SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

The Origin and Development of Zen 23Popular Zen may be considered an amateurish kind of Zenpracticed by people who accept Buddhism and, despising theafflictions of this world, try to realize the joy of liberation. Sincethese people aim at escaping from the world of illusion to findhappiness, they have not progressed beyond the stage of thejudgmental or discriminatory mind. Accordingly, it is difficultfor them to enjoy truly peaceful serene reflection meditation,which is found when one goes beyond the opposites.Hinayna Zen is the meditation practiced by people whohave arrived at the stage of selflessness, transcending all tracesof judgmental or discriminatory thinking. However, althoughits followers have subjectively realized the non-existence of thesoul in man, they have not yet come to understand that mattertoo is devoid of a permanent, fixed, unchanging existence.Therefore we may consider this kind of meditation one-sided.Hinayna Zen utilizes very complex categories. It has enrichedlater generations by its concept of meditation.Mahyna Zen is that form of meditation which hasachieved an understanding of the Truth arising from the denialof both a permanent unchanging self or soul in man and the permanencyof things. This idea, k‰ in Japanese (Skt. ±‰nyat),denies the validity of all concepts which hold that things have afixed existence. Through k‰ we can see the real nature of things.The Scriptures of Mahyna are nothing but an attempt toreveal the contents of the BuddhaÕs Great Experience through