Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism originating from the enlightenment-experience of sakamuni. Zen masters claims that conceptual knowledge, including religious texts, will not lead to a direct experience of one's own true nature. D.T. Suzuki writes that Zen is universal, "being life itself" Suzuki writes:

"When I say that Zen if life, I mean that zen is not to be confined within conceptualization, that Zen is what makes conceptualization possible, and therefore that Zen is not to be identified with any particular brand of 'ism.'"

As an Eastern philosophy, Zen is not a philosophy in the traditional Western sense where only intellectual knowledge is the goal. Zen teachers frequently employ the koan, a kind of question which admits of no immediate rational answer -- as a teaching tool.

The koan is not something that can be analyzed. For example one koan states "The sound of one hand clapping." While this may sound paradoxical to a rational mind, it is very obvious once the point is grasped.

Zen is not something to be studied. For example one koan goes like this - "Do not mistake the pointing finger for the moon."

When one becomes proficient at that, then reality presents itself without the conceptual chatter of the mind. [1]

External links

• The International Research Insitute for Zen Buddhism's list of Zen Centers in North America.
• alt.zen's Frequently asked questions about Zen