Dylan M Guthrie

Zen Buddism

Presentation and Essay

Buddhism in China

While Buddhism is becoming more popular in the West, it still seems extremely alien to many westerners because it is a religion without gods, doctrine, or the belief in metaphysical realities. It is a religion that seeks to explain and overcome the problems that humanity suffers by practicing a moral code and gaining wisdom about the world through meditation and compassion toward humanity (White, 1993). It is more easily identified as a philosophy to westerners because it lacks a god or heavenly being; Buddhanet says that “Buddhism depends more on understanding than faith” (White, 1993). It that sense, Buddhism seems very rational and human. It focuses on the very real problem of human suffering and offers a way in which can be ceased through human efforts and morality.

The religion (or philosophy, as some would prefer to call it) was started when a man named Siddhartha Gautama was exposed to human suffering for the first time after being protected from it for his entire life in 500’s BCE (Prothero, 2010). After being exposed to suffering for the first time, he was on the search for answers to the problems that humans face. He eventually came to the conclusion that human suffering can be dealt with (or in some ways solved or overcome) through the Noble Eightfold path.

Fundamentally, the Noble Eightfold Path is a way to end human suffering. It is a moral code that stresses the importance of the love for others and understanding of the Four Noble Truths. The Noble Eightfold Path is central to the Buddhist tradition because it gives action and experience to the philosophy that guides Buddhist practitioners. The belief in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path are the things that unite all followers of Buddhism.

Zen Buddhism is a sect of the religion that stresses the importance of the Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths, and that everyone can achieve true happiness through rigorous meditation  (Britannica, 2004). The stress of this sect of Buddhism is on the necessity to meditate to achieve true happiness and enlightenment. This has led many Zen Buddhists to live out a monastic lifestyle, where a follower is given a master so that they may learn how to truly seek out spiritual happiness.

Zen is a sect of the larger group of Buddhism. Among Zen, there are two separate schools of practice: Soto and Rinzai. These schools are alike in that they reject theories of gods or otherworldly influences in their lives and they focus on the practice of mediation and spiritual labor to achieve enlightenment or live through the experience that is Buddhist mediation.

While the two schools of Zen Buddhism are alike at the fundamental level, they do distinguish themselves when it comes to religious practice. According the Zen Buddhism website, those who follow the Soto school of thought tend spend hours practicing Zazen. Zazen is the simple practice of sitting mediation. The ones that meditate in this way are not directly seeking enlightenment or transcendence; they are practicing Zazen for the sole purpose of experiencing it. Soto followers also use koans, which are code phrases that used to trigger or lead a person to enlightenment. In the Soto school, these are ever-changing and less important to them that zazen and having the meditation experience (Design, 2015).

Koans are important to the Soto followers, but they are much more important to Rinzai school of thought. To the Rinzai, koans have the ability to “shock the mind into awareness” (Design, Rinazai, 2015 ). These words or phrases are used to validate the level awareness that one has achieved throughout their meditation. These phrases seem to be reminiscent of the many verses and rituals that Catholic Christians chant and repeat during religious practices; they are designed to bring the disciple closer to their religious goal.

Meditation is a lifestyle to the Zen Buddhist. It takes precedence over philosophy and good works (Zen Buddhism, 2015). It seems to make better sense to Westerners, whom have been exposed to theological religions like Christianity or Islam, because it stresses a religious practice and the need for spiritual guidance from a more experienced leader. The picture of Buddhism that often appears in the minds of Americans could be Zen monks that are sitting cross-legged as they meditate to achieve true happiness and fulfillment.

Zen Buddhism is attractive to many people for the same reason that Buddhism, in general, is appealing to many different people. It identifies a very human problem (suffering), describes it in a very humanistic manner, and offers a very humanistic approach to solving the problem that touches all human. Zen Buddhists reject deities and religious texts, so that they can focus on the issue at hand: human suffering. They simply choose to do so by meditation and the recitation of koan.

Bibliography

Britannica, E. (2004). Zen. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.

Design, B. (2015 , May 2 ). Rinazai. Retrieved from Zen Buddhism: http://zen-buddhism.net/two-schools-of-zen/rinzai-zen.html?headerbar=1

Design, B. (2015, May 2). Soto Zen. Retrieved from Zen Buddhism: http://zen-buddhism.net/two-schools-of-zen/soto-zen.html?headerbar=1

Prothero, S. (2010). God Is Not One: The eight Rival religions that run the world–and why their differences matter. New York: HarperOne.

White, B. (1993). Basic Buddhism Guide: A Five Minute Introduction. Retrieved from BuddhaNet: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm

Zen Buddhism. (2015, May 2). Retrieved from Religion Facts: http://www.religionfacts.com/zen