Zen facts for kids

禪 "Zen", written in Chinese characters

Bodhidharma

Zen is a Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism was first brought to China from India, by Bodhidharma. It developed in China, into Zen, in the 6th century. From China it spread to Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

Zen is a Japanese word translated from the Chinese word Chán, which means "meditation".

Zen uses meditation to help practitioners go beyond simply thinking about Zen. The goal in Zen is to attain satori. This Japanese word translates as "enlightenment". The practice also includes using riddles, called Koans. Koans are also designed to help the practitioner not just engage in rational thought. The traditional Japanese place to learn Zen is a Zen monastery.

A modern Zen practitioner

Japanese Zen scholars such as D.T. Suzuki became well known in the West. Suzuki spent over fifty years teaching Zen to the world with a series of books in English. In the 1960s in California, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and others promoted the philosophy. From there it spread to many parts of the western world. Zen is now well established outside of Japan and China. Many Zen centers exist in the US and Europe.

Zen is now associated with some design styles, like Minimalism. The Japanese gardens found at Zen monasteries in Japan are an example of this style. They are called Zen rock gardens. They are not directly part of the teachings of Zen.

Related pages

• Criticism of Buddhism
• Zen at War

Zen monastery, Japan

Images for kids

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  Venerable Hsuan Hua meditating in the lotus position, Hong Kong, 1953

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  Victoria Zen Centre Jukai ceremony, January 2009

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  Two grandmasters of the Shaolin Temple of Chinese Chan, Shi DeRu and Shi DeYang

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  Bows and quivers at Engaku-ji temple, the temple also has a Dōjō for the practice of Kyūdō and the Zen priests practice this art here.

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  Hakuin Ekaku, Hotei in a Boat, Yale University Art Gallery

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  Chanting the Buddhist Scriptures, by Taiwanese painter Li Mei-shu

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  A Dharma talk by Seon nun Daehaeng Kun Sunim, Hanmaum Seon Center, South Korea

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  Japanese Buddhist monk from the Sōtō Zen sect

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  Archaeologist Aurel Stein's 1907 view of Mogao Cave 16, with altar and sutra scrolls

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  Huike Offering His Arm to Bodhidharma, Sesshū Tōyō (1496).

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  Dahui introduced the method of kan huatou, or "inspecting the critical phrase", of a kōan story. This method was called the "Chan of kōan introspection" (Kanhua Chan).

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  Xuyun was one of the most influential Chán Buddhists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

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  Thích Nhất Hạnh leading a namo avalokiteshvaraya chanting session with monastics from his Order of Interbeing, Germany 2010

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  Jogyesa is the headquarters of the Jogye Order. The temple was first established in 1395, at the dawn of the Joseon Dynasty.

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  Sojiji Temple, of the Soto Zen school, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Japan

See also

In Spanish: Zen para niños