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Japanese Zen

Japanese Zen
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 禅
Traditional Chinese 禪
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Thiền
Korean name
Hangul 선
Hanja 禪
Japanese name
Kanji 禅
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit ध्यान ( dhyāna )

Zen is the Japanese variant of Chán, a school of Mahayana Buddhism which strongly emphasizes dhyana concentration-meditation. This practice, according to Zen proponents, gives insight into one's true nature, or the emptiness of inherent existence, which opens the way to a liberated way of living.

According to tradition, Zen originated in India, when the Buddha held up a flower and Kasyappa smiled. With this smile he showed that he had understood the wordless essence of the dharma. This way the dharma was transmitted to Kasyappa, the second patriarch of Zen.

Buddhism was introduced to China in the first century CE. According to tradition Chán was introduced around 500 CE by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk teaching dhyana. He was the 28th Indian patriarch of Zen, and the first Chinese patriarch.

The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (Chan) which traces its roots to the Indian practice of Dhyana ("meditation").

Buddhism was introduced in Japan in the 8th century CE during the Nara period (710-794) and the Heian period (794–1185). Zen was not introduced as a separate school in Japan until the 12th century during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when Nōnin established the Daruma-school. In 1189 Nōnin sent two students to China, to meet with Cho-an Te-kuang (1121–1203), and ask for the recognition of Nōnin as a Zen-master. This recognition was granted.

In 1168 Myōan Eisai traveled to China, whereafter he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187 he went to China again, and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades later, Nanpo Shōmyō (南浦紹明?) (1235–1308) also studied Linji teachings in China before founding the Japanese Otokan lineage, the most influential branch of Rinzai.


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