The Northwestern University Zen Society
Zen
“Zen” comes from the Chinese word ch’an (禅), which is from the Sanskrit word dhyana (ध्यन): meditation. The Zen Buddhist teachings were transmitted from India to China in the 6th century, and have spread from there throughout Asia and now to the West.
Who am I? Why am I here? What is my life for? These are the fundamental human questions that Zen addresses. A person comes to Zen when such questions can no longer be ignored. Zen, however, is not fixated on doctrine or dogma: it is a practice. Through practice, the answers we seek are recognized within our own being.
Ultimately, the purpose of Zen is not to give you something new, or to help you do something new. It is to glimpse the true nature of your existence, and to manifest the strength, wisdom and fearlessness which are your own root. To practice Zen is to discover what a human being truly is.
About Zen Training
The essential point of Zen training is to be enlightened through a direct
recognition of the innate wisdom-mind (the "Buddha nature" or "true self"). In Zen the student recognizes, immediately and intimately, this essential, non-dual nature. Open and free of fabrication, grasping or fear, beyond effort and dualistic habits of seeing - this is the recognition of your own "original face". Because Zen points directly to this deepest, intrinsic human wisdom, it has also been called the "Buddha-Mind School": the lineage transmitting the very quintessence of the Buddhist teachings.
The best-known practice of Zen is zazen: seated meditation. But there are many others as well, and practice certainly does not occur only on the meditation cushion. The Rinzai lineage of Zen in particular is known for adapting a wide range of complementary arts and disciplines to develop and refine the human being. Fine arts such as calligraphy or flower arrangement, and physical culture like martial arts, are traditional examples. If approached within the context of Zen, in fact, many activities can become practices to deepen our understanding of who we are. Attaining liberation within our everyday lives is the life-long training of Zen. The authentic expression of such liberation is compassion for others.
Approached in this way, one's entire life becomes the dojo: a place of enlightenment. Zen shows us that the path of wisdom and freedom, our true path, has always been right here at our own feet:
At this moment, what is there you lack?
Nirvana presents itself before you:
This very place is the Pure Land,
This very body, the Buddha.
- Hakuin Ekaku Zenji (1685-1768)
