Zen is the Japanese name of a well known branch of Mahyna Buddhism, practiced especially in China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea. It stresses the role of meditation in pursuing enlightenment. Because Zen is the common name for this branch in Japanese as well as in English, this article will concern itself both with Zen as practiced in Japan and with Zen as an international phenomenon. For information specific to Asian countries other than Japan, please follow the appropriate links above.
1 Spread of Zen
Traditionally, Zen traces its roots back to Indian Buddhism, where it was known by " dhyna" (ध्यान), a Sanskrit term for meditation. This name was transliterated into ChineseWhen used as an adjective, Chinese refers to anything that originates from China, e. Chinese cuisine. When the word is used as a noun, it means one of the following: the Chinese language, either in general or specifically Chinese written language, Chinese as ChánChan is a major school of Chinese Mahyna Buddhism. Chan is traditionally held to be a Chinese adaptation of Indian dhyana meditation practices, and is also often said to be influenced by indigenous Chinese Taoism. According to traditional accounts, the sc (禪); "Chán" was later transliterated into KoreanThe Korean language is the most widely used language in Korea, and is the official language of both South and North Korea. The language is also spoken widely in neighbouring Yanbian, China. Worldwide, there are around 78 million Korean speakers, including as SeonThe Seon school is a Korean branch of Buddhism that shares its origins and many characteristics with Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen. Chan was gradually transmitted into Korea during the late Silla period (8th and 9th) centuries) as Korean monks of predomin, VietnameseVietnamese (ting Vit, ting Vit-nam, or Vit-ngữ), a tonal language, is the national and official language of Vietnam (Vit-nam). It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people (người Vit or người kinh), who constitute ab as Thien and then into Japanese as "Zen."
According to these traditional accounts, an Indian monk named BodhidharmaBodhidharma ( Sanskrit: ; Chinese , pinyin Putidam or simply Dam Wade-Giles Tamo Japanese , Daruma was a semi-legendary Indian monk, who lived from approximately 440 CE 528 CE. Bodhidharma is traditionally held to be the founder of the Ch'an (known in Jap brought Zen Buddhism to ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute in the fifth century4th century 5th century 6th century other centuries) Events Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. Attila the Hun conquers large parts of Europe, threatens to attack Rome in 452 Vandals conquer Carthage in 439, sack Rome in 455 At some point after 440, the Angl. Later, Korean monks studying in China learned of Zen and spread it as far as Japan around the seventh century.
2 Zen in Japan
The following Zen traditions still exist in Japan: Rinzai, Soto, and Obaku. Originally formulated by the eponymous Chinese master Linji (Rinzai in Japanese), the Rinzai school was introduced to Japan in 1191 by Eisai. Dogen, who studied under Eisai, would later carry the Caodong, or "Soto" Zen school to Japan from China. Obaku was introduced in the 17th century by Ingen, a Chinese monk.
