Zen Branch in Buddhism in China - Essay Example

?Buddhism is one of the greatest religions in the World. Actually, it is more than a religion; it is a way of life and a philosophy behind it. It is a way of discovering God within. There are several main branches of Buddhism such as Theravada, Tantra, and Zen. We will take a look at Zen branch that had begun in China. First it was called Chan, then got a name Zen, which is Japanese name for Chan, because this school of Buddhism then also came to Japan. The word itself – Zen – means meditation. That is the central part of the teaching. Through the meditation a person becomes one with himself, with his body and with the subconscious. Zen developed in China in 6th century and became a main Buddhism school during the reign of Song dynasty, with many monks travelling from Japan to China to study. Then, these monks established Zen in Japan, where it had a great impact on Japanese culture. It is believed that Zen is originated from the disciples of Buddha, the patriarchs, with Indian monk Bodhidharma, the “wall-gazing Brahmin” and Huineng, an illiterate peasant from China being responsible for establishing founding principles of Zen. The Indian monk is a legendary personality; there are not so many historic accounts of him documented. A century after his death his biography was written where it was stated that he was original follower of Mahayana Buddhism, who traveled to China to get converts. However, he did not have much success, but instead received much persecution. Finally, he got two disciples, one of which furthered Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma became knows in Japan as Daruma. Legends tell us about Daruma’s long hours of meditation, sometime having his back to the rest of the world and facing the wall. He was training his disciples in the art of meditation as well. There is a very popular toy in Japan – the Daruma doll. It is believed to bring good luck, safety and wealth. The doll has no legs and its base is round, which helps it to always maintain upright position, after being tipped. Unlike other branches of Buddhism, Zen does not promote reincarnation, rather, when meditating, it suggests basing the meditation on individual life’s experience. In Zen anyone can reach Nirvana, the state of enlightment: those who adhere to Buddhism wholeheartedly as well as common people. What needed is to practice meditation, and follow personal spiritual experience and intuition; one should also be calm and not to be affected by such strong emotions as hatred, passion or vanity. It is believed that enlightment can be passed on directly from one person to another. Nature is considered divine. Holy Sutras are put in the back burner in this branch, with the main writings being the story of Huineng, an illiterate young man who became a disciple of Bodhidharma (Daruma), and the later – the 6th patriarch of Zen. One of the central terms of Buddhism is atman. This is the name for “ego”, “self”, “soul”. Atman is a philosophical term, meaning a Higher Self. In Buddhism it is similar to Buddha-nature, of which everyone has a part. There are several aspects of it. Atman is infinite, eternal, non-born and timeless. We are only witnesses to the existence. Everything that is happening in the world around us is happening in the Atman as well. There is completeness, nothing is lacking. Atman means becoming one with the Divine. In Zen, Atman means merging with the nature, the world that surrounds us. Zen Buddhism has its central element in awareness and mindfulness. Being mindful and aware of one’s actions and feelings adds meaning to all the activities, helps to concentrate better and to find insight. Zen’s philosophy gives freedom, which comes from connection between personal experience of uniting with the universe, as well as seeing connections with the world around. It teaches its followers to experience all things in life anew each time, to rid one’s mind of the stereotypes about oneself, to make one’s mind “empty”. It suggest to live “here and now” – simply live a life, but to be mindful. Many actions in life we are used to doing by habit and without thinking. When this is happening, our mind wonders either to the future, or to the past, or is trying to solve some problem, etc. This creates separation of the mind and body, separation of the inner world and the world around us. Being mindful helps to live in the present moment, and to experience it. Meditation – silent or not – is the special ritual to get the mind cleansed of any obstruction. What attracts many people to this teaching is that Zen is not a religion in the sense that there is no “God” in it. The question about God’s existence simply does not come up in Zen philosophy. It seems that the focus and the message of Zen are fairly simple. However, it takes training to master the art of achieving enlightment, which often require guidance from a master. In Japan, many samurai warriors liked and followed Zen since it helped to develop self-discipline and self-control. As Zen was developing, there appeared several branches-sects of it, the main two being Rinzai and Soto. Zen was first introduced to Europe and the rest of the world in the very beginning of the 20th century. This philosophy had great influence on many spheres of life – starting with different kinds of art and on to cooking and professional sports. Zen philosophy had great impact of art. Zen artists are trying to portrait eternal qualities of nature, its purity and simplicity. The artist must understand the Buddha-nature, the Atman of what he is to paint, and then to use technique to express it in the painting. The understanding the essence of the subject is of utmost importance in the art. It might take a lot of meditation and time to achieve this, but once it is done, the process of painting itself can go very fast. It is not trying to merely re-create an illusion of reality. The purpose of art is to show the essence. This holds true not only for painting; the same is the approach to the dance and other forms of art. I found Zen to be a very interesting philosophy for life. I may not agree with all the teaching and views of it, but I do like the idea of being aware of the world around and of living in the present moment. I think, besides understanding and enlightment, it helps to have deeper and richer experiences in life, helps both to enjoy life better as well as to have the power to overcome obstacles. Nowadays Zen is very popular in West, United States and Asia, but it is rooted in Japan deeper than anywhere else. Reference list: Panthoes.Seek. Understand 2011, Patheos, Inc Available from http://www.patheos.com/Library/Zen Meditation-Life Without Limits Available from http://basic-meditation.blogspot.com/2008/04/basic-zen-buddhism.html “Zen and back” again Available from http://zenandbackagain.blogspot.com/2011/02/atman-question.html Lieberman, Fredric “Zen Buddhism And Its Relationship to Elements of Eastern And Western Arts” available from http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/lieberman/zen.html Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro 1954, “An introduction to Zen Buddhism” Grove Press Watts, Alan 1999, “The Way of Zen” Vintage Book Read More