About Zen Meditation

Zen is the form of Buddhist meditation that developed in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Like all schools of Buddhism, Zen follows the path to enlightenment taught by Siddhartha Gautama, the "Buddha" or "Awakened One," who lived 2500 years ago. After achieving enlightenment at the age of 35, the Buddha spent the next 45 years traveling thoughout northeastern India helping others to discover the same liberation he achieved.

The Buddha saw that the self-centered way most people live gradually traps them in destructive mental habits, especially neurotic dependency and fear. Although much of our suffering seems to be caused by circumstances beyond our control, the Buddha realized that unhappiness begins in ourselves rather than in the world around us.

Although Zen has its roots in Asia, anyone can practice Zen. No doctrines need to be accepted and no scriptures need to be studied. The foundation of Zen is meditation. Through meditation, Zen practioners gradually transform their deepest mental habits. Step by step, breath by breath, the mind frees itself from its illusions and passes through its artificial barriers.

As the Buddha learned from the transformation of his own awareness, when the mind frees itself from dependency and fear, suffering automatically ends. And when suffering ends, our awareness will return to its original perfection. This perfection is "enlightenment."

The encounter with enlightenment opens up an inexhaustible compassion within ourselves, a compassion we can access more and more throughout our lives. In this condition we experience the unhappiness of others as our own unhappiness, and their happiness becomes our happiness as well. The final stage of zen practice is walking through the troubled world with “bliss bestowing hands.”

A special transmission,
Outside the scriptures.
No dependence on words and letters.
Direct pointing to the mind
and the realization of Buddhahood.
- Bodhidharma

Updated 04.21.05