The Zen (Japanese 禅, “quiet meditation”), Chán (禪/禅) in Mandarin or dhyāna in Sanskrit, is a form of Bouddhisme mahâyâna which insists particularly on the Méditation, or “interior illumination”.

The word Zen is the romanisation word Japanese 禅, translation of the Mandarin 禪 chán , itself borrowed from the Sanskrit Dhyāna , meditation perfect.

In French, the word Zen is also used to mean state of peace, of indifference to the agitation of the world; become in the language running an adjective synonymous with “serene”.

History

Origins

The legend of the origin of the tradition Zen and the line of its Masters goes back to a sermon of the Bouddha Shâkyamuni with its disciples whereas they were joined together on the Mount of the vultures, reported in the Sūtra Lankavatara . To try to explain a point of its teaching, it was satisfied to gather silently a flower of Udumbara. None the disciples would have included/understood the message which it tried to make pass, except for Mahâkâshyapa, which would have smiled to the Bouddha. This one would then have said to him before the assembly that it had thus transmitted its spiritual treasure to him most invaluable. It is a prefiguration of the description of the chan which one will lend to Bodhidharma: “not of writing, a different teaching all the others, which directly touches the spirit to reveal the true nature of Buddha” (“不立文字、 教外別傳, 直指人心, 見性成佛”).

List patriarchs of Zen

List brought back by the tradition of the twenty-eight patriarchs of the school before his arrival in China :

List of the first seven patriarchs of the chan Chinese :

1. Bodhidharma 440 ?- 428?

2. Huike 487 - 593
3. Sengcan? - 606
4. Daoxin 580 - 651
5. Hongren 601 - 674
6. Huineng 638 - 713 (replaces in 796 Shenxiu 607? - 706 of the school of North)
7. Shenhui 670? - 760? (replaces in 796 Puji 651 - 739 of the school of North)

From India in China

Bodhidharma, twenty-eighth patriarch in Indian filiation, would have come in China around 520. The various Chinese texts which mention it do not grant exactly on its origin (Kânchîpuram in the south of India or Perse), nor on its road (arrived by the West or a port of South-east). One lends to him a particular attachment for the Sūtra Lankavatara , and the first school chan made up is known under the name of school Lankâ (楞伽宗).

A legend attested as from the 11th century with the monastery of Shaolin allots the foundation of it to Bodhidharma, by thus making the initiator of the Martial arts of the Far East. Nevertheless, although there exists with the Kerala a type of yoga offering a certain external similarity with the Kung-fu, of the gymnastics of the type Qigong seem to be mentioned on Chinese texts dating from fifth century BC, and martial arts with the mount Song preceded Bodhidharma, if as well is as it never went there.

The chan in China

See the specialized article: Chan (Buddhism)

From China in Korea

Into the 9th century, Buddhism chan , called Its in Korea, was integrated into official Buddhism already present since the 4th century. The Its Korean practices prostration, the song, the sitted meditation. It uses Mantra S and gong' year or kōan (Japanese name).

From Korea in Japan

6th at the 13th century, the zen Buddhism was imported of China to the Japan via Korea, by successive waves. It is at the 13th century that the monk Dogen 道元 imported Zen Sōtō (曹洞, in Mandarin Caodong ), and the monk Eisai (栄西, sometimes called Yōsai ) Zen Rinzai (臨済, Linji in Mandarin). These two schools, as in China starting from the Song, constitute still today with the school Obaku the landscape of Japanese Zen. It is the Zen Rinzai which however will be essential, at least politically initially, with the installation of the system known as of the Five Mountains where five temples chapeautent all the others. In fact there will be ten temples, five with Kyōto and five with Kamakura, which will vary with the wire of time. The current Zen and the practice of the Zazen (sitted meditation practiced to reach the awakening) had much success in Japan and were accompanied by the development by the monks by several arts and techniques, either directly imported of China, or created locally by integrating elements of the north of China and Korea. One can quote like example the use of the The or simple and stripped esthetics. Japanese Zen is also strongly influenced by the Taoïsme, of which one finds certain symbols and concepts.

Chinese filiation ( chan ) of the Japanese schools:

• Sōtō is attached to caodong (曹洞宗) founded by Dongshan Liangjie (洞山良价? - 869).
• Rinzai is attached to the line of zhishen (智詵? - 702), second disciple of Huineng according to the monograph of the school Lankâ (楞伽人法志), via Mazu Daoyi (媽祖道一? - 788), Baizhang Huaihai (百丈懷海, Hyakujo Ekai in Japanese, 720 - 814), Huanbo Xiyun (黃檗希運) and Linji Yixuan (臨濟一玄 Rinzai Gigen in Japanese? - 866).

• Much later ōbaku , founded by Yinyuan Longqi (隱元隆琦, Ingen Ryuki in Japanese, 1592 - 1613), will also make go up its line with Huanbo Xiyun, Master of Rinzai.

• Ummon of advertisement of Yunmen Wenyan (雲門文偃, Ummon Daishi in Japanese, 864? - 942).

Approaches

One can coarsely say that Zen Sōtō stresses the practice of Zazen (of za sitting and Zen meditation) and of Shikantaza, just to sit down, whereas Zen Rinzai insists more on the kōan , Aporie S, Paradoxe S with teaching aiming.

Zazen is the awakening (Satori): the practice itself is realization; practical and awakening are like the palm and the back of the hand. It is enough to sit down motionless and silencer to harmonize itself with the illumination of the Buddha. Nevertheless, according to logic Zen, even the awakening could not be an aim in itself.

The kōan (Rinzaï school) are proposals generally absurd or paradoxical that the Master poses and that the disciple must dissolve (rather than to solve) in the vacuity of the nonsense, and, consequently, to drown its me in an absence of tensions and will, than one can compare with the perfectly smooth surface of a lake reflecting the world like a mirror.

Like all the sinicized versions of Buddhism, Zen belongs to the unit Mahâyâna which affirms that each one has in oneself what it is necessary to reach the illumination. Certain schools ( Tiantai , Huayan ) consider that each one and any thing is “Nature of Buddha”. The position Zen, nearer to the idealistic philosophical current Yogaçara , considers that the only reality of the universe is that of the conscience; there is thus anything else to discover only the true nature of its own unified conscience.

Texts

In spite of the definition of the chan like “without writing” (in Mandarin buliwenzi 不立文字) allotted to Bodhidharma, by the Sutra S inspired part of its teaching; certain Masters left writings, disciples gathered the teaching of their Masters in collections.

Among will sutras, one can quote initially the Sūtra Lankavatara attached to the school will yogaçara , which largely contributed to the idealistic philosophy of the Zen, which sees in the conscience single reality. The tradition makes of it the text of reference of Bodhidharma; more recently, D.T.  Suzuki abundantly commented on it. Will soutras of “perfection of wisdom” that are the Sūtra of Diamond and the Sūtra of the Heart are also important, as well as the Sūtra Shurangama particularly appreciated syncretistic currents, and the Samantamukha Parivarta , a chapter of the Sūtra of the Lotus .

Among the texts written in China during the first centuries of the chan , let us mention the Sūtra of Estrade allotted to Huineng, sixth patriarch, like two collections of kōan , the Recueil of blue cliff (碧巖錄, in Mandarin Biyan read , in Japanese Hekiganroku ) composed at the 12th century, and the Barrier without door , composed at the beginning of the 13th century.

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