What is Zen? (the simple question)
Zen is short for Zen Buddhism. It is sometimes called a religion
and sometimes called a philosophy. Choose whichever term you prefer;
it simply doesn't matter.
Historically, Zen Buddhism originates in the teachings
of Siddhartha Gautama. Around 500 B.C. he was
a prince in what is now India. At the age of 29, deeply
troubled by the suffering he saw around him, he renounced his
privileged life to seek understanding. After 6 years of struggling
as an ascetic he finally achieved Enlightenment at age 35. After
this he was known as the Buddha (meaning roughly "one who is awake").
In a nutshell, he realized that everything is subject to change
and that suffering and discontentment are the result of attachment
to circumstances and things which, by their nature, are impermanent.
By ridding oneself of these attachments, including attachment to
the false notion of self or "I", one can be free of suffering.
The teachings of the Buddha have, to this day, been passed down
from teacher to student. Around 475 A.D. one of these teachers,
Bodhidharma, traveled from India to China and introduced the
teachings of the Buddha there. In China Buddhism mingled with
Taoism. The result of this mingling was the Ch'an School of
Buddhism. Around 1200 A.D. Ch'an Buddhism spread from China to
Japan where it is known as Zen Buddhism. Today Zen has spread
around the world.
What is Zen? (the real question)
This question basically asks "What is the essence of Zen?".
It appears in various guises throughout Zen literature, from
"What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?"
to "Have you eaten yet?". The question cuts right to the
heart of the matter and can only be answered by you. Perhaps
the best answer is "practice".
Why does Zen sometimes seem like nonsense?
One of the central points of Zen is intuitive
understanding.
As a result, words and sentences have no fixed meaning, and logic
is often irrelevant. Words have meaning only in relation to
who is using them, who they are talking to, and what situation
they are used in.
Zen and poetry have gone hand in hand for centuries.