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Zen
Meditation traditions descending from Chinese Chan — including Japanese Zen, Korean Sŏn, and Vietnamese Thiền.
Zen is the Japanese reading of Chinese Chan (禪), itself from Sanskrit dhyāna — meditation. The tradition emphasizes direct experience of mind through seated meditation (zazen), encounter dialogue, and everyday activity as practice.
Chan flourished in Tang and Song China and spread to Korea (Sŏn), Vietnam (Thiền), and Japan (Zen). Japanese schools such as Sōtō and Rinzai shaped much of how Zen is known in the West, though Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese lineages are equally vital. Hallmarks include silent illumination, kōan introspection, and a suspicion of mere intellectualism without embodied realization.
Western Zen includes large residential centers, small sitting groups, and hybrid sanghas. Related pages cover Sōtō, Rinzai, Ōbaku, Chan, Sŏn, Thiền, Sanbō Zen, and Dharma Drum.
Practices
Zazen / sitting meditation
Upright seated practice — shikantaza (“just sitting”) or breath-counting — as the core discipline.
Kōan practice
Working with paradoxical cases under a teacher’s guidance, especially in Rinzai-derived lines.
Kinhin & work practice
Walking meditation and mindful labor that extend awakening into daily activity.
Sesshin
Intensive multi-day retreats with long sitting schedules and oryoki meals.
Texts
- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Shunryu Suzuki
The Platform Sutra
Huineng (attr.)
Foundational Chan scripture.
Moon in a Dewdrop
Dōgen (ed. Kazuaki Tanahashi)