Member of the Ten Directions Zen Community     Kwan Um School of Zen

Then what is Zen Buddhism?

Zen never talks about absolutes, or the opposites world. It doesn’t try to explain emptiness, truth, or complete world. The practice of Zen never explains anything. Zen simply points directly at our mind, our true self, so that we can directly attain enlightenment and help all beings. So there is no emphasis on language or learning in Zen - there is simply the practice of meditation....

All Zen teaching simply points to your mind, just this moment. What are you doing now? Zen teaching always returns us to what we can call “moment world.” This moment is very important. In one moment, there is everything. In moment, there is infinite time and infinite space. [Hits the table loudly with his stick.] In moment there is the true way, and truth, and correct life. [Hits the table loudly.] In moment! In this one moment, there is everything [hits], and in this moment there is nothing [hits again]. So if you attain moment, you directly attain everything. That is Zen Buddhism. There is no mind [hits], no Buddha [hits], no God [hits], nothing! But there is mind [hits], is Buddha [hits], is God [hits], is everything! Experiencing this is Zen Buddhism.

Zen Master Seung Sahn
The Compass of Zen

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the
world. If you speak or act with a harmful thought, trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the
world. If you speak or act with a harmonious thought, happiness will follow you as your own shadow, never leaving you.

-Dhammapada

An ancient master said, "The mountains, the rivers, the whole earth, the entire array of phenomena are all oneself." If you can absorb the essence of this message, there are no activities outside of meditation: you dress in meditation and eat in meditation; you walk, stand, sit, and lie down in
meditation; you perceive and cognize in meditation; you experience joy, anger, sadness, and happiness in meditation.

- Muso (1275-1351)

More About Zen and Zen Practice:

View the Ten Directions introductory booklet.

For the teaching archives of our Zen masters, see the website for the Kwan Um School of Zen.