What is Zen Buddhism?

Words to describe the wordless non-philosophy

“A special transmission outside the scriptures,
Not founded upon words and letters
By pointing directly to one’s mind,
It lets one see into one’s own true nature and thus attain Buddhahood.”
— Bodhidharma

The Historical Origin of Zen

Buddhism began in India, where the original Buddha gave lectures laying out the foundation of a philosophy which promised an end to suffering: if we extinguish our desires and attachments, we will no longer suffer the pain of them going unfulfilled.

That seed of an idea spread across India and into China, where it met and mixed with Taoism, the philosophy of living in accordance and harmony with one’s nature. One achieves a state of inner peace by accepting their nature and letting it play out in “effortless action.”

Those two world-views blended and birthed Chan Buddhism, a Chinese word that means meditation, and spread to Japan where the character the Chinese used is pronounced “Zen.”

“Not Founded Upon Words And Letters”

Zen was transmitted by a succession of masters training their disciples not with lectures, but spiritual practices, like meditation and koans (more on those later.)