Реферат: What Is Zen Essay Research Paper IntroductionZen

A Koan is a riddle with no solution. Koans are intended to break through the limitations of ego and intellect and lead to an intuitive flash of enlightenment. They were developed primarily by the Rinzai branch of Zen for use in training Zen students. More than 1700 koans are in use today.

My personal experience with Zen and Zazen

I have always been fascinated with Zen. My fascination began when I was about seven and saw a television program about Zen monks. These monks were able to do things that I would describe as being supernatural. Many of them were about sixty years old yet could break several bricks with their head and several slabs of ice with their elbow. They were also extremely flexible and could perform full splits.

I remember watching this program filled with envy and desire to also perform these tasks. I began reading about Zen but I found it boring and tedious (I was around seven.). I was, however, still fascinated with Zen and planned on studying it in the future when I was older and could appreciate it (I was a pretty smart seven year old).

During my sophomore year of high school, I was watching David Letterman one night when monks once again performed. I believe, but am not certain, that they were Shao Lin Buddhist monks. They also achieved supernatural feats in being able to break slabs of iron and wood. They also looked to be in their sixties and I was reminded of the program I watched when I was seven.

My original fascination with Zen returned. I was now fourteen or fifteen and once again decided to study Zen. I took out some books from the library and studied them but once again I couldn t get into it. I remember practicing zazen or rather trying to practice zazen. I was very restless and had trouble concentrating on posture and breathing. My mind kept wandering to history tests and English essays and, needless to say, I did not expand my consciousness. I also spent some time thinking about koans (Zen riddles such as What is the sound of one hand clapping? or If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? ). These koans also did not expand my consciousness and my mind once again wandered to history tests and English essays.

I was very frustrated about my inability to be one with Zen. I spent some time thinking about this and I realized what my problem was. My fascination with Zen stemmed from breaking bricks and ice which is obviously not an integral part of Zen. I was into Zen for all the wrong reasons. I was still fascinated by Zen but I decided to stop reading about it.

I decided that if I ever seriously wanted to practice Zen (as opposed to just wanting to break bricks) I could study it again. If a desire to practice Zen never arises, that is all right too.

The next time I studied Zen was in the beginning of this term when I started taking metaphysics. All the meditations we did in class got me thinking about reading about Zen again. I though this time I had reached the maturity needed and would appreciate it much more.

I practiced Zazen again and this time I lost myself for several moments while concentrating solely on the posture and breathing. Zazen lasted for several minutes but afterward I did not feel any more wiser or enlightened and got back to thinking about history tests and English essays.

I realized that I still could not fully appreciate Zen and my mind was still cluttered by thoughts and concerns. I figure that I am too young to fully appreciate Zen and Zazen. At seventeen, there are too many hormones and/or concerns to be able to focus on posture and breathing for an extended period of time.

Though I was not as successful at practicing Zen as I would have liked to be, Zen still has made an impact on my life. I focus on the moment much easier now and am usually fully aware of my surroundings. I also don t allow things to bother me as much as they once did. Now when a negative thought enters my consciousness, I ask myself why that thought exists in my system, and then detach myself from the thought until it leaves on its own.

If the negative thought is powerful and does not exit my consciousness, I consciously focus on my breathing until that thought is no longer part of my consciousness.

Before my experiences with Zen, I was often very irritable and felt a lot of pressure and stress from my surroundings. I now am able to relax and focus on my present activities much more readily and enjoy my days much more.

I still have a complete inability to practice Zazen or meditation (including the ones we do in class). I just have too much energy in my system to do physically nothing for an extended period of time. I have spent some time wondering why I can t fully enjoy meditation and haven t really come up with an answer for it yet.

Until one can focus properly for meditation and zazen, it can be argued that they have not fully been connected to Zen, or any other Eastern philosophy for that matter. I have read and been told on several occasions, that enlightenment and wisdom usually arrive during meditation. This makes me realize that I am missing something due to my inability to meditate.

This is unfortunate but I am not discouraged. I will be able to meditate when I will be able to meditate and if I will never be able to meditate, well, then that s alright too Just as long as I can break bricks over my head.

Connection between Zen and Metaphysics

The connection between Zen and Metaphysics is that both have the same goals. They are concerned with studying the underlying nature of things. Both, Zen and metaphysics focus on self-discipline, meditation, and attainment of enlightenment through direct intuitive insight.

Both Zen and Metaphysics recognize the importance of reality and both see reality as being the world as it is, unaffected by thought.

They are most similar in their goal to expand the consciousness of the mind through meditation. Meditation is an integral part to the study of both Zen and Metaphysics and is used by both to attain wisdom and enlightenment.

Bibliography

1. Crompton, Paul. Walking Meditation. Rockport, Massachusetts: Element Books, 1996.

2. Deshimaru, Taisen. The Zen Way to Martial Arts. United States of America: Penguin books, 1982

3. Hyams, Joe. Zen in the Martial Arts. New York: Penguin putnam, 979

4. Louret, Frederick. The Way and the Power. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press,1987

5. Nishino, Kozo. The Breath of Life. Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International Tokyo, 1996

6. Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. New York: Bantam Books, 1984

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