Zen Terminology Dictionary

Here we muddy the waters

These explanations are a guide to start your practice. Your practice will elevate your understanding and realization. Wisdom is not static but dynamic.

Just as these explanations are not set in stone, your understanding will develop through experience (Zen practice) and your understanding will change, now we muddy the waters.

First you see a mountain

Then there is no mountain

Then there is

Alphabetical Order

Ango(安居),

Kessei (結制)

Japanese term for a three-month period of intense training for students of Zen Buddhism, lasting anywhere from 90 to 100 days. The practice during ango consists of meditation (zazen), study, and work (samu (作務)). Time periods for training may very center to center.

Avalokiteshvara

Avalokiteśvara

Padmapani

(English: /ˌʌvəloʊkɪˈteɪʃvərə/ UV-əl-oh-kih-TAY-shvər-ə) is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. This bodhisattva is variably depicted, described and portrayed in different cultures as either male or female. In Tibet, he is known as Chenrezig. In Chinese Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara has evolved into the somewhat different female figure Guanyin, also known in Japan as Kanzeon or Kannon. In Nepal Mandal this figure is known as Jana Baha Dyah, Karunamaya, Seto Machindranath.

The name Avalokiteśvara combines the verbal prefix ava "down", lokita, a past participle of the verb lok "to notice, behold, observe", here used in an active sense; and finally īśvara, "lord", "ruler", "sovereign" or "master". In accordance with sandhi (Sanskrit rules of sound combination), a+īśvara becomes eśvara. Combined, the parts mean "lord who gazes down (at the world)". The word loka ("world") is absent from the name, but the phrase is implied. It does appear in the Cambodian form of the name, Lokesvarak.

Mahāyāna Buddhism relates Avalokiteśvara to the six-syllable mantra oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ.

In Tibetan Buddhism, due to his association with this mantra, one form of Avalokiteśvara is called Ṣaḍākṣarī "Lord of the Six Syllables" in Sanskrit. Recitation of this mantra while using prayer beads is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism. The connection between this famous mantra and Avalokiteśvara is documented for the first time in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra.

This text is dated to around the late 4th century CE to the early 5th century CE. In this sūtra, a bodhisattva is told by the Buddha that recitation of this mantra while focusing on the sound can lead to the attainment of eight hundred samādhis.

The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra also features the first appearance of the dhāraṇī of Cundī, which occurs at the end of the sūtra text. After the bodhisattva finally attains samādhi with the mantra "oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ", he is able to observe 77 koṭīs of fully enlightened buddhas replying to him in one voice with the Cundī Dhāraṇī: namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksaṃbuddha koṭīnāṃ tadyathā, oṃ cale cule cunde svāhā

Bodhidharma

Daruma (Japanese)

The first patriarch of Zen. A Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century AD. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. He traveled to China from India and began the training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery In Japan, he is known as Daruma. His name means "awakened-enlightened one bodhi, universal truth dharma " Bodhidharma in Sanskrit.

Bodhisattva

(/ˌboʊdiːˈsʌtvə/ BOH-dee-SUT-və) is any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood.

In the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Pali: bodhisatta) refers to anyone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so.

In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

The elaborate concept refers to a sentient being or sattva that develops bodhi or enlightenment — thus possessing the boddisattva's psyche; described as those who work to develop and exemplify the loving-kindness

(metta), compassion (karuṇā), empathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha). These four virtues are the four divine abodes, called Brahmavihara (illimitables).

Buddha

also known as

Siddhartha Gotama

Siddhārtha Gautama

Shakyamuni Buddha

Tathāgata

was a spiritual teacher who lived in Ancient India (c. 6th to 5th century BCE). He is revered as the founder of the world religion of Buddhism, and honored by Buddhist schools as the Enlightened One who has transcended Karma and escaped the cycle of birth and rebirth. He taught for around 45 years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into duḥkha (typically translated as "suffering") and the end of dukkha – the state called Nibbāna or Nirvana.

