Definition of Zen.
Meaning;
The meditation-oriented Japanese version of Buddhism.
Zen is the japanese word for meditation.
Zen is also a school of Buddhism (strongly influenced by Taoism) that was developed in China.
Related
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Zen Buddhism
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Zen experience
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Japanese Zen teacher
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Zen practice
Examples
She was a beautiful and attractive woman in her 30s. Zen practices never interested her.
According to
What Zen stands for nowadays to a westener? It stands for lots of things, though none of them resembling the original Zen or any of the new Zen schools that evolved from it in China, Korea or Japan. There are two Zen modes that a westener could approach: one is literary Zen or philosophical Zen; the other one is traditional Zen that entails meditation and koan (a paradoxical anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment) "resolution".
Peter Jalesh
Introduction to Zen: Zen Handbook
Zen first emerged as a distinctive school of Buddhism in China in the seventh century. From China, Zen Buddhism spread to the rest of Asia like Vietnam and Korea and finally arrived in Japan by the thirteenth century. It was after 1950s that Zen Buddhism found a wider audience outside Japan and created a Zen boom. Zen references appeared in popular brands, in books and magazines, and also in various commercials. It has transcended the religious context but become a popular and exotic way of life. The transformation of Zen Buddhism from japan to the West occured through the translation and transfer process, in which Zen was recognized as an "epitome" of religious experience whose main emphasis is meditation. Representing the Zen experience, this practice of ritual sittin meditation soon gained attention of millions across the world. The idea of sitting in silence has become an all-powerful method for individuals searching inner peace and enlightment, releasing from stress, and healing emotional traumas from past experience. Meditation began to represent the whole of Zen Buddhism and its practices in the west. The meditation practice, as the core of Zen Buddhism, is often described to be the method for accessing deeper and unconscious self of the individual.
Fan Zhang
Building and Negotiating Religious Identities in a Zen Buddhist Temple: A Perspective of Buddhist Rhetoric