On the use and misuse of the word "Zen"

[Ell]

i didn't understand Zen even when i was studying it. (though i really like Alan Watts)

i always though it meant that to really do Zen you had to be sure and not do it.

hmm, one-hand clap, indeed...

-ellie

ps.
where is Kate when ya need her?

[Sarah]

Without them, there may well be no Zen in America. 

found again, doing some old post reading...
Well,
I can tell you that our lineage (meaning the one practiced by my spouse and I) was brought to America by a British native coming from Japan. Who was trained, and fully certified, by some of the most honored teacher's in Japan at the time.
She, as far as I know, was asked to by Her Teacher, to bring our tradition to America. Whether or not Her Teacher's asking her depended on the existence of beatniks, I do not know. I somehow doubt it. It is a tradition to bring the Dharma to new countries.

Whether Buddhism would have existed or not in America without the Beats existence in a way, is sort of a mute point really, as the Beats did exist, and we have no way of knowing how things would have turned out had things been different.
One thing's for sure though...
Buddhism was brought from India to China without thier influence, and from China to Japan later on. (this is how things went in our tradition). The idea that in a country that ports freedom of religion, that Zen Buddhism would never have come here, especially in this modern age of mass communication, I find unlikely.
But that's just my thoughts.

-Sara

[aisha]

i don't think zen really means much at all.. its more like 'umm' or 'oh' its just something you put through your conversation/life to bring attention to whats actually going on, any attempt at definition is just people who are trying to use it for other purposes, usually to be cool or to become zen masters, i prefer just to grab a nose.. but gotta be kinda polite or they start saying ur crossing personal boundaries blah blah
zen people go everywhere, and they especially like people acting cool, on a certain wave length of cool, a particular cool area in the mind 

[PanoramaIsland]

I'm aware that the Beats had some interest in Buddhism, but I was always under the impression that Zen was "brought to America" - or rather, brought to the attention of people other than Asian-Americans - by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, who capitalized on the interest of the Beats and art folks at the time to create a real non-Asian-American Zen movement in San Francisco. This eventually led to the formation of the San Francisco Zen Center, where Suzuki Roshi is still revered as a great teacher. Now, there's Tassajara up in the mountains, Green Gulch Farm across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, and Berkeley Zen Center, as well as other non-affiliated Zen temples and centers sprinkled around the country (mostly, but not all, on the coasts). Of course, many Buddhist movements of very different stripes have since made their way over to America, especially during the hippie era. The Soto Zen folks have always struck me as the most sincere, though.
Post Merge: February 24, 2010, 01:08:39 AM
It seems Wikipedia has a timeline of Zen in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Zen_Buddhism_in_the_United_States
I was aware of the earlier arrival of D.T. Suzuki, but it looks like I underestimated him somewhat, and I had forgotten about Soyen Shaku and several others. Oh well. I guess my history's a bit shaky.

[aisha]

zen beginner's mind 1:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KXFTWBAC

'resume boundless original mind'

[Virginia87106]

I have a "zen" watch.  It is a beautiful silver face with a jeweled band, and it does not work.  It is always in the moment.
I wonder if this is the correct use of the word?