Zen Buddhism originated in the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. Around 500 B.C. he was a prince in what is India. When he was in 20’s, he was finally exposed to the laypeople outside the castle walls. Deeply troubled by the suffering he saw around him, he renounced his privileged life to seek enlightenment. After 6 years of struggling as an ascetic he finally achieved Enlightenment as he meditated under the Bodhi tree (wisdom tree). After this he was known as the Buddha (meaning "one who is awake"). Buddha realized that everything is subject to change and that suffering and discontentment are the result of attachment to circumstances and things that, by their nature, are impermanent. By getting rid of these things, including attachment to the false notion of self or "I", one can be free of suffering. The teachings of the Buddha have been passed down from teacher to student. Around 475 A.D. one of these teachers, Bodhidharma, traveled from India to China and introduced the teach
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All the answers given, however reasonable, will only earn a beating from the Zen master. He wants to empty himself of his ego. What is the point of asking meaningless questions? Entirely to stop rational thought and make the mind go out of the boundaries that normally confine it. The main state of enlightenment reached is called Nirvana. If I were to live my life like Van de Wetering I would find it hard to just live on simple meals of stew and have no social life. Since I am a very social person, that would definitely be the most difficult part, living in silence for days at a time.
Many people, including our author Janwillem van de Wetering, go to monastery’s to study the religion of Zen Buddhism. If I put myself in Van de Wetering’s shoes the meditation would have been the most rewarding thing I could do to clear and empty my mind. The student may give several simple answers back. The result of this combination was Zen Buddhism. The negation applies to the question itself: It is a self-contradictory question. Stories or questions that had arisen in the tradition could themselves become the objects of meditation. The basic practice of Zen Buddhism is that of meditation. I don’t have enough self-control to not flinch or move whenever something like that takes place.
Approximate Word count =
663
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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