Questions tagged [zen]
Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasising practice.
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History of Mumonkan versus Blue Cliff Record
I've been looking around online for an answer to this question, but have come up empty handed. My understanding of The Blue Cliff Record is that it's a collection of famous cases compiled from the ...
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Dumoulin's History of Zen: The good and bad
I'd heard about Heinrich Dumoulin's two volume History of Zen a number of times, but Dumoulin not being a Buddhist himself led me to avoid it. However, I ran into the set at a library recently, and to ...
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Strange zen movie - what happens here?
Can someone precisely explain me what is actually happen (and why) on this movie - ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-9pxBANek
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Why is Avalokiteśvara the "main character" of the Heart Sutra?
I'm a Zen practicant and, as you may know, we recite the Heart Sutra of the Perfect Wisdom a lot. I really like this sutra, it is very meaningful.
However something I never understood is: why is the ...
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Serious asthma and meditation, how much should I struggle? Is anxiety at night ok?
I have struggled with serious chronic asthma all my life. I started meditating and in general felt very relaxed. However a few years into the practice my asthma became very serious. One night I ...
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Answering Zizek's challenge to Buddhism
Slavoj Zizek is a little unusual I think among English-speaking philisophers, in expressing substantial sympathy for Buddhist ideas, but challenging them at a basic level. Eg
The Problems of Buddhism (...
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Looking for an Interpretation of The Blue Cliff Record
A few months ago I bought a four volume set of The Shobogenzo, translated by by Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross. In this set there was not only a translation of the Shobogenzo, but an interpretation of ...
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Am I "studying" too much and practicing too little?
I am new to practicing Buddhism. I was first introduced to it through reading "What The Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula. Since then I've begun practicing Ānāpānasati and zazen, as well as ...
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Important literature on Zen Buddhism before the year 1900
I was reading through a history of Buddhism recently, which led me to a famous title called the Shōbōgenzō by Eihei Dōgen, written in the 13th century. I highly recommend this book.
I know there is a ...
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How to pursuade someone not believing in fortune telling
How to persuade someone not to be too superstitious or too much into fortune telling? Cause based on the answers below, it's not appropriate.
Did the Lord Buddha say anything about magic and fortune ...
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Prayer in Soto Zen. Is it practiced? If so, how do I start, or where do i go for resources
So, I know prayer is a subject in Buddhism, but recently i started trying to learn about prayer in the Soto Zen tradition. I cant seem to find any posts that really help, or some that take me one way ...
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Were/are Zen monastery time schedules liberal with regard to meal and dharma talk timing?
When reading Zen Master Dogen's Shobogenzo it attracted my attention that one of the fascicle postscripts said "Presented to the assembly at the hour of the Rat (midnight)". Given that this ...
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Does Shikantaza lead towards attaining Jhana, if not, is there any progression?
I have been practicing two different meditations over the years, one is Anapanasati, i.e. mindfulness of breath as I learned from S.N.Goenka, and the other is Zazen or Shikantaza i.e. just sitting, ...
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Does Buddhism Teach Nihilism?
I saw an article on the Internet about the fact that Buddhism is compared to solipsism or nihilism.
In particular, they talked about Japanese and Chinese Buddhism, since the teachings of Yogacara are ...
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How does an enlightened mind distinguish itself from all other phenomena?
How does an enlightened mind distinguish itself from all other phenomena?
There is one such person amidst a crowd of other people. Somebody shouts their name, and they say, "yes, that is I. I am ...
user17652
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What is the doctrinal justification for Shaolin martial arts?
It is known that Shaolin monks practice a form of Chan Buddhism. It is also known that they practice their own form of martial arts.
What is the doctrinal justification for their practice of martial ...
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"No trace" conceptual origins and term
There is a quote by Shunryu Suzuki which says:
When you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a ...
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How does the path according to Sheng-yen compare with scholastic Buddhism?
Sheng-yen was an important Taiwanese Buddhist, with I believe Rinzai and Soto tranmission.
When describing the Buddhist path, he says that the 10 faiths are reached only after extensive success with ...
user19950
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Trying to find a quote by Pema Chodron
I'm looking for a quote by Pema Chodron. In my memory, she's having a discussion with a Zen master, and the quote goes something like this;
Pema: "what do you do when things fall apart?"
Zen ...
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What's the meaning of the Buddhist boy's message to Neo in the movie The Matrix?
In this scene from the first movie in The Matric trilogy, when Neo goes to meet the Oracle he meets the Buddhist boy who shows him that he can bend the spoon and then tells him that he can do the same ...
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Does the "Zen Master" from Cyberpunk 2077 accurately represent Buddhism?
In the game Cyberpunk 2077, you can encounter a character labelled only as "Zen Master", who offers your player character the opportunity to engage in meditations with him. However, the ...
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"For a person whose past,present and future are the same" from Dhammapada
With reference to the title of the question, I would like to know if the person blessed or under a curse if for him the past, present, and future are the same?
If by unlawful acts he is elevated to a ...
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Bodhi day celebration, is it universally on December 8th or do some Mahayana buddhists use a lunar calendar?
National Public Radio's Buddhists Prepare To Observe Bodhi Day, When Siddhartha Gautama Became Buddha article and podcast begins:
These winter holidays are a time for fellowship, joy and, for ...
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Origin of the concept of «Oneness» in (Zen-) Buddhism
I know that Zen-Buddhism knows a form of practise to achieve full harmony between the individual, his/her action and the animate or inanimate environment, often translated as «Oneness».
Does anybody ...
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Is there anything akin to 'Jhana' in Zen Buddhism?
