Zen Buddhism

Comment by Ryan Vong on February 5, 2009 at 11:20pm

What would be the first discussion of the Zen group?

Comment by Ivan on February 9, 2009 at 3:12pm

Hi! Thanks for creating this group! I practice Zen under the Sanbo Kyodan school which combines Soto and Rinzai practices. Glad to be able to share some of my experiences in zen practice with you!

Comment by Fajiàn Shakya, OHY, OLB on February 9, 2009 at 3:43pm

We come together to meditate, as well as to experience and explore the wisdom of Zen in our everyday lives. We invite you to join us in this practice at our meditation times and temple events. Lotus Zen Temple provides a supportive environment in which centuries-old teachings and traditions complement the creative and caring spirit of contemporary America. There are no membership dues. All that is required to participate is an open mind.

Lotus Zen Temple exists to support all those who wish to learn how to meditate in the context of Mahayana Chan (Zen) Buddhism. We also offer plain meditation instruction for those not affiliated with a Buddhist temple or sangha.


Lieng Chan Yuen
Lotus Zen Temple
Lincoln, Nebraska

Phone: (402) 430-4431
www.lotustemple.us

Comment by Moona Perrotin on February 10, 2009 at 8:47pm

I experience bliss when reaching the place of no thought, quite physically. My Zen teacher thought perhaps I was deluded and too attached to the pysical. Do other meditators have spontaneous blissful smiles spread over theri face, and does time for them then cease? Or do they sit it out and go through it and if so are there words to hint at what that place might be like?
Curiously Moona

Comment by Nigel on April 23, 2009 at 4:29am

Dear Dhamma friends, it took me a while to realise that 'zen' is the Japanese variation of the Pali word 'jhana'. Ok, I am a bit slow sometimes. Jhanas are a stage of meditation clearly described by the Buddha and experienced by many skilled meditators. From a Theravadin background, I assume that all people who spend time dedicated to meditation will eventually experience the jhanas and should, in the normal course of events, know when this happens and understand the significance. Is there are reason why the Japanese Buddhist tradition sets the jhanas as central to its practice? I mean that all of the Buddha's teachings are important and interlocking, the jhanas are valuable but they are also only one place along the 8 Fold Noble Path. Your experiences would be of value to me here.

Comment by Fa Jian Shakya, OHY on April 23, 2009 at 6:23am

Zen mind is a term applied to the practice and understanding of Zen that is not limited to the cultural practices and sectarian methods that are often specifically promoted as Zen. Pure Zen concerns itself with the opening of an one's mind to the direct experience of higher consciousness (awareness) and/or an understanding of transcendent reality apart from cultural bias, religious dogma and sectarian tradition. Although those who practice Zen may use very traditional methods and styles, they are careful to point out that these methods and styles are merely tools and are not to be mistaken for Zen; like the saying "A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon".


Religions change and evolve with the passage of time. Religions also change when they move from one culture to another. Buddhism was nearly a thousand years old when the legendary monk from the West, Bodhidharma, is said to have brought Zen to China. The salient characteristic of Zen, the Mind-to-Mind transmission outside imagery and scriptures, can best be thought of as representing more a shift in emphasis rather than as a difference in doctrine from earlier Buddhist schools.

Comment by Ivan on May 12, 2009 at 1:05pm

Nigel, zen, in fact is the japanese word for jhana or Dhyana, but it does not refer to the stages in meditation according to Theravada teachings, but to a special transmission beyond words and scriptures which points directly towards your heart and leads you to awaken. Zen is practice.

Comment by Robert Van Kirk on May 12, 2009 at 1:30pm

Ivan is very much correct, but when you truly get to the heart of Zen, I think a realization comes along that it is but one path to the realization of enlightenment, that it doesn't work for everyone all the time, and that other traditions are equally correct and equally incorrect.

Comment by Derek Dibbern on May 12, 2009 at 6:38pm

Zen, being a transmission beyond words, is often covered up by many words and concepts. For example this blog! Also, awareness itself is universal, therefore sweep the mind clear of thought/word/concepts... sit down and shut up! No Path, No Knowledge and No Attainment...

Comment by Robert Van Kirk on May 12, 2009 at 9:58pm

Turn on the light and you'll realize the room is dark.

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