Zen

Hi CB

I'm no expert on this and I'm sure someone else will correct me, there are two main paths in Buddhism: Mahayana (the greater vehicle) and Theraveda (the teaching of the elders).

Theraveda is more based on the original teachings of the Buddha and is found mainly in Sri Lanka, Laos, Burma and Thailand.

Mahayana is a later interpretation of the Buddha's teachings and is found mainly in Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. Zen (a Japanese term) comes from Chinese Chan Buddhism which has been influenced by Chinese Taoism. Even with Zen, there are different sects with different emphasis on practice. Zen has influenced western popular culture, and many ideas of living in the moment and jumping out of the box (our self-constructed one of course) come from it.

Wherever Buddhism goes, it often blends with local beliefs. Buddhism seems to be highly portable. For example, Tibetan style Buddhism (Varjiyana - thunderbolt path) to me seems a mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism and Tibetan Bon Shamanism. I'm sure others will disagree, and will probably say that the Buddha taught differently to different people according to their needs and level of comprehension.

Best Wishes

RP

Hi Charlie-B,

Zen Buddhism has a very direct approach and usually involves interaction with a teacher. There's also a lot of emphasis on meditation.

RP - I'm a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner myself and with respect, I think your view is a rather muddled one in that all traditions have been influenced to some extent by the cultures in which they arose. Tibetan Buddhism may appear to onlookers to be like Bon or Hinduism but in fact it is not. Lord Buddha was himself a Hindu in India before he grew disenchanted with his way of life and Vajrayana terminology is based on Sanskrit which is Indian. Bon was the shamanistic religion in Tibet before Buddhism took over.

Kind wishes,

Elen:)

Hi Elen

Hope I didn't offend you. Yes you are right that I am look from the outside in, but I have this habit to state sometime to see what reaction I get - partly for fun and partly intellectually. Often I'm fascinated by cross-cultural connections. For example, the idea the some (and I do emphasis the word some) Tibetan Buddhists follow the deity Dorje Sugden, which to me has the similar imagery as the Chinese Taoist demon exorist Chang Tao Ling.

As a informal student of oriental philosophies, I do come across the idea that Mahayana Buddhism came into being due to a decline in Theraveda Buddhism (over a 1000 years ago in India) because of an increased power of Hinduism. Solution: make Buddhism more esoteric to increase its popularlity. Of course that doesn't make it wrong. May be I'm wrong.

Best Wishes and Metta

RP

This is a copy of my response on another thread concerning Zen...
I have done my own research on this over the years. The thing with Zen Bhuddism is this...

Bhuddism was taken from India, through Tibet and other countries, anyway, it ended up in China.

The Chinese could not understand the bhuddist teachings (they were in Sanskrit at the time). So they were translated.

Some of the folks who translated the teachings as it spread throughout the country mixed it with China's already strong beliefs and philosophies, like Confucianism for example.

So in a very basic way of describing it, Zen Bhuddism is a mix of traditional Mahayana Bhuddism, with Chinese Philosophy.

It is explained well in a book by Adelene Yen Mah called ''Watching the Tree'' her grandfather (Ye Ye) was a Zen Bhuddist and she tells of it's history in China and her talks about religion with her Ye Ye.

here are some quotes from the book ''Watching the tree'' by Adeline Yen Mah (Harper Collins 2001).

''The roots of bhuddism came from India around 500BC, when a splinter group broke away in revolt against Hinduism. In the middle of the second century Bhuddism spread to China, where it merged with Taoism and Confucianism to become syncretised into a special kind of Chinese Bhuddism called Zen Bhuddism'' ~pg74

''Approximately 100yrs after Gautama's death... (Siddhartha Gautama was the first to become enlightened under the bhodi tree in India he lived from 563 - 483 BC and began the movement of Bhuddism which broke away from Hinduism)... a schism occured and his community devided into two schools...

...the Elders continued to ahere strictly to the original Pali doctrine by withdrawing from the world. This came known as the Theravada or Hinayana (small vehicle) and is the form of Bhuddism practised today in Sri lanka, Burma, Thialand, Loas and Cambodia.
The second school, known as the Mahayana, spread to China, Japan, Korea, Nepal and Tibet. Mahayana Bhuddism holds a much more liberal, tolerant and pliant view on the interpretation of the Pali Canon...

...Mahayana teachings... ...allow far greater freedom in the development of new ideas to conform with local customs and beliefs. Consequently, Tibetan Bhuddism became markedly different from Zen Bhuddism, although both belong to the Mahayana school. Over the centuries Zen took on an uniquely Chinese flavour and diverged more and more from other types of bhuddism.'' ~pg78

''The aim of Zen is to awaken the student to the realisation of his own enlightenment.....
.... Zen has no creed and does not involve committing ones self to certain definate rules of behaviour.'' ~pg79

''(Adeline's grandfather speaking) ''I believe Zen's success may have been due to its progressive integration with the philosophy culled from ancient Chinese classics'' ''

Lily xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi RP,

No of course you didn't offend me!:)

There's a link here about the spread of Buddhism for anyone who's interested.

Kind wishes,

Elen

Hi sorry i haven't got round to replying for ages... i just wanted to say thank you for your interesting answers. I have found many wise words in the books i have read and hope that i can live my life in a more buddhist way but i'm struggling to find the time to sit zazen. Without wanting to sound lazy and noncommital do the other forms of buddhism involve less meditation? By the time i have done a bit of yoga and reiki in the morning i never seem to get around to it - that sounds terrible doesn't it?!