The Buddha was born into an aristocratic family in the Shakya clan (in Nepal) but eventually renounced lay life. According to Buddhist tradition, after several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth. The Buddha then traveled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a religious community. The Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Indian śramaṇa movement. He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as jhana and mindfulness. The Buddha also critiqued the practices of Brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice.

A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One". Gautama's teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Suttas, which contain his discourses, and the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice. These were passed down in Middle-Indo Aryan dialects through an oral tradition. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma, biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about the Buddha's past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahayana sutras.

See Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path on Home Page.

Chan (Zen)

Simplified Chinese: 禅; traditional Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; abbr. of Chinese: 禪那; pinyin: chánnà), from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state", is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE by Bodhidharma (see Bodhidharma) traveling from India to China, becoming dominant during the Tang and Song dynasties. After the Yuan dynasty, Chan more or less fused with Pure Land Buddhism.

Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism (the Japanese pronunciation of the same character Zen, which is the most commonly used name for the school in English). Chan Buddhism spread from China south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, and, in the 13th century, east to Japan as Zen.

Dharma combat,

Called issatsu (一拶, いっさつ, literally "challenge") or shosan in Japanese, is a term in some schools of Buddhism referring to an intense exchange between student and teacher, and sometimes between teachers, as an occasion for one or both to demonstrate his or her understanding of the Dharma and Buddhist tenets. It is used by both students and teachers to test and sharpen their understanding. Practice is primarily seen in Zen traditions, particularly Rinzai Zen and the Kwan Um School of Zen. In both, it is a key component in the Dharma transmission process.

Dharma talk (Sanskrit)

Dhamma talk (Pali)

Dharma sermon

(Japanese: 法語 (ほうご, Hōgo), Chinese: 法語) is a public discourse on Buddhism by a Buddhist teacher.

Dharma Transmission

is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (kechimyaku) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself." The dharma lineage reflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China, and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical "family".

In Rinzai-Zen, inka shōmei is ideally "the formal recognition of Zen's deepest realisation", but practically it is being used for the transmission of the "true lineage" of the masters (shike) of the training halls. There are only about fifty to eighty of such inka shōmei-bearers in Japan.

In Sōtō-Zen, dharma transmission (shiho) provides access to only a relatively low grade. It is listed as a requirement for the very lowest ecclesiastical status, that of an instructor third class (santō kyōshi) and further training is required to become an oshō.

Dhyāna (Sanskrit)

Jhāna (Pāḷi)

is the training of the mind, commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi).Dhyāna may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment, and are fully realized with the practice of dhyana.

Dō (Japanese)

Tao (/daʊ/, /taʊ/)

Dao (/daʊ/ DOW; Chinese: 道;

Word signifying the "way", "path", "route", "road" or sometimes more loosely "doctrine", "principle" or "holistic beliefs". In the context of East Asian philosophy and East Asian religions, Tao is the natural order of the universe whose character one's human intuition must discern in order to realize the potential for individual wisdom. This intuitive knowing of "life" cannot be grasped as a concept; it is known through actual living experience of one's everyday being (Dharma).

Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a "name" for a "thing" but the underlying natural order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe due to it being non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness. The Tao is "eternally nameless" (Tao Te Ching-32. Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless "named" things which are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.

Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師)

also known as

Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄),

Eihei Dōgen (永平道元),

Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師),

Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師),

19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253

was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.

Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. He remained there for five years, finally training under Tiantong Rujing, an eminent teacher of the Chinese Caodong lineage. Upon his return to Japan, he began promoting the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) through literary works such as Fukan zazengi and Bendōwa.

He eventually broke relations completely with the powerful Tendai School, and, after several years of likely friction between himself and the establishment, left Kyoto for the mountainous countryside where he founded the monastery Eihei-ji, which remains the head temple of the Sōtō school today.

Dōgen is known for his extensive writing including his most famous work, the collection of 95 essays called the Shōbōgenzō, but also Eihei Kōroku, a collection of his talks, poetry, and commentaries, and Eihei Shingi, the first Zen monastic code written in Japan, among others.

Dōjō

(道場, Japanese pronunciation: [doꜜː(d)ʑoː] is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the Way" in Japanese.

