Discover the expansion of Zen and its spiritual traditions in countries such as India, China, Japan and finally its arrival in the West.
It all started when Buddha gave Mahakashyapan a lotus flower quietly
Buddha was surrounded by many of his disciples unlike other times, Buddha remained silent
Tradition says that seeing Buddha in silence for so long, just gazing at his white flower, made almost all of his disciples and followers shake restlessly
Only Mahakashyapa understood the message and laughed
Buddha then gave him the white flower and transmitted his Dharma to him
I have given you everything that can be given with words, but with this flower I give Mahakashyapa the key of all teachings
All that can be said I have already said to you and what cannot be said with words, I have given it to Mahakashyapa
This was what the Zen masters called, and still do, "key transfer without deed"
When Buddha observes something, the quality of his consciousness is transmitted and a flower becomes one of the most receptive things on earth
Only one flower carried the Buddha status and it was filled with the only spiritual tradition: laughter
Because in Zen monasteries they have always been laughing
Although there are few other references to Mahakashyapa, other disciples were much better known and they are present in the scriptures, Mahakashyapa is one of the most revered, as he was the first to receive the Dharma from Gautama Buddha
Zen is born from Hindu consciousness, from Gautama Buddha´s thought
India has a very introverted conscience, hence is the cradle of many spiritual traditions
This tradition has been leading energy inward and deepening being for centuries
This movement is born with Buddha, but it responds to a long current that has grown
Buddha remembers that there were 24 Buddhas who flourished before him
After the birth in India, the tradition grew up for more than 1000 years until Bodhidharma traveled to China in the 5th century
Before the arrival of Bodhidharma, Buddhism in China had been an exercise of an intellectual nature, but he changed everything and people stopped talking about Zen as if it were a philosophy
Bodhidharma was the son of a king of South India, of a great empire
He said to his father: "If you cannot save me from death, then let me find something that is beyond death" ande gave up the kingdom
Bodhidharma was started by an enlightened woman Pragyatara
she told him to go to China and that's why he left India, he became then the first enlightened Buddhism master known in China
This trip took him 3 years
The seed of India grew in China And it took on extraordinary proportions, China is a balanced place to grow
Legend says that bodhidharma was the one who created tea to meditate, which is expressed through this nice story
I want to tell you the legend of Bodhidharma's eyelids and the origins of tea
There is a nice story that says that Bodhidharma, Zen founder was the one who discoverer tea, he had been meditating, facing the wall, on a mountain called Tak for 9 years and fighting every day against sleep, his eyes fell
Remember the dream symbolizes unconsciousness, he wanted to remain conscious night and day, until one night he realized that it was impossible to stay awake Then he cut his eyelids and put them on the ground, so there will be no way to close them
History says that a little bud was born from those eyelids and a plant was born from that little bud
It was tea
Zen goes beyond Buddha and Lao Tzu, It is a beautiful flower that is born from the fusion of both
Japan is a very outgoing territory, it is the ideal place so that the seed that was born in India and grew up in china flourish by opening up to the world and releasing its fragrance
Let's take a look at the Japanese outer consciousness is very significant for them, their clothes, their houses, their food
everything is extraordinarily rich
Japan celebrates the simplest things, like having tea
Rinzai carried Zen from China to Japan but he had lived with Chinese teachers and shared some of the greatness and beauty of the absurd approach to awakening
This philosophy was welcomed by Japan, around 1200 and cultivated under the name of Zen
Rinzai became famous as the master of screams
He used the screams to bring silence to the people
From there it was strongly shared around the world reaching our western thought
In the 13th century the Japanese monk Dôgen, after a stay in China, implanted Zen Sôtô in Japan
Master Dôgen is the founder of our school
He is also considered one of the greatest philosophers of Buddhism
Zen profoundly influences all Japanese culture, in that country more than 20,000 temples bear witness to its remarkable diffusion
Zen Buddhism was discovered in the West in the early 20th century through martial arts such as aikido, tea ceremony, flower arrangement or Japanese gardens
Suzuki played an important role in the knowledge of Zen in the West, since his work connected many intellectuals who showed interest and wrote about it
The depth of his philosophy and the purity of his aesthetics provoked a remarkable enthusiasm in artistic and intellectual circles then, all this ended up leading to a direct practice of which zazen (Zen meditation), is the source
But the mere idea of studying it is contrary to Zen, you can have it or not, it is just a matter of forgetting
There are many people in the west who are looking for something fresh and new
Zen brings a new vision but most of the practitioners continue with that intellectual approach, typical of the West
Audio:
Subtitles:
Zen anecdotes
The Haiku
Zen and its influence on the art of Japan
Art and Zen - Sumi E -
The Zen aesthetic - Wabi Sabi -
How to practice Zen
The Tea ceremony - Chado -
Calligraphy - Shodo -