Zen (Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; Japanese: 禅,: zen; Korea Seon; Vietnamese: Thiền) is a school of Mahayana
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China and later spread to other East Asian countries like Korea and Japan. It emphasizes meditation, insight into one's true nature and the nature of things, and applying spiritual insights to daily life to benefit others. Zen teachings draw from various Mahayana sources but emphasize direct spiritual experience over mere knowledge of doctrines.
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Zen (Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; Japanese: 禅,: zen; Korea Seon; Vietnamese: Thiền) is a school of Mahayana
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China and later spread to other East Asian countries like Korea and Japan. It emphasizes meditation, insight into one's true nature and the nature of things, and applying spiritual insights to daily life to benefit others. Zen teachings draw from various Mahayana sources but emphasize direct spiritual experience over mere knowledge of doctrines.
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Zen (Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Chán; Japanese: 禅, romanized: zen; Korea
n: 선, romanized: Seon; Vietnamese: Thiền) is a school of Mahayana
Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, there known as the Chan School (Chánzong 禪宗), and later developed into various schools. The Chan School was strongly influenced by Taoist philosophy, especially Neo-Daoist thought, and developed as a distinct school of Chinese Buddhism.[1] From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen.[2] The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word of dhyāna ("meditation").[note 1] Zen emphasizes rigorous self- restraint, meditation-practice, insight into the nature of mind (見性, Ch. jiànxìng, Jp. kensho, "perceiving the true nature") and nature of things, and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others.[4][5] As such, it de-emphasizes mere knowledge of sutras and doctrine[6][7] and favors direct understanding through spiritual practice and interaction with an accomplished teacher[8] or Master. The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna thought, especially Yogachara, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and the Huayan school, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, and the Bodhisattva-ideal.[9][10] The Prajñāpāramitā literature as well as Madhyamaka thought have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and sometimes iconoclastic nature of Zen rhetoric.