Ensō

円相, "circular form" is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.

The Four Noble Truths

The Eightfold Path See Home Page

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodh Svaha

GATE means gone.

PARAGATE means gone to the further shore and is a stock Sanskrit expression used by Jains and Buddhists to refer to arahants. (The word PARA means the bank of a river opposite to the one on which one is presently standing.)

PARASAMGATE means completely gone to the further shore. (The prefix SAM is intensive in meaning: completely, thoroughly, altogether.)

SVAHA Is an indeclinable particle from Vedic Sanskrit. Literally, it means "well said". In the Tibetan language, "svaha" is translated as "so be it" and is often pronounced and orthographically represented as "soha". Whenever Vedic fire offerings are made, svāhā is chanted.

The whole mantra, literally translated, comes out a bit like this:

" gone, gone, gone to the further shore, gone completely to the further shore. so be it."

Heart Sūtra - Prajñā pāramitā

(Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिताहृदय Prajñā pāramitā hṛdaya

Chinese: 心經 Xīnjīng,

Tibetan: བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ)

A popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Its Sanskrit title, Prajñā pāramitā hṛdaya, can be translated as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom".

The Sutra famously states, "Form is emptiness (śūnyatā), emptiness is form." It is a condensed exposé on the Buddhist Mahayana teaching of the Two Truths doctrine, which says that ultimately all phenomena are sunyata, empty of an unchanging essence. This emptiness is a 'characteristic' of all phenomena, and not a transcendent reality, but also "empty" of an essence of its own. Specifically, it is a response to Sarvastivada teachings that "phenomena" or its constituents are real.

It has been called "the most frequently used and recited text in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition. The text has been translated into English dozens of times from Chinese, Sanskrit and Tibetan as well as other source languages.

Hakuin Ekaku

(白隠慧鶴, January 19, 1686 – January 18, 1769) was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, refocusing it on its traditionally rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice.

Japanese Zen

Refers to the Japanese forms of Zen Buddhism, an originally Chinese Mahāyāna school of Buddhism that strongly emphasizes dhyāna, the meditative training of awareness and equanimity. This practice, according to Zen proponents, gives insight into one's true nature, or the emptiness of inherent existence, which opens the way to a liberated way of living.

John Daido Loori

Abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery

(June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009(

Was the Roshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Daido Loori received shiho (dharma transmission) from Taizan Maezumi in 1986 and also received a Dendo Kyoshi certificate formally from the Soto school of Japan in 1994. In 1997, he received dharma transmission in the Harada-Yasutani and Inzan lineages of Rinzai Zen as well. In 1996 he gave dharma transmission to his student Bonnie Myotai Treace, in 1997 to Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, and in 2009 to Konrad Ryushin Marchaj. In addition to his role as a Zen Buddhist priest, Daido was an exhibited photographer and author of more than twenty books.

In October 2009, he stepped down as abbot citing health issues. Days later, Zen Mountain Monastery announced that his death was imminent. On October 9, 2009, at 7:30 a.m. he died of lung cancer in Mount Tremper, New York.

John Daido Loori was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised Roman Catholic. As a child Loori loved photographing things, once using his family's bathroom as a makeshift dark room. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1947 to 1952. Later, after studying at Rutgers, he worked as a chemist in the food industry and led the American Civil Liberties Union in Orange and Sullivan Counties in New York. As an adult he distanced himself from Catholicism and explored a variety of other religions. Then, in 1971, he attended a workshop given by the photographer Minor White. Daido came to study photography under White until his death and also learned meditation from him. In 1972 Daido Loori began his formal Zen practice, studying in New York under Soen Nakagawa and then in California under Taizan Maezumi, Roshi.

