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Meditation within Zen Buddhism
• The main aim is the sudden
awakening of Buddha
nature to enlightenment
(satori)
• This happens in an instant
• It is the in – depth
understanding and insight
into the emptiness
(sunyata) of all phenomena
Meditation within Zen Buddhism
• There are two main
styles we need to
concentrate on:• 1. Rinzai
• 2. Soto
Soto Meditation - intro
• First introduced into Japan
from China by the monk
Eisai (1141 – 1215) and
was successful with
Samurai
• Soto Zen had more popular
appeal through Dogen who
remains one of the greatest
figures in Japanese
Buddhism
Soto Meditation - intro
• As a Tendai Monk Dogen
confronted the problem
that if people already have
a buddha nature why do
they need to exert
themselves in religious
practice to attain
buddhahood
• He advocated a strict and
simple life of monastic
discipline and ZAZEN or
sitting meditation
Soto Meditation - intro
• He used the Mahayana
sutras to support the
practice but he emphasised
practices rather then study
• He was impressed by the
personal example of the
historical Buddha and
interestingly, under
Dogen’s tradition, the
Buddha became a more
human like teacher again
rather then a glorious
heavenly figure
Soto Meditation - intro
• Dogen advocated zazen
sitting meditation as a
return to the true
Buddhism of the Buddha
and he criticised the Rinzai
schools reliance on the
koan as too focussed on
mental processes
• He encouraged a natural
and straightforward method
open to all and
encompassing all other
practices
Soto Meditation – How does it
work?
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Posture is strictly defined
Full lotus position
Precise placing of all parts of the
body
Sit in zazen with constant
awareness
Have faith that you are already a
buddha
Engage in the process of ‘self
forgetting’
Mokusho or silent illumination is
good because it uses the koan
sparingly
Rinzai Meditation – Intro
• Rinzai ( birth date unknown
– died in 867)
• He was noted for his more
audacious forms of Zen
training e.g. shouting,
howling and beating
methods!
• Also for his dynamic
exchanges between him as
a master and his disciples
centring on the koan
Rinzai Meditation – Intro
• Rinzai wanted the role of a
master to bring about a
crisis in a student called
‘The Great Doubt’ so that
in a moment of realisation
or ‘satori’, the student
makes a great
breakthrough
• This enlightenment will
then be evident in the
students every activity
whatever form it may take
Rinzai Meditation – How does it
work?
• Rinzai emphasises seated
meditation
• It focuses on a koan
(unanswerable riddle)
• A student will then go
through a first
enlightenment experience
known as kensho
• He or she will wrestle
mentally with the enigma of
a koan
Rinzai Meditation – How does it
work?
• Hakuin (1685 – 1768)
revitalised Rinzai Buddhism
• Haiku poems became part
of the established focus for
students whilst
meditating
• Maybe even a mondo ( a
recorded collection of
dialogues between a pupil
and a rōshi or Zen
Buddhist teacher) will be
used as a technique
So…is meditation essential to
Buddhism or not?
• Yes it is! – the focus is
on the nature of
consciousness as the
ultimate source of
truth and knowledge
• The most powerful
way of understanding
consciousness and
change is through
meditation
So…is meditation essential to
Buddhism or not?
• Meditation also gives
clear understanding of
one’s own nature and
the ability to cultivate
higher levels of
consciousness and
knowledge
• Without meditation,
one could argue that
wisdom could not
develop
So…is meditation essential to
Buddhism or not?
• No it isn’t ! – The
Buddhist path has
many forms and
aspects and for some
traditions, the
bodhisattvas are
essential as well as
rituals and chanting
So…is meditation essential to
Buddhism or not?
• For all forms of
Buddhism, morality is
the essential basis of
the faith
• Without morality,
human nature cannot
develop in a positive
way so this is clearly
more essential to
Buddhism than
meditation.