The Premises and Principles of Zen Buddhism

Buddhism is a popular way of life in the Asian countries, and it is also gaining popularity in the Western
niches. It is the fourth largest religion with over 500 million followers. It represents a set of beliefs, practices,
and teachings that revolve around the personality of Buddha, who lived over two millennia ago. The practice
emphasizes on the enlightenment of the mind. However, contrary to the popular belief that Buddhist
enlightenment is an excellent understanding of the mind, the original concept focused on the return of the
mind to its initial state which is regarded as the natural state of humankind. Thisis captured in Zen Buddhism
which is built on the premise that individuals can achieve enlightenment without reading texts or conducting
various rituals and practices.
First, Zen Buddhism has based on the assumption that spiritual awakening is not a phenomenon that can be
gained by using the brain. It is more of Satori, which is an experience and a state of mind (Davis, 2010).This
is achieved by creating congruence between the body and the mind. Such an awakening is within the capacity
of human beings who are born with that innate capability but loses it due to lack of practice and being overly
reliant on practices, rituals, and written knowledge. It is noteworthy that animals, which are not burdened
with deriving knowledge from external source possess enlightenment and thepersistence live in the original
conditions. They are totally immersed in the present, and they are in touch with the cosmos(Davis, 2010).
However, people have lost touch with their original condition, and this has made them unpredictable and
complicated.
Secondly, Zen Buddhism focuses on understanding the nature of realities and giving life a moral order, and
this does not require reading from texts. This is common among those who practice the Chinese Daoism.
Although Daoism has been categorized as a philosophy by scholars, individuals who profess it has refused to
be placed in such dichotomies because of the practice from different scholarly opinion (Davis, 2010). Their
fundaments actions have been focused on simple actions, naturalness and becoming perfect human beings.
This is done in the context of the natural environment by living morally, controlling consciousness, and diet.
This is also similar in the Japanese Satori or enlightenment which indicates that true self-natureis achieved
through the practice of the brain and not by relying on external sources of knowledge. By engaging the mind
in meditation, one can understand himself better by creating harmony between the brain and the body.
Zen Buddhism also focuses on the training of the mind through receiving guidance from teachers. Thisis
referred to as mind-to-mind transmission. According to Mitchell (2011), the uniformity of the practice
involving meditation and the use intuition makes it possible for students to learn from their instructors.
Throughout history, the teachers have inferred their knowledge to students to transmit the realization of
dharma particularly through face to face engagement. Therefore, the lineage of the teachers is critical
students can trace the history and lineage of their teachers back to Bodhidharmaand Buddha.
The mind to mind is taken as sacred in the Zen Buddhism, and it is regarded as a defilement of the practice
for one to consider himself a teacher without receiving a transmission. The Bodhidharma’s idea of Zen is that
there cannot be a master but a teacher. Therefore, contrary to the Japanese famous Zen Masters who claim to
be well acquainted with the practice, Zen focuses on guiding learners rather than dictating knowledge
(Mitchell, 2011). Therefore, it cannot be learned from a text and scripture, but it develops through guidance,
meditation, and intuition.
Zen Buddhism also emphasizes on the concept of real presence which is referred to as the perception of
things the way they are. It assumes the thought to be a space and is only filled qualitatively when the thought
formulations and disintegrated back to their unformulated states. According to Mitchell (2011), those who
practice Zen are, therefore, instructed not to attach themselves to the thoughts that come and go. Instead, they
should turn the idea into its source which is emptiness which is the beginning of the rise and fall of ideas.
Also, for one to be present in the immediate time there is a need to realize the presencetime of all life.
In Zen Buddhism, an adage goes that, "When you see the Buddha on the side of the road, kill him!"
Althoughit appears ironical that those who practice the religion should kill the father of enlightenment, it
should not be taken literary. As Davis (2010) notes, in Zen the quest for understanding is continuous and has
no end. The "road" indicated in the saying represents the search for knowledge that the followers have
embarked on. Through meditation, they try to get in touch with nature and create harmony between the body
and the mind. The process in endless and it explains why even those who are considered to be masters of the
religion still search for enlightenment through meditation and intuition. Buddha, in this case, refers to
awareness itself.
By being urged to kill the Buddha on the roadside, the followers are urged to ignore any thoughts of feeling
as if they are now at the edge of enlightenment. The rationale for this is that since the knowledge that
constitutes Zen cannot be derived from texts but through training the mind and thoughts, the dynamic nature
of human mind makes it an endless but a fruitful quest(Mitchell (2011). However, this should not be
construed to mean that individuals would be in an endless struggle to live naturally. Through the guidance of
the teachers, they can gradually learn to control their behavior and thoughts, and they can sail smoothly in the
quest for enlightenment. Therefore, when they develop the thoughts of being perfect, they should trample
over such perceptions and continue with their meditation.
In conclusion, Zhen Buddhism dismisses the gaining of enlightenment from reading texts ad being lectured
by teachers. The practice focuses on the use of the mind to take the human beings to their natural selves
which have been violated by overreliance on external sources of enlightenment. By using intuition and
meditation, the followers create synchronization between their minds and bodies. Teachers play a critical role
in guiding learners through meditation, but unlike in the contemporary learning environment, they do not
dictate knowledge. Zen also discourages the followers from developing the attitude of having reached the
epitome of enlightenment. They are urged to dispel such thought, particularly during meditation because they
can be an impediment towards enjoying the real presence and emptiness. The justification for this is that such
an attitude can make it difficult to follow a thought to its source. Therefore, the road to enlightenment should
have no end.
References
Davis, L. S. (2010). Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism: Deconstructive Modes of spiritual inquiry . A&C
Black.
Mitchell, D. W. (Ed.). (2011). Masao Abe a Zen Life of Dialogue . Tuttle Publishing.