Zen

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[[Image:Zen.JPG|thumb|right|Zen Buddhism is also noted for "gardens" of raked sand or gravel.]]
 
[[Image:Zen.JPG|thumb|right|Zen Buddhism is also noted for "gardens" of raked sand or gravel.]]
'''Zen''' (Japanese, from Sanskrit ''dhyana'' by way of Chinese ''chan'') is a form of [[Buddhism]] developed in [[China]] with influences from [[Taoism]]. It is best known in its Japanese form. Zen Buddhism has a strong emphasis on teaching through riddles known as koans (a famous example is: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"), which helped it to become strongly influential on geek culture due to its love of mind puzzles and high-context communication.  
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'''Zen''' (Japanese, from Sanskrit ''dhyana'' by way of Chinese ''chan'') is a form of [[Buddhism]] developed in [[China]] with influences from [[Taoism]]. It is best known in its Japanese form. Central to Zen practice is the heightening of personal awareness through regular sessions of ''zazen'', a form of quiet, seated meditation, as well as other practices. Some schools of Zen Buddhism put a strong emphasis on teaching through riddles known as koans (a famous example is: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"), which helped it to become strongly influential on geek culture due to its love of mind puzzles and high-context communication.  
  
 
A somewhat faddish westernized version of Zen became trendy during the 1970s in such places as the [[Esalen]] Institute and the [[Human Potential Movement]], and due to books like Robert Pirsig's ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance''.
 
A somewhat faddish westernized version of Zen became trendy during the 1970s in such places as the [[Esalen]] Institute and the [[Human Potential Movement]], and due to books like Robert Pirsig's ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance''.

Revision as of 14:12, 25 March 2010

Zen Buddhism is also noted for "gardens" of raked sand or gravel.

Zen (Japanese, from Sanskrit dhyana by way of Chinese chan) is a form of Buddhism developed in China with influences from Taoism. It is best known in its Japanese form. Central to Zen practice is the heightening of personal awareness through regular sessions of zazen, a form of quiet, seated meditation, as well as other practices. Some schools of Zen Buddhism put a strong emphasis on teaching through riddles known as koans (a famous example is: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"), which helped it to become strongly influential on geek culture due to its love of mind puzzles and high-context communication.

A somewhat faddish westernized version of Zen became trendy during the 1970s in such places as the Esalen Institute and the Human Potential Movement, and due to books like Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Further reading

  • Hofstadter, Douglas. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books. A highly influential book blending the number theory of Kurt Gödel, the surrealist art of Maurits Escher and René Magritte, and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach along with heavy doses of Zen and pastiches of Lewis Carroll's dialogue between Achilles and the Tortoise. A major source of geek interest in Zen.
  • Reps, Paul, and Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. A 20th-century collection of Zen lore, including the Mumonkan and some influential Taoist writings.
  • Suzuki, Shunryu, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. A series of transcribed and edited dharma talks (sermons) originally delivered in English.[1] Careful reading reveals a brief verbal description of the secret of zen practice.
  • Anything by Joko Beck
  • Anything by Pema Chödrön
  • Anything by Thích Nhất Hạnh

External links

Footnotes

  1. "The editing is further complicated by the fact that English is profoundly dualistic in its basic assumptions and has not had the opportunity over centuries to develop a way of expressing non-dualistic Buddhist ideas, as has Japanese. Suzuki-roshi uses these different cultural vocabularies quite freely, expressing himself in a combination of the Japanese feeling-attributive way of thinking and the Western idea-specific way that to his listeners makes perfect sense poetically and philosophically." from the introduction by Richard Baker
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