Zen Meditation Papers

Meditation is very difficult to describe and can only truly be explained once experienced. It is the practice of mental concentration leading ultimately through a sequence of stages to the final goal of spiritual freedom, nirvana. The purpose of Buddhist meditation is to free ourselves from the delusion and thereby put an end to both ignorance and craving. The Buddhists describe the culminating trance-like state as transient; final Nirvana requires the insight of wisdom. The exercises that are meant to develop wisdom involve meditation on the true nature of reality or the conditioned and unconditioned elements that make up all phenomena. The goal of meditation is to develop a concept in the mind.

The topic of Zen Buddhism and understanding how it fits into a framework that was designed to

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

It's all well and good to explain Zen Buddhist doctrine, but Zen is a much more abstract idea. A British researcher and Buddhist, Christmas Humphreys, says it is hard to relate Zen within time and space also, “[f]or Zen is not a new thing but a new way of looking at things. It is a new vision with the old eyes.” (Humphreys 99) Zen is best seen through the actions of those who practice for those who wish to gain a basic understanding, and Matthew is my nearest and dearest example of a practicing Buddhist.

The goal of Zen Buddhism is to look towards the future, searching to attain satori (awakening). Through jiriki nembutsu (self-power chanting) the person is hakarai (calculating) their spiritual and material profit. Thus, Zen is an individual practice. Ultimately, Zen places a strong importance on embodying emptiness and not becoming attached to words said by the masters. For instance, in the koan, master Yanmen’s story shows that Zen is both verbal and actional, teaching his students that instead of getting attached to words, one must embody them. This was seen when one of his disciples asked if the dog has a Buddha nature, and the master replied: “no because he has the nature of karmic delusions” (Li 18 March 2016). In this example, the master was mocking the disciple’s lack of discipline because he got attached to the words. The master’s iconoclastic approach teaches its practitioners that one must embody the koan and zazen meditation. As in Zen, it is through embodiment that one reaches the Mahayana level of emptiness in order to reach their final goal- satori.

With all of it’s lofty, mystical terms and ideas, Zen Buddhism can seem very hard to talk about much less understand and follow. The beauty of Zen, though, is its practicality,

The journey of becoming a Zen Buddhist Monk is long and difficult. Those who work their way through the many trials it takes to reach this stature are held to the highest regard. Living a life of humility as well as living a life of labor, are two of the steps of becoming a Zen Buddhist Monk. Both challenge the body and mind, and help them reach their full potential.

Zen, also known as Ch’an Buddhism in China, is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that was established in China about 1500 years ago. Zen is a form of religious practice of mainly concentrating the mind to a single point in which then results in self-realization and/or enlightenment. Zen philosophy is interpreted that all humans are capable of reaching enlightenment, which is generally blocked by ignorance. The idea emphasizes enlightened masters over forms of scriptures, and is the least “academic” of all the Buddhist schools.

I went to a Zen Buddhist temple; whose origins are from Siddartha Gautama commonly known as the Buddha. The two-hour liturgy consisted of five parts: chanting, zazen, kinhin, zazen and chanting. While I value meditation and prayer, I found zazen difficult, thus respect and admire those who identify with Buddhist spirituality.

In the Zen Buddhism there is meditation which is a fundamental principle of Zen. People meditate

A few refinements are often specified in the writing, for example, the kind of consideration developed (fixation versus mindfulness) and the relationship to psychological procedures (e.g., essentially watching discernments versus purposely altering them; see Feuerstein, 2001; Shear, 2006a; Walsh and Shapiro, 2006). An essential refinement is that amongst concentrative and care systems (Goleman, 1988; Kristeller and Rikhye, 2008; Naranjo and Ornstein, 1971), in spite of the fact that the two strategies are frequently utilized together in genuine ways to deal with reflection, for example, Zen contemplation (e.g., Kapleau, 2000; Samy, 2002). Concentrative strategies utilize a protest of center or consideration, which can be a mantra (for the most

Post-election stress and the holiday season can bring on or exacerbate depression, something seniors can have a difficult time battling.

Later on, the Japanese adapted another religion, Buddhism. Like Shinto, Buddhism is also a polytheistic religion. Moreover, because Shinto does not explain the afterlife while Buddhism does, these two religions co-existed in Japanese culture. Many people adapt to both religions' belief system at the same time. Zen Buddhism became widely adapted by the samurais later on during the Warrior Period. Zen Buddhism focuses on the discipline of individuals, one of the many reasons why samurais are seen as very refined warriors. They are often portrayed as being able to sense an enemy's attacks before they actually happen. This is an exaggeration of a samurai's ability to concentrate and focus on a goal. The samurais often use a Zen Buddhism technique called "Za Zen" to help clear their mind. A practical religion, Zen Buddhism helps to enhance self-discipline and improve one's self-concentration. One of the teachings of Zen Buddhism is "Bushin," meaning the clarification of the mind. A cleared mind allows the samurais to concentrate better on the task at hand and respond faster to enemies' attacks, make Zen Buddhism a very attractive religion to these warriors. Martial arts in Japan today also stress the importance of concentration. However, Bushin no longer applies to solely concentration in combat, but to all forms of concentration. For example, practicing martial arts is said to effective for improving one's performance at work due to better concentration

Instead of seeing a "soul" or a "mind" as the seat of personal identity, in Buddhism, the self is to be found in processes. Meditation, then, has the therapeutic effect of disengaging the practitioner from self-consciousness, freeing the mind. The view of the world without the construct of a permanent essence enables one to "experience reality as it really is" (3). It is important to note that Buddhism does not distinguish mental processes from other senses. Just as seeing takes a visual object, the mind takes a mental object (1). Just as the eye is free to take in different visual objects, the mind is free, as well. While meditation aims to develop "single-pointedness of mind," it is ultimately to free it from external objects. The focus is on the process of breathing, in Zen, and, eventually, one can reach a state where one is not considering anything (2). Zen considers the "blank-mind" stage to be a higher form of consciousness because it is free from attachments.

Michael Kampan O' Reilly states in Art Beyond the West that Zen Buddhism teaches one can find