In 1980 Daido purchased 230 acres (0.93 km2) in New York State which today serves as the site for Zen Mountain Monastery. In 1983 he was made a Zen priest by Maezumi and in 1986 was given shiho (or, dharma transmission) by him. In 1997, he received dharma transmission in the Harada-Yasutani and Inzan lineages of Rinzai Zen as well. According to author Richard Hughes, this made Daido "one of three Western dharma-holders in both the Soto and Rinzai schools. Loori was a professional nature photographer, having once exhibited his work at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York. He has also held various other shows and workshops on photography, including positions at Naropa University starting in 1974 and the Synechia Arts Center located in Middletown, New York; his works have been published by Aperture and Time-Life. His book, Hearing with the Eye: Photographs from Point Lobos, features Daido's abstract nature photography interwoven with commentary on Teachings of the Insentient by Eihei Dogen.

Daido founded Dharma Communications as a way to communicate the dharma of the Mountains and Rivers Order. Dharma Communications publishes a Buddhist quarterly titled the Mountain Record, various audio-visual materials, and has also published several books by John Daido Loori. According to Charles S. Prebish, Dharma Communications is "one of the most efficient and successful publishers of Buddhist materials on the continent, and a place where practitioners can learn how to cultivate both mindfulness and compassion in front of a computer.

Katsu

(Japanese: 喝; Cantonese:), Pinyin: hè, Wade-Giles: ho) is a shout that is described in Chan and Zen Buddhism encounter-stories, to expose the enlightened state (Japanese: satori) of the Zen-master, and/or to induce initial enlightenment experience in a student. The shout is also sometimes used in the East Asian martial arts for a variety of purposes; in this context, katsu is very similar to the shout kiai.

Keisaku

kyōsaku

Japanese: 警策,

Chinese: 香板, xiāng bǎn;

In the Soto school) is a flat wooden stick or slat used during periods of meditation to remedy sleepiness or lapses of concentration. This is accomplished through a strike or series of strikes, usually administered on the meditator's back and shoulders in the muscular area between the shoulder and the spine. The keisaku itself is thin and somewhat flexible; strikes with it, though they may cause momentary sting if performed vigorously, are not injurious.

Kenshō

(見性) Japanese term from the Zen tradition. Ken means "seeing", shō means "nature, essence". It is usually translated as "seeing one's (true) nature", that is, the Buddha-nature or nature of mind.

Kenshō is an initial insight or awakening, not full Buddhahood. It is to be followed by further training to deepen this insight, and learn to express it in daily life.

The term kenshō is often used interchangeably with satori, which is derived from the verb satoru and means "comprehension; understanding"

Kinhin

walking meditation(Chinese: 経行; pinyin: jīngxíng; Japanese pronunciation: kinhin, kyōgyō; Korean: gyeonghyaeng; Vietnamese: kinh hành) is a practice within several forms of Buddhism that involve movement and periods of walking between long periods of sitting meditation (also known as zazen). In different forms, the practice is common in Zen, Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon and Vietnamese Thiền.

Practitioners typically walk clockwise around a room while holding their hands in shashu (Chinese: 叉手; pinyin: chā shǒu) with one hand closed in a fist while the other hand grasps or covers the fist. During walking meditation each step is taken after each full breath. The pace of walking meditation can be either slow (several steady steps per each breath) or brisk, almost to the point of jogging.

Kōan

(公案) (/ˈkoʊæn, -ɑːn/;[1] Chinese: 公; pinyin: gōng'àn, [kʊ́ŋ ân]; Korean: 공안 gong-an; Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Study of kōan literature is common to all schools of Zen, though with varying emphases and curricula. The Rinzai-school uses extensive koan-curricula, checking questions, and jakogo ("capping phrases", quotations from Chinese poetry) in its use of koans. The Sanbo Kyodan, and its western derivates of Taizan Maezumi and the White Plum Asanga, also use koan-curricula, but have omitted the use of capping phrases. In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the emphasis is on Hua Tou, the study of one koan throughout one's lifetime. In Japanese Sōtō Zen, the use of koans has been abandoned since the late eighteenth and nineteenth century.

In Rinzai a gradual succession of koans is studied. There are two general branches of curricula used within Rinzai, derived from the principal heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan curriculum. However, there are a number of sub-branches of these, and additional variations of curriculum often exist between individual teaching lines which can reflect the recorded experiences of a particular lineage's members. Koan curricula are, in fact, subject to continued accretion and evolution over time, and thus are best considered living traditions of practice rather than set programs of study.

