buddhism
ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM
ZEN BUDDHISM Most popular in the west. Follows the meditative practices of india. Bodhidharma rst brought this form of Buddhism to China in the fth century A. D. He preached that studying scriptures, building monasteries and doing good deeds for the fellow human beings are worthless acts. Meditation that allows one to comprehend the true nature of the self is the only valuable practice. Bodhidharma retired to Shao-Lin and meditated there for 9 years, facing the wall. He achieved the utmost selfknowledge and inward vision – his enlightenment and the true purpose of meditation. A monk named Dosho (628 - 670) brought Zen Buddhism to Japan. In Zen meditation, there are problems designed to destroy the ordinary logic of thinking – they are called koans. (“If all things were reduced to the One, to what is the One reduced?) Zen seeks to proceed beyond the paths of ordinary logic.
98 seattle center for buddhism | material culture | spring 2013
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