What Is Zen Buddhism, and How Is It Different from Traditional Buddhism?
Zen Buddhism is a school of Mahayana Buddhism, which originated in China between 600 and 900 CE. Since its inception, Zen Buddhism has diversified into various sub-schools and extended its influence from China to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and beyond.
Despite the ancient origins of Zen Buddhism, many of its principles apply to modern life. Let’s take a closer look at the main principles of Zen Buddhism and how it differs from other schools of Buddhism.
What Is Buddhism?
Before we delve into Zen Buddhism, it’s important to take a broader look at Buddhism. Although this religion has several variations, the main schools share many of the same core beliefs.
Zen Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, more commonly known as the Buddha (“the awakened one”). Gautama was born in modern-day Nepal to a royal family, but he rejected the nobility to live as a wandering ascetic and spread philosophical and spiritual teachings.
Let’s look at a basic summary of Buddhism’s core teachings, but keep in mind that a full summary of these teachings would take an entire book and is beyond the scope of this blog post.
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha's primary teachings centered on the concept of suffering (dukkha) and how attachment leads to it, along with guidance on how to attain liberation from suffering.
The nature of suffering is explained through a concept called the Four Noble Truths:
Dukkha (suffering or a feeling of unease) is innate to an ongoing cycle (samsara) of attachment to objects, habits, and ideas.
Samudaya (the roots of suffering) arises alongside tanha (attachment, desire, or craving).
Nirodha (the cessation of suffering) occurs when one confines or releases tanha (cravings).
Marga (a.k.a. the Noble Eightfold Path) is the path that allows us to confine tanha and dukkha.
The Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path is a set of Buddhist ethics and practices that Buddhists believe will eventually lead to liberation from suffering and the painful cycle of reincarnation and rebirth known as samsara.
This path is comprised of eight main principles:
Right View: Buddhists recognize that our actions have consequences, both in our present lives and after reincarnation. The concepts of karma and rebirth are both part of right view.
Right Resolve: Also known as right thought, right motivation, or right aspiration. Buddhists practice right resolve by striving for non-violence and avoiding hateful conduct toward others.
Right Speech: This entails avoiding lies, idle gossip, and verbal aggression, along with striving for harmonious communication. Any speech that could be divisive or damage relationships should be avoided.
Right Action or Conduct: Buddhists are encouraged to refrain from actions that inflict harm, including stealing, killing, and engaging in sexual misconduct. Followers should also relinquish material desires that lead to attachment and suffering.
Right Livelihood: This principle discourages working in occupations that contribute to harm or suffering, such as trading in weapons, humans or animals, liquor, or poisons. Buddhists are encouraged to pursue professions that promote peace and well-being.
Right Effort: This emphasizes the cultivation of wholesome states of mind while working to prevent the emergence of unwholesome mental states. Right effort includes practicing restraint and guarding the senses, which promotes a balanced and mindful approach to thoughts and actions.
Right Mindfulness: This concept involves guarding or watching over the mind. By strengthening the mind through meditation and adherence to Buddhist ethics, followers can weaken unwholesome mind states and prevent them from dominating the minds of followers.
Right Samadhi: This concept involves meditation, the practice of developing stages of concentration that ultimately lead to mental clarity and equanimity. This principle encourages the development of focused attention and insight, leading to a deeper understanding of the self and the nature of reality.
How Is Zen Buddhism Different from Other Schools?
Different schools of Buddhism have different interpretations of how to attain liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. These various schools are divided into two main branches—Theravada and Mahayana—and Zen is one of several sects in the Mahayana branch.
Zen, a simplified form of Buddhism, focuses on enlightenment and discarding the elaborate rituals and scriptures found in most other sects of Mahayana Buddhism. Zen was introduced to China by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma in the sixth century CE and it spread to Japan about 100 years later.
Although meditation is a central practice for all types of Buddhists, it has an even larger significance in Zen Buddhism. Zen means “meditation” in Japanese. In addition to regular meditation, the Zen Buddhist tradition emphasizes principles such as presence, simplicity, nonduality, and nonconceptual understanding. Zen Buddhists primarily emphasize meditation, the interconnectedness of all existence, and selfless actions. They hold the conviction that consistent, concentrated sitting meditation can offer invaluable insights unattainable through other means.
Along with regular meditation, Zen masters often use enigmatic riddles called koans to jolt students out of their conventional modes of thinking, which can lead to profound experiences of enlightenment.