Koan practice starts with the shokan, or "first barrier", usually the mu-koan or the koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" After having attained kensho, students continue their practice investigating subsequent koans. In the Takuju-school, after breakthrough students work through the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), the Blue Cliff Record (Hekigan-roku), the Entangling Vines (Shumon Kattoshu), and the Collection of Wings of the Blackbird (鴆羽集, Chin'u shū). The Inzan-school uses its own internally generated list of koans.

Mumonkan

The Gateless Barrier (Mandarin: 無門關 Wúménguān; Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan), sometimes translated as The Gateless Gate, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Chan (Zen) master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: Mumon Ekai; 1183–1260).

(Japanese: 無; Korean: 무) or Chinese wu (traditional Chinese: 無; simplified Chinese: 无), meaning "not have; without", is a key word in Buddhism, especially Zen traditions.

Nirvana (निर्वाण, Sanskrit: nirvāṇa;

Pali: Nibbana, Nibbāna

is the goal of the Buddhist path. The literal meaning of the term is "blowing out" or "quenching". Nirvana is the ultimate spiritual goal in Buddhism and marks the soteriological release from rebirths in saṃsāra. Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of dukkha" in the Four Noble Truths, and the summum bonum destination of the Noble Eightfold Path.

In the Buddhist tradition, Nirvana has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires”, or "three poisons", greed (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (moha). When these fires are extinguished, release from the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra) is attained.

Nirvana has also been claimed by some scholars to be identical with anatta (non-self) and sunyata (emptiness) states though this is hotly contested by other scholars and practicing monks. In time, with the development of the Buddhist doctrine, other interpretations were given, such as the absence of the weaving (vana) of activity of the mind, the elimination of desire, and escape from the woods, cq. the five skandhas or aggregates.

Buddhist scholastic tradition identifies two types of nirvana: sopadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana with a remainder), and parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana without remainder, or final nirvana). The founder of Buddhism, the Buddha, is believed to have reached both these states.[11]

Nirvana, or the liberation from cycles of rebirth, is the highest aim of the Theravada tradition. In the Mahayana tradition, the highest goal is Buddhahood, in which there is no abiding in Nirvana. Buddha helps liberate beings from saṃsāra by teaching the Buddhist path. There is no rebirth for Buddha or people who attain Nirvana. But his teachings remain in the world for a certain time as a guidance to attain Nirvana.

Ōryōki

(Japanese: 応量器) (Chinese: 鉢多羅, Japanese: はったら, romanized: hattara), is a transliteration of Sanskrit pātra, also called 應量器 (pinyin: yìng liàng qì), means "vessel that contains just enough" is a set of nested bowls and other eating utensils for the personal use of Buddhist monks. Ōryōki also refers to a meditative form of eating using these utensils that originated in Japan and emphasizes mindfulness awareness practice by abiding to a strict order of precise movements.

The term "ōryōki" is mostly used in the sōtō-shū (曹洞宗) sect of Zen Buddhism. In the rinzai-shū (臨済宗) and ōbaku-shū (黄檗宗) sects, the utensils are called jihatsu, which is written as 持鉢 according to rinzai-shū and 自鉢 according to ōbaku-shū. Jihatsu is also used to refer to the bowls alone.

Pali (/ˈpɑːli/) or Magadhan,

Is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka and is the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism.

Prajñāpāramitā

"the Perfection of (Transcendent) Wisdom"in Buddhism.
Prajñāpāramitā refers to this perfected way of seeing the nature of reality

Rinzai Zen

is marked by the emphasis it places on kenshō ("seeing one's true nature") as the gateway to authentic Buddhist practice, and for its insistence on many years of exhaustive post-kensho training to embody the free functioning of wisdom within the activities of daily life.

Training focuses on zazen (seated meditation), kōan, and samu (physical work done with mindfulness).

