Are there any major beliefs in Zen?

Answer 1

Zen is the meditation school of Buddhism. Although your question is clear, it could be subdivided into:

• (1) are there any major beliefs in Zen specifically
• (2) are there any major beliefs in Buddhism in general from a Zen perspective.

The only faith initially required is that Zen practice may be beneficial. Without that faith, nobody would ever begin the practice. The initial faith required is similar to the faith required to begin any practice. Unless you thought that you would be able to learn how to play the piano and benefit from it, you would never begin to practice piano playing. It is the same with all other practices.

Notice, too, that once one masters a practice, the faith that one might be able to master it is no longer required; it is replaced by experience. Therefore, the initial faith dissipates.

"Zazen" ("Sitting Zen") is the name of the practice of sitting meditation in Zen Buddhism. It is the distinctive kind of meditation that Zen practitioners use. The only faith required to practice Zen is that zazen may be beneficial to you. That's it!

Zazen is one way to train (purify, discipline) the mind. Many practitioners for many, many centuries have found zazen beneficial.

There are two schools of Zen, Soto and Rinzai. In Rinzai, one of the major aspects of Zazen is the assignment of a Koan (A seemingly nonsensical question) to a student. The teacher never gives answers to a student. To do so would be to deprive the student of his/her satori. Satori is the sudden awareness of an answer gotten on your own. Answers given to the student are not theirs. They belong to the provider of the answer. The student remembers their answer for longer.

(2) For forty-five years the Buddha taught the dhamma-vinaya, and his teachings were memorized by his students, especially Ananda and Upali, in accordance with his instructions. (At that time it wasn't customary to write down sacred teachings.) After the Buddha's parinibbana, Buddhism has continued to developed a rich intellectual heritage--far too rich for a quick answer. Zen, as a Mahayana school, places at least as much emphasis on the post-Buddha developments as on the teachings of the Buddha himself.

However, all Buddhist thinking begins with the Four Noble Truths.

According to the Buddha, the only way to begin the process of living well is to commit wholeheartedly to seeking it, accept the truth about reality, and live accordingly. For example, he says, "Take refuge in the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha, and you will grasp the Four Noble Truths: suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path that takes you beyond suffering. That is your best refuge, your only refuge. When you reach it, all sorrow falls away." [The Buddha, The Dhammapada (Tomales, California: Nilgiri, 1985; E. Easwaran, tr.), p. 133. Additional references are to this translation.]

There are different ways to interpret this. What does it mean to take refuge in the Three Treasures? What are the Four Noble Truths? What is the Noble Eightfold Path? The following answer may be sufficient initially.

Literally 'the Buddha' denotes the historical Buddha who lived some 2500 years ago, 'the Dharma' (dhamma) denotes his teachings, and 'the Sangha' denotes those people who practiced his teachings, especially the community of monks and nuns. In Zen, however, it is common to interpret them nonliterally. Some think of 'the Buddha' as denoting our Buddha-nature; 'the Dharma' as denoting the undefiled pure truth that excludes nothing; and some even think of 'the Sangha' as the fusion of the Buddha-Treasure and the Dharma-Treasure!

Some believe that a refuge here means a commitment (rather than its literal meaning as a safe haven). Taking refuge involves a continuing sequence of decisions to throw oneself unreservedly into practice-enlightenment. In Invoking Reality, John Daido Loori, a modern American Zen teacher, uses the analogy of a child taking refuge in a parent's arms-but think of the child as being at a dangerous height needing to jump to be caught by the parent. The child must trust unequivocally to jump, and, once the child jumps, there's no taking the leap back. Like the child, we, too, fear the consequences of taking refuge, of plunging wholeheartedly into practice-enlightenment, of letting go of all our many attachments, so we hesitate-at least until our realization of how much we are suffering and causing others around us to suffer provides a sufficient goal.

The First Noble Truth is that living is difficult, imperfect, flawed. Usually our lives are persistently and pervasively unsatisfactory. Sometimes our suffering is acute; sometimes we are on fire. Often the misery is routine. Even moments of happiness are transitory and have a bittersweet quality; knowing they will soon end, we desperately cling to them. It's not as if our lives flow smoothly from one joyful experience to the next! Humiliation awaits each of us. Who among us is exempt from decay and illness? Who among us won't suffer the infirmities of age? Who among us won't die? Who among us has established loving encounters that are permanent? We are humiliated by being unable to control our destinies.

The Second Noble Truth is that it is our egoistic attachments, our narcissistic cravings, that make living difficult. As we continually ask of life what it cannot give, as we incessantly try to control what isn't in our power to control, as we are buffeted by one obsessive thirst after another, we hurt. It is our selfish desires that are causing us to suffer. It is our incessant delusive quest for permanent pleasures that is causing us to suffer. This is why living is difficult. This is what causes us to suffer.

The Third Noble Truth is that we have the option to liberate ourselves from life's difficulties. Freedom from our egoistic attachments, our narcissistic cravings, is possible. We can eliminate the suffering by eliminating what is causing the suffering. If we dissolve our egoism and our selfish desires, we will find that we lack nothing. The more we deliberately counteract our normal psychological conditioning, the more peace we'll enjoy. There is a way to end our difficulties that will create lasting well being.

The Fourth Noble Truth is that the way to realize this liberation is the Noble Eightfold Path. By cultivating a compassionate life of virtue, wisdom, and meditation, we can realize our inherent enlightenment. Living this path is living well. (Notice that this is not an accomplishment, something we gain or achieve; rather, it is a letting go of all the egoistic attachments that are blocking us from realizing our inherent nature.)

What is this Path? The eight elements are Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. Each of them is in inter-being with the other seven; they are mutually reinforcing and complementary. (There are many books available which contain descriptions of each of these elements.)

In the famous opening lines of The Dhammapada, the Buddha signals what is essential about the Eightfold Path: "Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think" [p. 78.]. Therefore, if we train (discipline, purify) our minds, we'll automatically be shaping our lives. This is why the wise shape their minds "[a]s irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood" [p. 96.]. If we don't train our minds, we won't live well; "no amount of penance can help a person whose mind is not purified" [p. 112.].

How should we train our minds? By meditation.

According to Zen, there is no other way: "There can be no meditation for those who are not wise, and no wisdom for those who do not meditate" [p. 193.]. Meditation purifies the mind by dissolving compulsive selfish attachments such as greed, lust, hatred, and selfish desires [pp. 186-7.]. As "mindfulness" begins to permeate our actions, we begin living better. "Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance . . . there is no impurity greater than ignorance" [p. 163 & 153.]. Also, "Any indiscipline brings evil in its wake" [p. 153.].

It is difficult to train our minds. Though "a trained mind brings health and happiness," realize that "[h]ard it is to train the mind" [p. 87.]. Nevertheless, the practice of meditation is simple. It's a matter, essentially, of practicing letting go of all your attachments, including and especially your attachment to the idea that you are a separate self. Letting go of that attachment is awakening.

Obviously, there's much more to be said about these ideas. Still, this is a solid beginning. In addition to reading the The Dhammapada, one recommended book is Early Buddhist Discourses (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006; John J. Holder, ed. & tr.]. The best introduction to the Buddha's ideas is to read what he said about them.

One introduction to Zen Buddhism is Philip Kapleau's The Three Pillars of Zen (N.Y.: Doubleday, 1989; 25th anniversary edition).

To learn more about zazen (meditation) and how to begin, see the live page link listed in the Sources and Related Links section.

Answer 2

some basic beliefs of zen buddism are that you should always stay calm