Zen Buddhism is certainly the division of Buddhism that is the hardest to explain. According to Zen, you can't describe it in words, thus have to experience it personally.
Though it has had great success in its Western advances, Zen has roots strong in Southeast Asia, where it arrived in roughly 520 AD from the India, the motherland of Buddhism. Buddhism developed in India as a nonconformist counterpart to the local dominating religion that is Hinduism. It denied the authority of the caste system and did not accept the importance and value of the extensive Vedic rites and rituals. Eventually, Buddhism was near extinguished from India, as the Hindu religion adopted more and more of its philosophical practices and the line between the two became blurred. Both religions have faith in the notion of reincarnation, karma, and the end goal of Nirvana, or absolute liberation. But roughly 1000 years after the birth of the Buddah and the start of this religion, Buddhism began to change and spread throughout the surrounding areas.
India's trade routes served as an incredible vehicle of influence for religion and philosophy. Because of its international connections, many important people traveled to such great lengths as China and Japan. One such man was Bodhi-Dharma, who landed in 520 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Wu. Bodhi-Dharma went on to be the father of the Zen school of Buddhism in China. He reportedly described Zen as "a special transmission outside of the scriptures. There is no need for dependence on words and letters…Seeing into one's nature, which is identical with all reality, justifies Buddha-life and led to the attainment of Buddhahood." He passed along his teachings to Hui-k'o, and it was under the Third Patriarch that Zen fell under the influence of Taoism, which avows that one should ignore societal requirements and seek nothing artificial or unnatural, just those things which are aligned with the processes of nature. This wasn't the last modification; Zen continued to transform and change over time.
Although many people today know this religion as Zen, it wasn't until it had reached Japan that it acquired its present day nomenclature. In China, it is still referred to as Chan. By the seventh century, Zen had reached Japan. It was not until the twelfth century that a monastery in Kyoto was founded and the religion took off. By this time, the school had been split into two followings in China; they formed Japanese counterparts quickly.
The two lasting approaches to Buddhism are Rinzai and Soto. Rinzai focuses on sudden enlightenment through irrational teaching puzzles or meditation problems; there are known as koan. Its counterpart, the Soto sect, advocates the pursuit of zazen, or cross legged meditation with an empty mind and silent lips. Soto does not believe in the sudden enlightenment that is offered by Rinzai. As the Buddhist traditions were losing popularity in China, these forms of Zen grew quickly in Japan.
The medieval military men in Japan grasped Buddhism eagerly. It became a warrior creed for many, because they believed it called for action, intense self discipline and for scorn of death. Here it was mixed with small aspects of Shintoism and utilized by the Japanese as justification for their belligerent wartime activities.
When one practices Zen, the objective is to reach Satori, which is described as "a sort of inner perception of Reality itself." It is also explained to be the world of "non-descrimination, non-differentiation, or two-ness becomes one-ness and yet equally seen as two." Unfortunately, little is written on how to reach this cryptically depicted state of enlightenment, but what is surely the right way to start is to restrain one's mind to the point of total control, perhaps through the employment of Dhyana. This technique enables a follower to relax the body and banish thought so that one may focus entirely on the koan practices.
Two examples of koan problems are: "A sound is made by the clapping of two hands. What is the sound of one hand?" and "When the Many are reduced to the One, to what is the One to be reduced?" These types of questions usually involve a choice between two responses, neither of with is realistic or even possible, causing the seeker to reflect on the problem of life, according to Zen. Students must realize that in life, they must surpass the two earthly alternatives of assertion and denial, which hide the Truth and are not realistic options.
Zen represents a true blending of cultures and the East's power of influence over the west. R.H. Blyth has written that "Zen is the most precious possession of Asia. With its beginnings in India, development in China, and final practical application in Japan, it is today the strongest power in the world." This faith has had a lasting relationship with each culture it touches, because it has found a way to transcend rituals, written records, and the standard activities that others require. Even when the believers were persecuted in India or China, they were able to continue practicing because they did not rely on the written texts, statues or concrete representations that were often demolished by those seeking to do away with Buddhism. Blyth's statement is a testament to the devotion that many have to Zen, which has had a strong impact on the Western world.