When engaged in zazen, kōans are frequently the object of meditation, while shikantaza ("just sitting") is less emphasized, but still used. This contrasts with Sōtō practice, which has de-emphasized kōans since Gentō Sokuch (circa 1800), and instead emphasizes shikantaza. In general, the Rinzai school is known for the rigor and severity of its training methods.

The Rinzai style of Zen practice may be characterized as somewhat martial or sharp (following in the spirit of Linji Yixuan). In this regard, Rinzai is often contrasted with another sect of Zen deeply established in Japan, Sōtō, which has been called more gentle and even rustic in spirit. A Japanese saying reflects these perceptions: "Rinzai for the Shōgun, Sōtō for the peasants" (臨済将軍、曹洞土民, Rinzai Shōgun, Sōtō Domin).

Rinzai Zen in Japan today is not a single organized body. Rather, it is divided into 15 branches (or 16, if Ōbaku is included), referred to by the names of their head temples, of which half are based in Kyoto (8, plus Ōbaku). The largest and most influential of these is the Myōshin-ji branch, whose head temple was founded in 1342 by Kanzan Egen (1277–1360). Other major branches include Nanzen-ji and Tenryū-ji (both founded by Musō Soseki), Daitoku-ji (founded by Shūhō Myōchō), and Tōfuku-ji (founded by Enni Ben'en, 1202–1280). These branches are purely organizational divisions arising from temple history and teacher-student lineage, and do not represent sectarian divides or fundamental differences in practice. There are nevertheless small differences in the way kōans are handled.

These head temples preside over various networks, comprising a total of approximately six thousand temples, forty monasteries, and one nunnery. The Myōshin-ji branch is by far the largest, approximately as big as the other branches combined: it contains within it about three thousand five hundred temples and nineteen monasteries.

Rōshi

(老師) (Japanese: "old teacher"; "old master"; Chinese pinyin: Lǎoshī) is a title in Zen Buddhism with different usages depending on sect and country. In Rinzai Zen, the term is reserved only for individuals who have received inka shōmei, meaning they have completed the entire kōan curriculum; this amounts to a total of less than 100 people at any given time. In Sōtō Zen and Sanbo Kyodan it is used more loosely. This is especially the case in the United States and Europe, where almost any teacher who has received dharma transmission might be called rōshi, or even use it to refer to themselves, a practice unheard of in Japan.

Saṃsāra

The "suffering-laden, continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end" Samsara is characterized by dukkha ("unsatisfactory," "painful"). Samsara relates to the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism, as dukkha ("unsatisfactory," "painful") is the essence of Samsara. Every rebirth is temporary and impermanent. In each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with one's own karma. It is perpetuated by one's avidya ("ignorance"), particularly about anicca (“impermanence”) and anatta, (“no-self”) and from craving. Samsara continues until moksha is attained by means of insight and nirvana. (see nirvana)

Sanskrit

(/ˈsænskrɪt/, attributively संस्कृत-, saṃskṛta-nominally संस्कृतम्, saṃskṛtam) Is a classical language of South Asia belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies.

Satori

(悟り) is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the verb satoru and means "comprehension; understanding.

In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kenshō, "seeing into one's true nature". Ken means "seeing," shō means "nature" or "essence".

Satori and kenshō are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajna and buddhahood.The term kenshō is often used interchangeably with satori. Satori is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward Buddhahood. Zen expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Zen says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha(Buddha Nature), you are not yet a full Buddha.

The student's mind must be prepared by rigorous study, with the use of koans, and the practice of meditation to concentrate the mind, under the guidance of a teacher. Koans are short anecdotes of verbal exchanges between teachers and students. The Rinzai-school utilizes classic collections of koans. such as The Gateless Gate. The Gateless Gate was assembled by the early 13th-century Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai (無門慧開) Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan .

Wumen struggled for six years with koan "Zhaozhou’s dog", assigned to him by Yuelin Shiguan (月林師觀; Japanese: Gatsurin Shikan) (1143–1217), before attaining kenshō. After his understanding had been confirmed by Yuelin, Wumen wrote the following enlightenment poem:

        "A thunderclap under the clear blue sky
        All beings on earth open their eyes;
        Everything under heaven bows together;
Mount Sumeru leaps up and dances."

