Category Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School, and later developed into various sub-schools and branches.

From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.

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Honorific Japanese Buddhist titles

Jul

2022

Culture, Zen

Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. There were a broad range of reform strategies and movements which aimed at positioning Buddhism as a useful partner to a modernizing Japan. This included clerical reform to tighten discipline as well as reforms concerning doctrine and practice. Some Buddhists .

Engaku-ji, a building with old-style katōmado

Japanese Buddhist architectonic solutions

Jul

2022

Monuments, Zen

Japanese Buddhist architecture is the architecture of Buddhist temples in Japan, consisting of locally developed variants of architectural styles born in China. After Buddhism arrived the continent via Three Kingdoms of Korea in the 6th century, an effort was initially made to reproduce original buildings as faithfully as possible, but gradually local versions of continental styles were developed both to meet Japanese tastes and to solve problems posed by local weather, which is more .

Bodhidharma with Dazu Huike. Painting by Sesshū Tōyō, 15th century.

Chan Buddhist monks – The spirit of the Bodhidharma

Jul

2022

Biography, Zen

Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. The Chan (Zen in Japanese) school of Chinese Buddhism began when, in the 7th century, a small religious community gathered .

Thích Nhất Hạnh leading a namo avalokiteshvaraya chanting session

The most prominent Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers

Jul

2022

Biography, Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School, and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. Zen teachers often promote diaphragmatic breathing, stating that the breath must come from the lower abdomen (known as hara or tanden in .

Soto Zen – The largest Japanese Zen school

Jul

2022

Mahāyāna, Zen

Sōtō Zen or the Sōtō school is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism. It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān Liánjiè. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. The Japanese brand of the .

The most prominent Sōtō Zen Buddhists around the world

May

2022

Biography, Zen

Zen Buddhist monks – The unchanging essential nature

May

2022

Biography, Monks, Zen

According to tradition, Chan was introduced around 500 CE by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk teaching dhyāna. Zen is deeply rooted in the teachings and doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism teaches śūnyatā, "emptiness", which is also emphasized by Zen. But another important doctrine is the buddha-nature, the idea that all human beings have the possibility to awaken. All living creatures are supposed to have the Buddha-nature, but don't realize this as long as they are not .

SFZC the largest Sōtō organization in the West

May

2022

Monasteries, Zen

San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and a group of his American students in 1962. Today SFZC is the largest Sōtō organization in the .

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, Asalha Puja 2014

The most prominent American Zen Buddhists

May

2022

Biography, Zen

Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. Though its origins are distant, today there are plenty of prominent American Zen .

Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers from America

May

2022

Biography, Zen

Although it is difficult to trace the precise moment when America first became aware of Zen as a distinct form of Buddhism, the visit of Soyen Shaku, a Japanese Zen monk, to Chicago during the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 is often pointed to as an event that enhanced the profile of Zen in the Western world. It was during the late 1950s and the early 1960s that the number of Westerners other .

Kevin Starbard brings Butoh to SF Zen Center

Roshi Joan Halifax on integrity and action in times of crisis

Transformative Retreat – Embracing Nature’s Wisdom at Prajna

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Manual of Zen Buddhism

Zen and Tea

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Yak wool meditation shawl

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