ZEN DEFINITION MANUAL
ZEN DEFINITION FULL

The beginning of a period of zazen is traditionally announced by ringing a bell three times ( shijosho), and the end of the period by ringing the bell either once or twice ( hozensho). Before taking one's seat, and after rising at the end of a period of zazen, a Zen practitioner performs a gassho bow to their seat, and a second bow to fellow practitioners.

Practitioners of the Rinzai school sit facing each other with their backs to the wall, while those of the Sōtō school sit facing the wall or a curtain. In Zen temples and monasteries, practitioners traditionally sit zazen together in a meditation hall usually referred to as a zendo, each sitting on a cushion called a zafu which itself may be placed on a low, flat mat called a zabuton.

ZEN DEFINITION FULL

daijo, zazen aimed at gaining insight into true nature Ī young master Hsuan Hua sitting in full lotus.

gedo, zazen-like practices from other religious traditions.bompu, developing meditative concentration to aid well-being.In lecture four, Yasutani lists five kinds of zazen: Kapleau quotes Hakuun Yasutani's lectures for beginners. The Japanese Sōtō School makes less or no use of koans, preferring an approach known as shikantaza where the mind has no object at all. In the Japanese Buddhist Rinzai school, zazen is usually combined with the study of koans. Meanwhile, the practice of silently reciting the Buddha Amitabha's name is common in the traditions influenced by Pure Land practice, and was also taught by Chan masters like Zongmi. Repeating a huatou (a short meditation phrase) is a common method in Chinese Chan and Korean Seon. The practice can be done with various methods, such as following the breath ( anapanasati), mentally repeating a phrase (which could be a koan, a mantra, a huatou or nianfo) and a kind of open monitoring in which one is aware of whatever comes to our attention (sometimes called shikantaza or silent illumination). The meaning and method of zazen varies from school to school, but in general it is a quiet type of Buddhist meditation done in a sitting posture like the lotus position.

ZEN DEFINITION MANUAL

The earliest manual on sitting meditation from an author of the Zen tradition is the Zuòchán Yí which dates to the Northern Song dynasty (CE 960 - 1126). For example, the famous translator Kumārajīva (344-413) translated a work termed Zuòchán sān mēi jīng ( A Manual on the Samādhi of Sitting Meditation) and the Chinese Tiantai master Zhiyi (538–597 CE) wrote some very influential works on sitting meditation. The term zuòchán can be found in early Chinese Buddhist sources, such as the Dhyāna sutras. The generalized Japanese term for meditation is 瞑想 ( meisō) however, zazen has been used informally to include all forms of seated Buddhist meditation. Zazen (literally ' seated meditation' Japanese: 座禅 simplified Chinese: 坐禅 traditional Chinese: 坐禪 pinyin: zuò chán Wade–Giles: tso 4-ch'an 2, pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.

Zen definition