Sensei,

Seonsaeng

Xiansheng

(先生) is an honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean and Chinese; this is translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes before". In general usage, it is used, with proper form, after a person's name and means "teacher"; the word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or persons of authority, such as clergy, accountants, lawyers, physicians and politicians or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, e.g., accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists.

Sesshin (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery.

While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work (Japanese: 作務 samu) all performed with the same mindfulness; nightly sleep is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks (teisho) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called dokusan, daisan, or sanzen) with a Zen Master.

In modern Buddhist practice in Japan and the West, sesshins are often attended by lay students, and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times a year at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddha's awakening to full enlightenment (anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi). At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, samadhi, kensho, or satori.

Shikantaza

(只管打坐) is a Japanese translation of a Chinese term for zazen introduced by Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism, to refer to a practice called "Silent Illumination", or "Serene Reflection", by previous Caodong masters. In Japan, it is associated with the Soto school. Unlike many other forms of meditation, shikantaza does not require focused attention on a specific object (such as the breath); instead, practitioners "just sit" in a state of conscious awareness.

Shikantaza is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese words zhǐguǎn 只管 "by all means; merely, simply; only concerned with" and dǎzuò 打坐 "[Buddhism/Daoism] sit in meditation" The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism translates shikan or zhǐguǎn 只管 as "to focus exclusively on", taza or dǎzuò 打坐 as "to squat, sit down cross-legged", which corresponds with Sanskrit utkuṭuka-stha, and translates shikan taza from zhǐguǎn dǎzuò 只管打坐 (or qíguǎn dǎzuò 祇管打坐 with qí "earth god; local god") as "meditation of just sitting", explained as the "Zen form of meditation chiefly associated with the Sōtō school, which places emphasis on emptying the mind, in contrast to the kōan method".

Sōtō Zen

or the

Sōtō school

(曹洞宗, Sōtō-shū) is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān Liánjiè. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.

The Japanese brand of the sect was imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji, who studied Caodong Buddhism (Chinese: 曹洞宗; pinyin: Cáodòng Zōng) abroad in China. Dōgen is remembered today as the co-patriarch of Sōtō Zen in Japan along with Keizan Jōkin.

With about 14,000 temples, Sōtō is one of the largest Japanese Buddhist organizations. Sōtō Zen is now also popular in the West, and in 1996 priests of the Sōtō Zen tradition formed the Soto Zen Buddhist Association based in North America.

Sutra

(Sanskrit: सूत्र, romanized: sūtra, lit. 'string, thread') in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism

In Hinduism, sutras are a distinct type of literary composition, a compilation of short aphoristic statements. Each sutra is any short rule, like a theorem distilled into few words or syllables, around which teachings of ritual, philosophy, grammar, or any field of knowledge can be woven. The oldest sutras of Hinduism are found in the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of the Vedas. Every school of Hindu philosophy, Vedic guides for rites of passage, various fields of arts, law, and social ethics developed respective sutras, which help teach and transmit ideas from one generation to the next

In Buddhism, sutras, also known as suttas, are canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. They are not aphoristic, but are quite detailed, sometimes with repetition. This may reflect a philological root of sukta (well spoken), rather than sutra (thread).

Tārā

is regarded as a bodhisattva of compassion and action. She is the female aspect of Avalokiteśvara and in some origin stories she comes from his tears.

Tathāgata

(Sanskrit: [tɐˈtʰaːɡɐtɐ]) is a Pali and Sanskrit word; Gautama Buddha uses it when referring to himself in the Pāli Canon. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (tathā-gata), "one who has thus come" (tathā-āgata), or sometimes "one who has thus not gone" (tathā-agata). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena. There are, however, other interpretations and the precise original meaning of the word is not certain.

The Buddha is quoted on numerous occasions in the Pali Canon as referring to himself as the Tathāgata instead of using the pronouns me, I or myself. This may be meant to emphasize by implication that the teaching is uttered by one who has transcended the human condition, one beyond the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth and death, i.e. beyond dukkha.

