by Deirdre Collings

THE ZEN TRADITION

This issue of Ordinary Mind looks at the Zen tradition of Buddhism. A school of the Mahayana ('great vehicle'), the distinctive feature of Zen is its focus on the practice of meditation. The word zen literally means 'meditation' and zazen, or 'sitting meditation', as it is intended to liberate the mind from the bondage of thoughts - be they sacred or profane - it being the conceptual mind that blinds us to samsaric existence. The practice of zazen is therefore about dwelling in a thought-free awareness that is not directed toward any object or conceptual contentment. It is a state of wakefulness that allows thoughts to simply arise and dissipate without acceptance or rejection. By loosening our fixation on conceptual categories, a sudden breakthrough of enlightenment is possible. This enables us to realise our own true nature - or Buddha-nature - which is the same as the nature of ultimate reality itself.

While Zen has never been anti-doctrinal or irrational, it has emphasised personal experience over scholastic thinking. Because of this reliance on immediate experience and a reluctance to privilege conceptual discourse, Zen has come to be characterized as ' a special transmission outside the scriptures, not founded on words and letters; by pointing directly to one's mind, it lets one se into one's own true nature and thus attain Buddhahood.' Another aspect of Zen ethos is the understanding that meditation is not an artificial means for achieving the extraneous goal of enlightenment. The Japanese master, Dogen Zenji, summarised this well in this famous statement, 'meditation is enlightenment, enlightenment is meditation.'

Zen originated in China, during the sixth to eighth centuries, where it was known as Ch'an Buddhism (ch'an being the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyana, which means 'meditative concentration'). It was first introduced to Japan in the seventh to ninth centuries, but did not take root there until the twelfth. It also traveled to Korea during this early period, where it is known as Son Buddhism.

The two main traditions of Zen Buddhism that still flourish in Japan have both been successfully introduced to the West. These are the Rinzai and Soto schools. While the goal of training in both schools is essentially the same, they emphasise slightly different approaches to the practice of meditation. Rinzai ('Lin-chi tsung' in China), which was brought to Japan at the end of the twelfth century, stresses koan practice as a particularly fast way to realise enlightenment. Koans are enigmatic stories or sayings that point to the nature of ultimate reality. As these sayings go 'beyond thinking' and cannot be solved by logical reason, their practice eventually causes one's conceptual views to collapse and reveal the mind's true nature. Soto ('Ts'ao-tsung' in China), which was brought to Japan in the first half of the thirtieth century by Dogen Zenji, emphasises shikantaza - 'nothing but' (shikan) 'precisely' (ta) 'sitting' (za) - a meditation which allows one to recognise one's own nature by simply being in it.

Traleg Rinpoche provides direct introduction to the spirit of Zen practice by emphasising the value of spontaneity of life. Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh gives a very gentle exposition on the need to make peace with oneself as part of the dharmic path. Ekai Korematsu emphasises the importance of understanding one's own experience in order to understand the thought of Dogen Zenji and Richard Baker-Roshi skillful demonstrates that the mind is a relationship, not a thing. The Venerable Thich Phuoc Tam, Venerable Kwang Sunim and Tony Prince each gives a comparative view on Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhism, Korean Zen and Hua-yen respectively. Ordinary Mind would also like to thank local artist and Zen master Andre Sollier, for his wonderful Sumi-e brush painting.