Chan / Zen
Seeking awakening in a realization that doctrinal study alone cannot give, in practice itself and in the ordinariness of each moment.
c. 520 – c. 1769 · living tradition
A school of born in China, which traces its lineage back to , a largely legendary figure whose arrival in China tradition places around 520. The , attributed to , defends a against a gradual path, an opposition largely built by polemics within Chan. taught in the ninth century through shouts and paradoxes; it was under the Song that the case collections and the method took shape. In Japan the school took the name Zen: founded Sōtō there, derived from Chinese Caodong and which emphasizes ("just sitting"), a sitting that is not a means to something else but a discipline of attention, and renewed kōan practice in Rinzai in the eighteenth century. These are pedagogical emphases, not exclusive practices: Dōgen comments on kōans, and Rinzai practises seated meditation. The period covered stops at Hakuin as an editorial choice; the living tradition has kept changing since, in Japan and then in the West. The formula that defines the school, "a special transmission outside the scriptures, not founded on words", is a construction of the Song period, and Chan produced an immense literature. Zen nourished the .
Justification
The aim is not to adhere to a doctrine but to realize the awakening it points to, in order to be freed from suffering; Buddhist teaching remains the framework, study alone is not enough. For , practice and awakening are one: one does not sit as a means towards a future awakening, authentic sitting is already the expression of awakening. Chan told itself the story of an opposition between and the in connection with , but both sides aim at the same transformation of the one who practises.
Platform Sutra (Dunhuang version) · Dōgen, Bendōwa (1231)
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Justification
Awakening is not to be sought in another world: it is realized here, in ordinary gestures, which brings the school close to . urges his disciples to stop seeking outside themselves and simply to be ordinary. Dōgen refuses to make an inner substance that everyone would possess: he reads "all beings are Buddha nature" and identifies it with itself. This nonduality of everyday life and awakening is not a denial of any beyond, and the Buddhist framework of karma and remains: hence a moderate value.
Linji lu (Record of Linji), "Discourses" · Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō, "Busshō" (1241)
Zen sitting (zazen)ExerciseThe point of philosophy
Sitting still and letting thoughts come and go without following them or chasing them away. In , this sitting is not a technique for reaching a state: sees in it awakening itself in action, . For us, it is a way to stop pursuing a goal for a while, to notice how restless the mind is, and to come back to the present through the body and the breath.
- Choose a quiet place. Sit on a fairly high cushion or on the edge of a chair, knees lower than hips, back straight but not stiff, as if the crown of your head were being drawn upward.
- Rest your left hand in your right, palms up, thumbs barely touching. Keep your eyes half-closed, your gaze resting on the floor about a metre ahead.
- Breathe through your nose without controlling the breath: let it settle by itself and sink towards the belly.
- When a thought arises, neither follow it nor fight it: notice it and return to the posture. Dōgen sums this up in a formula: think not-thinking.
- Start with 10 minutes, using a timer so you no longer have to watch the clock. Sway gently from side to side as you settle, and rise slowly and calmly at the end.
Embodied by made sitting the heart of the way and wrote instructions on how to sit for everyone, monks or not (Fukanzazengi, 1227; Bendōwa, 1231).
⚠ This is not a relaxation method, and you should not expect any particular state from it: boredom and restlessness are part of the practice. If it hurts, adapt the posture (a chair works very well). For people who have experienced trauma, long stretches of silence can bring difficult memories back up: shorten the sessions, keep your eyes open, or practise with a teacher.
Lineages
See on the friezeAll lineages↑ Influences received
- SynthesizesTaoismChan took shape in a China where Buddhist texts were read and translated through the vocabulary of Laozi and Zhuangzi: spontaneity, distrust of words, everyday wisdom.Read
- TransmitsYogācāraEarly Chan claimed the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a text close to Yogācāra, and kept from that school the idea that awakening consists in recognizing the nature of the mind.Read
↓ Influence exerted
- transmitted byKyoto SchoolNishida practised zazen for many years before writing his first work, and Nishitani made Zen the privileged interlocutor of Western philosophy.Read