Tenzo

(Japanese: 典座) is a title given to the chef at a Buddhist monastery. The word tenzo is Japanese for "seat of ceremony", similar to the English term "master of ceremonies."

Thích Nhất Hạnh

(/ˈtɪk ˈnjʌt ˈhʌn/; Vietnamese: [tʰǐk̟ ɲə̌t hâjŋ̟ˀ] born as Nguyễn Xuân Bảo on 11 October 1926) is a Vietnamese Thiền Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition.

Thích Nhất Hạnh spent most of his later life residing at the Plum Village Monastery in southwest France,[4] travelling internationally to give retreats and talks. He coined the term "Engaged Buddhism" in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. After a long exile, he was permitted to visit Vietnam in 2005. In November 2018, he returned to Vietnam to spend his remaining days at his "root temple", Từ Hiếu Temple, near Huế.

Nhất Hạnh has published over 100 books, including more than 70 in English. He is active in the peace movement, promoting nonviolent solutions to conflict. He also refrains from consuming animal products, as a means of nonviolence toward animals.

Zabuton

(座布団, [d͡za̠bɯ̟ᵝtõ̞ɴ]) is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The zabuton is generally used when sitting on the floor and may also be used when sitting on a chair. In a more casual setting, the zabuton can be used in conjunction with a zaisu, a type of Japanese legless chair, with or without an accompanying kyousoku (脇息), a Japanese-style armrest. Ordinarily, any place in Japan where seating is on the floor will be provided with zabuton for sitting comfort. A typical zabuton measures 50–70 cm (20–30 inches) square and is several centimetres thick when new. Zabuton are found throughout Japan and enter many aspects of the culture.In Zen meditation, practitioners sit on zafu, which is typically placed on top of a zabuton. The zabuton cushions the knees and ankles.

Zafu

(Japanese: 座蒲, pronounced [d͡zaɸɯ]) or putuan (Chinese:, pronounced [pʰǔ.tʰwǎn]) is a round cushion. Although also a utilitarian accessory, it is best known for its use in zazen Zen meditation.

Zazen

(literally "seated meditation"; Japanese: 座禅; simplified Chinese: 坐禅; traditional Chinese: 坐禪; pinyin: zuò chán; Wade–Giles: tso4-ch'an, pronounced [tswô ʈʂʰǎn]) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. The meaning and method of zazen varies from school to school, but in general it can be regarded as a means of insight into the nature of existence. In the Japanese Rinzai school, zazen is usually associated with the study of koans. The Sōtō School of Japan, on the other hand, only rarely incorporates koans into zazen, preferring an approach where the mind has no object at all, known as shikantaza.

Zen

(Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; Japanese: 禅, romanized: zen; Korean: 선, romanized: Seon; Vietnamese: Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, there known as the Chan School (Chánzong 禪宗), and later developed into various schools. The Chan School was strongly influenced by Taoist philosophy, especially Neo-Daoist thought, and developed as a distinct school of Chinese Buddhism.[1] From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.

The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word of dhyāna ("meditation") Zen emphasizes rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice, insight into the nature of mind (見性, Ch. jiànxìng, Jp. kensho, "perceiving the true nature") and nature of things, and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others. As such, it de-emphasizes knowledge alone of sutras and doctrine[6][7] and favors direct understanding through spiritual practice and interaction with an accomplished teacher or Master.

The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna thought, especially Yogachara, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and the Huayan school, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, and the Bodhisattva-ideal. The Prajñā pāramitā literature as well as Madhyamaka thought have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and sometimes iconoclastic nature of Zen rhetoric.

Zendō

(禅堂) (Chinese: Chántáng) or senbutsu-jō (選仏場) is a Japanese "meditation hall". In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a spiritual dōjō where zazen (sitting meditation) is practiced. A full-sized Zen Buddhist temple will typically have at least one zen-dō as well as a hon-dō ("main hall", but sometimes translated as "Buddha hall"), which is used for ceremonial purposes, plus a variety of other buildings with different functions. However, any place where people go to practice Zen (Zazen)can be referred to as a Zendō.