Spiritual Traditions

Zen Buddhism

http://www.spiritwalk.org/zen.htm

History

Quotations

Literature

Key Concepts

Glossary

Bibliography

References, Notations & Credits

Links

Historical Perspective

The origins of Zen are hard to sort out. Enlightenment, the goal of Zen, is said to have been first attained by Gautama Siddhartha, or Buddha, in Nepal in 500 B.C. Buddha means "enlightened one."  Zen itself is traced to a sermon given by Buddha. In his sermon, he said nothing; he just sat silently holding a lotus flower. One of his disciples is said to have understood his message and spread the Zen message of mental discipline as a way to see reality.

 

Zen as it is today emerged in China in A.D. 520 by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who went there to teach his traditions of deep meditation. He fashioned Ch'an Buddhism, which became Zen Buddhism in Japan. In America, Zen gained popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s, particularly from presentations by Japanese Zen leader D.T. Suzuki.  Spiritual Westerners and Beat movement members like Alan Watts and Allen Ginsberg further popularized Zen during the 1960s and '70s. Interest waned in the 1980s, but participation has peaked again in recent years.

 

Quotations

Essential Literature

Key Concepts

Glossary

Bibliography

Daisetz T. Suzuki,  Introduction to Zen Buddhism

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Alan Watts, The Way of Zen

Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation  

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step  

Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love  

Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace

Sylvia Boorstein, Don't Just Do Something, Sit There: A Mindfulness Retreat

Sylvia Boorstein, It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness

Sylvia Boorstein, That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist

David Brazier, Feeling Buddha

David Brazier, Zen Therapy

Roshi Philip Kapleau, The Three Pillars of Zen

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Thomas Merton, Zen and the Birds of Appetite

Jean Smith, Breath Sweeps Mind:   A First Guide to Meditation Practice

Source References, Notations & Credits

Links

Spiritwalk's Buddhism Page

 

Spiritwalk's Alan Watts Page

 

Spiritwalk's Thich Nhat Hanh Page

 

Spiritwalk's Buddhist Links

 

Zen WebRing  http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=zenweb&list

 

Sunsite/zen    http://sunsite.unc.edu/zen/

 

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review  http://www.tricycle.com/  

 

Zen Web of Original Mind  www.alpine.net/ ~chylin/zenweb/zen.html

 

The Alan Watts Electronic University   http://www.alanwatts.com 

 

The Highway 50 Zen Stop  www.oocities.org/ SoHo/Coffeehouse/7947/

 

The San Francisco Zen Center   http://www.sfzc.com/index.html

 

Zen Center, Los Angeles  http://www.zencenter.org/

 

Zen Mountain Monastery  http://www.zen-mtn.org/   

 

Zen Mountain Center  http://www.zmc.org/   

 

Chapel Hill Zen Center  http://www.intrex.net/chzg/default.htm 

 

Dharma Rain Zen Center (Portland, OR)                                        http://www.teleport.com/~ryanjb/STILLPOINT/SP.shtml 

 

What Is Zen http://www.cwi.nl/~gruau/en/what.html   

 

American Zen Buddhist http://home.pacbell.net/wgraetz/buddha.htm   

 

Zenspace (Links)  http://www.well.com/user/btanaka/zen/zen.html

 

DharmaNet (Links) http://www.dharmanet.org/ 

 

Zen @ MetaLab (Links)  http://metalab.unc.edu/zen/   

 

Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library    http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Buddhism.html

 

The Electronic Bodhidharma:  International Research Institute for Zen

    http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/irizhtml/irizhome.htm 

 

Zen Buddhist Texts Web Page   http://www.io.com/~snewton/zen/index.html

 

Daily Zen   http://www.dailyzen.com/  

 

Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness  http://www.qi-journal.com/ 

 

 

[Return to Spiritwalk Traditions, Teachers,  Information Source]

Home  Contents  QuickLinks  Newsletter  Library  Archive  Bookstore  E-mail    Mailing List

 

© Spiritwalk

Spiritwalk Traditions: Zen Buddhism  http://www.spiritwalk.org/zen.htm