Weekend Stories
I enjoy going exploring on weekends (mostly). Here is a collection of stories and photos I gather along the way. All posts are CC BY-NC-SA licensed unless otherwise stated. Feel free to share, remix, and adapt the content as long as you give appropriate credit and distribute your contributions under the same license.
diary · tags · RSS · Mastodon · flickr · simple view · grid view · page 7/48
Bendōwa: The heart of Dōgen’s Zen
Bendōwa (談道和), often translated as ‘Negotiating the Way’ or ‘On the Endeavor of the Way’, is one of Dōgen Zenji’s earliest and most foundational works. Written shortly after his return from China in 1231, it serves both as a manifesto for his understanding of Zen practice and as a defense of zazen (seated meditation) as the central expression of Buddhist realization. Through a series of short essays and question-and-answer exchanges, Dōgen outlines key themes that will underpin his later teachings, such as practice-enlightenment, the universality of Buddha-nature, and the immediacy of awakening.
Dōgen Zenji and his significance for Zen Buddhism
Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253) stands as one of the most profound and transformative figures in Japanese Buddhism. At a time when Buddhism in Japan had become heavily ritualized and often entangled with political power, Dōgen sought to return to the pure, experiential heart of the Buddhist path. Dissatisfied with the formalism he found within the established sects, he traveled to China in search of authentic teaching, eventually receiving Dharma transmission from the esteemed Chán master Rujing. Upon his return, Dōgen established a new foundation for Zen practice in Japan, centered around ‘just sitting’ (shikantaza) and the inseparability of practice and realization. The significance of Dōgen’s life and teachings for Zen Buddhism cannot be overstated. He introduced a deeply philosophical and existential dimension to Zen, exploring the nature of time, being, and the immediacy of awakening with unmatched subtlety. Through his writings, especially the Shōbōgenzō, Dōgen articulated a vision of Buddhism that emphasizes direct experience, rigorous practice, and the realization that the path and the goal are one and the same. His influence not only shaped the Sōtō Zen tradition but continues to inspire contemporary Buddhist thought and practice worldwide.
Time and timelessness in Zen
Time, for most of us, is something linear. It ticks forward in steady increments, separating past, present, and future. We plan, remember, and worry according to this unfolding sequence. But Zen offers a radically different view. Rather than seeing time as something external that we move through, Zen invites us to experience time as something that arises with our very being. Time is not ‘out there’ — it is ‘this’, here and now. In this post, we explore how Zen, particularly through the teachings of Eihei Dōgen and the practice of zazen, reconfigures our understanding of time. We’ll look at the distinction between conventional clock-time and the timeless immediacy of the present, the meaning of Dōgen’s concept of uji (‘being-time’), and the implications of Zen’s temporal view for practice and life.
The student-teacher relationship in Zen
The relationship between student and teacher in Zen Buddhism is not merely instructional; it is transformative. Unlike conventional forms of religious education or academic mentorship, the Zen student-teacher bond centers on the direct transmission of insight, often beyond words or formal doctrine. The teacher does not function as a distant authority imparting knowledge, but as a mirror, guide, and provocation. Their role is to accompany the student to the edge of self, to challenge pretense, and to foster awakening through encounter. This unique relationship forms the backbone of Zen training and is enshrined in the tradition’s ideal of ‘mind-to-mind transmission’ (Japanese: ishin denshin, Chinese: yixin chuanxin 意心传心), believed to trace back to the Buddha’s silent transmission to Mahākāśyapa. From this mythic origin onward, Zen has emphasized that true understanding is not found in scripture alone, but in the shared silence, tension, and realization between teacher and student.
The role of kōans in Zen
Kōan practice is one of the most distinctive features of Zen Buddhism, particularly within the Rinzai tradition. Often misunderstood or romanticized as mysterious riddles or paradoxes, kōans are in fact a rigorous and deeply structured form of meditative inquiry. Their purpose is not to test logic, nor to offer cryptic knowledge, but to catalyze a break from conceptual thinking and provoke a direct encounter with reality. In this sense, they are not puzzles to be solved but catalysts for awakening.
