The Origins of Wisdom:
Zen Buddhism

• Zen Buddhism can not be thought of as a religion, because they do not confirm or deny the existence of God. It should be thought of as more of a movement. It is more of a concept of “non-thinking”. The ultimate goal of the Zen Buddhist is to achieve: “absolute nothingness” or “emptiness”. The end result of their efforts: “non-existence”; “inner peace”.
   
• Buddhism first entered China in the first Century AD, founded by Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth patriarch of Buddhism in 520 AD. His direct predecessor was Hui’ko, the second patriarch of Zen. Hui’ko was Bodhidharma’s disciple.
   
• The Buddhist’s ultimate experience is the achievement of Nirvana (Nibbana), the achievement of release from the addiction to dukkha (suffering). This means that the person no longer clings to the illusions of life. It is a release of desires and fears to experience the feelings of inner tranquility and joy.

• To consider yourself permanent would put a halt to the constantly changing self which would cause suffering. So, permanency is suffering.
   
• To be devoid of permanence is called an-atta. The world does not exist as a permanent state, so the person can not be permanent either.
   
• The origin of suffering is called Tanha, so the intellectual search for fulfillment in the here and now is Tanha, which is hollow and unsatisfactory (dukkha).
   
• Buddha identified these sufferings in the Four Noble Truths:
  • The first noble truth is our basic dissatisfaction (loneliness and alienation).
  • The second noble truth is our ignorance to our “Buddha-nature”.
  • The third noble truth is that if we release all temptation for fulfillment in the here-and-now, we will achieve Nibbana.
  • The fourth noble truth is the eight-fold path.
     
• The Eightfold Path is the way to release all worldly influences and follow the path to Buddha. The eightfold path is made up of eight types of corrections:

  • Correct views

  • Correct thought

  • Correct speech

  • Correct action

  • Correct livelihood

  • Correct effort

  • Correct mindfulness

  • Correct Samadhi. (Non dualistic state of awareness).

• Buddhists believe that we do not die; our souls will regenerate until they achieve nirvana. One does not die; the person becomes part of the elements until rebirth and then continues on the path until enlightenment.
• One must be aware of karma, the law of action/reaction. This law can be described as: “What goes around comes around”. This cycle must be broken and emit no bad karma or the circle of life/death will continue for ever.

Only the purging of hatred, desire, greed, delusion and temptation, will lead the person to achieve Nirvana.

• The Zen Buddhists outline levels of enlightenment so the person can learn by doing. You start small with the Sila, or morality phase, which requires five precepts to be observed which make up the moral code of Zen.
   
• The five things prohibited are: murder, theft, perjury, sexually aggressive acts and intoxication. These are not rules but more “mystical experiences” that build the foundation for the road to enlightenment.
   
• The next level is: Samdhi, or the power of mental concentration. This phase trains the mind in proper meditation and the ability to narrow ones thoughts to the experience at hand.
   
• The next level is Panna, insight and wisdom. This is described as the “Crown” of the enlightened life.
  Buddha (Prince Siddhartha) tried to reflect the ways of non-existence to achieve nirvana. This concept is commonly perceived to mean that nothing exists. This is not the intention of Buddhists. Nirvana is the “real permanent”, to think that reality is permanent is to negate the change of the world and the existence of humanity.
   
• Buddha also stated that the road to Nirvana is impersonal but the path is very personal. It sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. The world is impersonal, it will exist whether mankind does or not. The inner light or the path to Nirvana is personal to the individual.
   

This “movement” is the most peaceful and moralistic teaching or example that is left to our society. I do not see Zen Buddhists attacking or persecuting any other religion. Their values are not materialistic, so they do not have a need to acquire anything, especially if it belongs to someone else. The friction of desire of other community’s property seems to be the prelude to violence. The other main religions could take the example of this movement and stop the interference of others beliefs to relieve the world of many instances of reckless violence and destruction.

Most of the wars that have occurred on this planet were directly related to religious beliefs. Many religions use “The Word of God” to commit atrocities that are immoral and in direct conflict with the word of God. Actually the Buddhists are more in line with the word of God than the other world religions that it was derived from. Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not covet, Thou shall not commit adultery…etc., these issues are not performed by the Buddhist sect, but the Christians, Muslims and Jews have been repeating these sins from the beginning of recorded time. These three religions are engrossed in the outward appearance of their religion: They kill, buy, or preach their way to heaven (salvation). The Buddhists do not; however, they take responsibility for their actions and require inner peace for happiness, not the destruction of others.