motives that the heart requires. Each of us is endowed with all the qualities that can make everyone happy, everyone can learn to love.

So, in order to achieve enlightenment, and its other name is "satori", you need to follow several principles. There are many of them, but first you should pay attention to the main ones.

True love for a person is not to interfere in his life. You can not cross the boundaries of the most precious thing that your loved one has - the limits of the inner world.
You can't get anything if you don't give anything in return. Also, only by giving, you can buy.
You need to live in the moment. The past has already left us, it cannot feed the present. The future is yet to come, and life is flowing away now, at the moment. She needs to be celebrated.
The greatest suffering and sorrows in a person come from the fact that he has forgotten how to live and forgot how to live. All human activity has no connection with the concept of life. Eating, sleeping and walking are only physical manifestations of the fact that the body is still alive, but does not prove that this person is alive.
One must learn to accept all things and events exactly as they are. The first step is to accept your true self.
Neither wealth nor poverty can be a reason for reflection. Wealth cannot be taken seriously. Because they have nothing to do with freedom, love, the celebration of life.
On the path of life, everyone will have to make many mistakes. And there is no fear in this. Because that is what is called development. It is scary to make the same mistakes several times, because this stops development.
The highest value is leaving slavery, gaining freedom. True love should give freedom, if it is not there, then this love is not real.
There will always be a person who will teach another how to be. So he realizes what he would like to be himself, but cannot achieve this. As a result, the student comes to his own conclusions and does not become what he needs, and the teacher does not achieve his goal. As a result, no one is satisfied.
The biggest source of problems is yourself. As soon as this knowledge settles in the head, problems will cease to exist.

Hello dear friends.

Each of you must have heard the word "Zen", even if he is far from Buddhism. This term is ambiguous, is directly related to Eastern culture and religion, although in itself does not imply either belief in the existence of God, or his denial.

Buddhist philosophy may seem strange and even paradoxical to a European person. The concept of "Zen" is just as unusual in this respect. But upon closer examination, it is quite consistent with the general religious tradition. Below we will try to figure out what zen means?

State and religion