Zen: Presence as practice
Zen does not begin with doctrines, rituals, or lofty goals. It begins right here, in this breath, this step, this cup of tea. At the heart of Zen is an unwavering emphasis on the now — the direct, unmediated encounter with life as it unfolds. It is not about preparing for a better future, accumulating merit, or escaping the world. It is about fully inhabiting this moment, because this moment is all there is. This teaching, while seemingly simple, carries profound implications. It is not a call to hedonism or passivity, but to wakefulness — to see clearly, feel deeply, and act precisely. Zen says: do not postpone your life. Enlightenment is not a distant peak to be reached someday; it is the immediacy of being present, without grasping, without fleeing.
Kenshō and Satori: Awakening in Zen
In Zen Buddhism, the terms kenshō (Japanese: 見性, ‘seeing one’s nature’) and satori (悟り, ‘understanding’ or ‘awakening’) are central concepts that describe the experience of sudden insight into the true nature of reality. Unlike the gradual, step-by-step cultivation of wisdom often emphasized in other Buddhist traditions, Zen speaks of a direct, immediate realization that cuts through conceptual thinking and reveals things as they truly are. In this post, we explore what kenshō and satori mean in the Zen context, how they are understood and approached, and how they relate to other core teachings such as tathatā (suchness), śūnyatā (emptiness), and dependent origination. We will also examine misunderstandings around these terms, their role in the Zen path, and how awakening is both a beginning and a continuation of practice.
The central element of Zen: Zazen
Zazen, literally ‘seated meditation’, is not merely one technique among others in Zen; it is the very heart of its path. More than a means to an end, it embodies the entirety of the Zen approach: direct, immediate, and grounded in the here and now. Zen does not prioritize reading scriptures, performing rituals, or climbing hierarchical stages of attainment. Instead, it points us to reality as it is, and asks us to sit down and meet it. Why sitting? Because zazen strips away distractions. In stillness and silence, the usual dramas of goal-setting, striving, and self-definition begin to fall away. We return to the body, the breath, the ground beneath us. In this simplicity, we come face to face with suchness (tathatā), the unfiltered presence of things, free from projection and resistance. Zazen is not about producing insight; it is insight embodied. Not about chasing enlightenment, but realizing it was never absent. Thus, sitting becomes the most radical act: to do nothing, to go nowhere, to be fully present. And in this presence, Zen teaches, everything is revealed.
Suchness as reality: Zen, tathatā, and the interplay of emptiness
In the Mahāyāna and Zen traditions of Buddhism, the term tathatā (Sanskrit; zhēnrú 真如 in Chinese; shinnyo 真如 in Japanese) stands for one of the most pivotal yet elusive ideas: suchness, or the reality of things just as they are. As explored in our earlier post on Tathatā: Buddhism’s view on reality as it is, this concept captures the direct, unfiltered encounter with phenomena — prior to conceptualization, judgment, or dualistic thinking. It names not a transcendent essence but the experiential texture of reality when seen without clinging, projection, or resistance. In Zen, this notion finds radical expression through non-dual immediacy, poetic evocation, and embodied practice. But suchness is never isolated. Within Buddhist thought, it arises through a web of interrelated concepts: śūnyatā (emptiness), pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), the two truths, and in the East Asian context, interpenetration. This post builds on our earlier reflections and extends them into a broader network of insight. We explore how suchness can be understood as the experiential side of emptiness, the realized face of dependent origination, and the dynamic field in which all things reflect and contain each other. Zen, in this view, becomes not a mystical path but a direct, intimate embrace of the real — not as an idea, but as encounter.
Zen’s way of knowing: From conceptual thought to direct realization
Zen (Chán) Buddhism places a radical emphasis on direct, non-conceptual realization of reality. Unlike the analytic, scholastic traditions found in some schools of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, Zen centers on awakening that occurs beyond words and letters (教外别传, jiàowài biéchuán), through intuitive insight into one’s true nature. This epistemological orientation links Zen to Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka philosophy and its deconstructive critique of conceptual elaboration (prapañca). But Zen moves beyond critique into praxis: it seeks not to defeat concepts for their own sake, but to open the practitioner to a different kind of knowing altogether. In this post, we explore the epistemology of Zen as a unique mode of Buddhist insight. It traces the shift from conceptual cognition (vijñāna) to direct knowing (prajñā), highlights key contrasts with discursive methods, and considers how Zen’s ‘non-knowing’ (不知, bù zhī) functions not as ignorance but as awakened awareness.