What is the difference between Zen and Buddhism???
I believe this is confusing for most folks, so I will attempt to provide some simple examples. I hope I write this out fairly well, but I will also discuss via videos,,, so, it's all good,,,
Let's start by looking at Meditation. From my perspective, Meditation was a technique/activity used to address two main things, Enlightenment/ knowledge, and to try and find an answer to Why is life so difficult with suffering. During this process, many other benefits were discovered, such as Health benefits and more.
Ok, so basically, the Zen world developed out of following the Knowledge portion, and the Buddhism world developed from the " Why do bad things happen" question. This lead to two entirely different approaches and practices. In the end,, they are one in the same,,, but that takes a lot of deep practice to see this.
The world of Zen is comprised mainly of meditation,,,,lots and lots of meditation. While Buddhism has less meditation and is filled with rules or suggestions that address morality, good or bad behavior and all the things you would find in any other religion.
So, if you want to just do meditation, then other one is fine,,,but if you do not wish for folks to tell you how you should live,, then Zen is the better one for you. There are many groups in the Western world that are so called Zen groups,,, but they also apply a lot of Buddh-ism of rules, and attitudes of certain things,,, and sadly, they become very political, and "politically correct". In my opinion,,, neither should EVER be affiliated with meditation or Buddhisim,,, or trying to follow the path of the teachings of the Buddha, Muhammid, Jesus, or many other Masters.
Therefore, I simply provide a direct and simple approach of teaching meditation and spiritual teachings. Should you wish to have someone tell you what to do or how you should live your life, then my courses may not be a good fit for you.
I hope this is a simple and easy to understand example of the difference between Zen and Buddhism. Please forgive me if it is not. You are welcome to continue reading more below, or just listen to my videos. In the end, the only thing that is important to me is that there can be a huge difference, and I wish to make sure folks have an idea of the difference when they see it.
For a more in depth explanation,,,,, I believe that one must look at the original Buddha, his goals, what he accomplished, etc to understand what he taught. This is great material for a longer conversation during our group discussions. For now, the short version is that when he reached Enlightenment and Awakening, he was able to awaken from the somber in this matrix and see the entirety of his life cycles. When this happened, he was able to then understand the reasons why "man" kind suffered and was able to offer remedies and a path to help others move beyond this to achieve happiness and happiness in their present moment of here and now.
Ok,, so, I hope I explain this part well enough,,, ( I realize it will require more discussion,,, ) Buddha was able to find his answers by tapping into the Zen of things,,,,,,, and once he achieved his accomplishment,,, his advice and teachings of how to follow that path via through the Zen, led to Zen practice,,,,,, and when he spoke of reasons of suffering and how to alleviate that,, this led to the ISIM's or the religious portion, which led to another look by man into morality, our actions, a prescribed code of behavior, etc. in modern times,, no different than any other religion in it's intent or pursuit to live a better/ easier and more peaceful life.
Interestingly,, in large part, the Zen path leads more toward setting aside the "I" or self identity portion while the Isim portion assists the development of how the individual self believes or feels they must develop and grow towards some end of what they may define as "good" and happiness,, as we all try to navigate this difficult physical matrix. Now behind the scenes if you will,,,, this is what the beginner practitioner will see mainly because that is what it's mind is accustomed to in all parts of the world. However, a seasoned Buddhist monk or nun will understand that there are three parts to Buddha, and or, the path to Enlightenment. Those parts are first, Awakening ( which I will explain via discussions ), 2nd is working on the concept of Happiness, and then finally, is Peace. So, both paths of Buddhism, and or, Zen are ultimately one in the same,,, just hard to see that.
So, the question is, what is that we can do to achieve (or better said, realize,,,, ) our own Happiness while we try to create Peace in the world on our path to Awakening.
The Zen world is a lonely place of sorts with very few people practicing with you. There is no talk really of Buddhism and no prescribed "rules" one must live by,,, only certain activates that a temple may implore for a student to learn. The Zen world is a very difficult path of pain for sure for the brave as it involves hundreds and hundreds of hours of sitting and staring deeply into your self.
Meanwhile, you can find a ton of folks to practice with in the Buddhism world, especially in today's time. This is due to many reasons. Some, in my opinion, is because the Western mind is " trained" to follow a set of rules of conduct if you will because of all the Isim's already abundant. It is in comparison to Zen a very easy path of pleasure as their process to look at the self is a much more gentle approach with far less sitting, depending on the individual's persistence.
Both paths can ultimately lead to an Awakening, and in the end, you can choose however you wish to proceed with one or the other or combine the two,,, your choice.