I have read about 'Jhana' in Ajahn Brahm's book, 'Mindfulness, bliss and beyond'. It looks like, from his teaching of Theravada Buddhism, 'Jhana' is a pre-requisite to attain 'Nirvana'.
I want to ask, ...
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Is violence or destruction ever correct?
In the introduction to Thich Nhat Hanh's Zen Keys, Philip Kapleau suggests there are times when one can or must rebel.
... In this type
of creativity ow intuitive wisdom and joy are naturally
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Are there Zen monastries in India?
I am searching for a Zen monastery in India.
My google search returns Vajrayana Tibetan monasteries.
Please let me know if you know a Zen monastery in India.
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How to practise Zazen so that it leads to Satori?
Currently I practise Zazen as I have read from books i.e 'Just sitting doing nothing'. I keep an erect sitting posture, back straight and eyes closed.
This hasen't led me anywhere.
So I am asking the ...
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To what extent do Zen students study Dhamma?
This answer was thought to be Zen-inspired:
Yes it's wrong. Throw away your statues and burn your dharma books.
Zen has a reputation for being a bit iconoclastic.
But perhaps it is somehow based ...
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Why does the mind always want to 'do something' and how to cultivate 'non-doing'?
There is a Zen saying, 'Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself' by Basho.
But I have observed the nature of my mind that it always wants to 'do something', it ...
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How do I practice Zen all alone?
I live in a small town in India where there are no Zen or any other Buddhist temples. I don't have the money to travel to Japan or China. All I know about Zen is from google and youtube videos. I want ...
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What are the differences between Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism?
I am primarily interested in following the teachings of Mahayana. Mahayana refers to the path of the Bodhisattva, a person capable of achieving Nirvana, a state in which the practitioner is released ...
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How reputable is D.T. Suzuki among modern Zen Buddhists?
Over the past year I've been studying Zen, and eventually came across a compilation of the writing of D.T. Suzuki, an anthology of such.
Needless to say I was impressed and profoundly influenced by ...
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Buddhism and Integrative Complexity
I noticed a coincidence between something I read in a book by Thich Nhat Hanh, and an article on research about a psychological phenomenon known to facilitate inner and outer peace. My question is: ...
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What does zen have to do with spontaneity?
Someone told me that I don't need to read about Dogens teachings of zen. They said that "zen is just about being spontaneous and free from rules." Are they right? Why or why not? Is it deeper than ...
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Satori and stream entry
Is Satori like a stage of stream entry? Is Satori only an intellectual knowing or something deeper than that?
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Am I missing the point of Buddhism?
I have been on a few forums and Facebook groups and a lot of people on there seem to be missing the point of their practice. What colour robes should I wear, how many breaths should I take per minute ...
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Did Huineng claim he didn't know Buddhism? If yes, what does it mean?
In a Facebook post on Huineng (6th Patriarch), I found the below conversation -
A monk asked Huineng, "Who is able to attain the essential teaching of Huangmei [the Fifth Patriarch]?"
Huineng ...
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Are Buddha nature and Original enlightenment different, or always identical?
Are Buddha nature and Original enlightenment different, or identical?
So, when a sastra says "Since the essence of Mind is grounded on the Dharmakaya, it is to be called the original ...
user2512
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Can there be an action free from the taint of desire? If there can be, what is the nature of that action?
There must be a desire to even bring a glass of water to drink. Without desire, no movement is possible. First, there is a sensation of thirst; out of that thirst, there is the desire for drinking ...
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I'm fascinated by 'death': what would Dogen say?
I'm fascinated by 'death': what would Dogen say? What about Rinzai zen?
I don't have any questions about it, but I'm sure there's answers I haven't contemplated at all.
Quotes would be necessary.
user2512
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Don't Arahats know Buddha?
While reading Bodhidharma's Two Entrances and Four Practices, I found Bodhidharma telling Arhats ain't enlightened.
Among Shakyamuni's ten greatest disciples, Ananda was
foremost in learning. ...
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Is the path of Zen compatible with computer science?
For example, software/code/algorithms themselves can be very complex, dense, cryptic (often without value), overly detailed, stressful to understand intent (sometimes), generation of new abstractions ...
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Why Lankavatara Sutra was replaced with Diamond Sutra by 5th patriarch?
As far as I know, Lankavatara Sutra was held in high esteem by both Bodhidharma & his disciple Huiko to the extent both based their way of enlightenment on this Sutra. But what it is seen that 5th ...
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What symbols represent Zazen?
I am looking for symbols which specifically represent Zazen, or, more generally the act of meditating.
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How to find specific lessons in Zen Buddhism?
As an example of what I mean, suppose I want to find Zen Buddhist teachings on diet. How should I go about finding this? Googling anything as it pertains to Buddhism (especially Buddhism) gets a tonne ...
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Is there a "canon" of Zen Koans?
There are lots of Koans on the internet, but I am not sure if there is some sort of process that a Koan must go through, or if there is some sort of list of Koans that are taught and that new ones are ...
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How many types of Buddhism exists in this world?
many times, I stumbled to start to dig something towards teaching of Buddha and at some point want to make focus on Buddhism. During my journey of looking bird eye of view, I passed through Vipassana, ...
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Zazen to get an LSD effect?
In Zen the key practice is sitting meditation (Zazen or 座禅).
Is monks' experience in Zazen like the LSD effect (i.e. "ego is dead")?
Does Zazen give at least approximately some experience similar to ...
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Law of attraction to reach enlightenment?
This may be a crazy question. But just out of curiosity when we do law of attraction method they say that we can attract money, success or something.
Can we attract enlightenment like that???
So in ...
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