SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

4.Zen and Oriental CultureZen originated in the forests of India. Meditation in thecool refreshing forests was, to the Indians, an easy andpleasant way to attain to an understanding of truth. As wehave already stated, Indian culture was primarily philosophicaland religious. It can be seen from the Prakrit original ofthe Japanese term Zen, jhna (C. chÕan, Skt. dhyna), ÒquietmeditationÓ or Òmeditative practice,Ó that there is a strongintellectual and philosophical coloring in Zen. This meditationformed the basis for all religious practice from whichBuddhist thought developed. Accordingly, Indian Buddhismis very rich in its philosophical content. Meditation quiets thewaves (distractions) of the heart-mind and enables us to seeclearly the real form of all things. This serene reflectionmeditation is also termed shikan in Japanese, literally, Òtostop and see.Ó ÒStopÓ refers to the cessation of all afflictionsand distractions and therefore refers to Zen meditation in anarrow sense, while ÒseeÓ means the ability to grasp the realnature of all things in their correct form and corresponds towisdom in a narrow sense. Shikan in its widest sense means35