What is Zen Buddhism: definition, basic ideas, essence, rules, principles, philosophy, meditation, features. Zen: what religion does it belong to? What does it mean to know Zen, the state of Zen, inner Zen? What is the difference between Zen Buddhism and Buddhism: the difference, from

Etymology

Of all the names of this branch of Buddhism, its Japanese name (actually "Zen") has received the widest popularity in the West. The etymology of this word has its roots in the Sanskrit-Pali term "dhyana/jhana" (Skt. ध्यान, dhyāna, from ध्या, dhyā, "concentration, reflection"), meaning "(mental) concentration".

The pronunciation of this word has undergone a transformation in Chinese into "chan" (cf. Vietnam. thien; box sleep or sen), then, spreading in Japan - in "Zen".

At present, the word zen stand for (1) the actual teaching and practice of Zen; (2) the tradition in which these teachings and practices are transmitted - zen buddhism, zen school. Another (official) name for the Zen tradition is Buddha's Heart (Chinese Fo Xin); can also be translated as Mind of the Buddha.

History

It is generally accepted that Zen spread in China in the 5th century AD. e. The Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (in the Chinese tradition - Putidamo or simply Damo, in the Japanese - Daruma), often called the successor of 27 Indian Patriarchs of Buddhism, who later became the first Patriarch of Zen (Chan), is considered to have brought this teaching of the Buddha to China. Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Monastery, considered today the cradle of Chinese Chan Buddhism. During the 6th-8th centuries, Zen spread to the territory of Korea, and then to Japan. Subsequently, over the centuries, the teaching was passed from patriarch to patriarch, gaining more and more adherents. Currently, it has become widespread in the West (Western Europe, North America).

Brief essence of the doctrine

It is believed that Zen cannot be taught. One can only suggest the way to achieve personal enlightenment.

(More precisely, there is no such thing as enlightenment to be possessed. Therefore, Zen masters ("masters") are more likely to say not "attain enlightenment" but "see one's own nature." (Enlightenment is not a state. It is a way of seeing .))

Besides, way to a vision of one's own nature - for each his own, since each is in his own conditions, with his own baggage of experience and ideas. That's why they say that in Zen no definite path, there is no one specific input. These words should also help the practitioner don't change your awareness the mechanical execution of some practice or idea.

It is believed that the Zen teacher must see his own nature, because then he can correctly see the state of the "student" and give him the appropriate instructions or push for him. At different stages of practice, the “student” may be given different, “opposite” advice, for example:

• “meditate to quiet the mind; try harder";
• “don’t try to achieve enlightenment, but just let go of everything that happens”…

According to general Buddhist ideas, there are three root poisons from which all suffering and delusion arise:

1. ignorance of one's nature (cloudiness of the mind, dullness, confusion, anxiety),
2. disgust (to "unpleasant", the idea of ​​​​something as an independent "evil", generally hard views),
3. attachment (to the pleasant - unquenchable thirst, clinging) ...

Therefore, awakening is promoted by: (1) calming the mind, (2) liberation from hard views, and (3) from attachments.

The two main types of regular Zen practice are sitting meditation and simple physical labor. They are aimed at calming and unifying the mind. When the self-churning ceases, "the haze settles", ignorance and restlessness decrease. A clearer mind can more easily see its nature.

At a certain stage, when the practitioner has calmed the mind, a good mentor - seeing the "obstacle" in the practitioner's mind, such as hard views or attachment - can help to get rid of it. (Thus, the path of the Zen practitioner is both the opening of "one's" wisdom and not the closing off of "their" wisdom. Rather, it is the removal of the false barrier between "my" wisdom and the "alien".)

Many Zen masters claim that the practice may be "gradual" or "sudden", but the awakening itself is always sudden - or rather, not gradual. It is simply discarding the superfluous and seeing what is. Since this is just a discard, it cannot be said that it somehow achieved. Or that there are "disciples" and "mentors" in it. Teachers can transfer Dharma teachings- that is, the ideas and methods of Zen. Dharma Mind, that is, the essence of enlightenment, is already present. She doesn't need any achievements.

So, the practice and teaching of Zen is aimed at: (1) calming the mind, (2) liberation from rigid views, (3) letting go of attachments. This facilitates the vision of one's own nature, which itself is beyond all practice and all paths.

In general, the same is true for the rest of the Buddhist traditions; this school - Zen - aims at maximum simplicity and flexibility of methods and concepts.)

Zen Buddhism denies the superiority of the intellect over pure experience, considering the latter together with intuition as faithful helpers.

The main principles of Buddhism on which Zen is based:

The main difference between Zen and other branches of Buddhism

In Zen, the main attention on the path to achieving satori is paid not only (and not so much) to the Holy Scriptures and sutras, but to direct comprehension of reality based on intuitive insight into one's own nature.

According to Zen, anyone can achieve satori.

The four key differences of Zen are:

1. Special teaching without sacred texts.
2. Lack of unconditional authority of words and written signs.
3. Transmission through direct reference to reality - in a special way from heart to heart.
4. The need for awakening through awareness of one's own true nature.

"Don't Make Written Instructions"
"Pass on the tradition without precepts"
"Point Directly at the Human Heart"
"Look into your nature and you will become a Buddha"

According to legend, the beginning of the Zen tradition was laid by the founder of Buddhism himself - Buddha Shakyamuni (5th century BC), who once raised a flower in front of his students and smiled (“Flower Sermon of the Buddha”).

No one, however, except for one person - Mahakashyapa did not understand the meaning of this gesture of the Buddha. Mahakashyapa answered the Buddha by also holding up a flower and smiling. In that moment, he experienced awakening: the state of awakening was given to him by the Buddha directly, without instructions, verbal or written.

One day the Buddha was standing in front of a gathering of people at Vulture Peak. All the people were waiting for him to start teaching awakening (dharma), but the Buddha was silent. Quite a lot of time has passed, and he has not yet uttered a single word, in his hand was a flower. The eyes of all the people in the crowd were turned to him, but no one understood anything. Then one monk looked at the Buddha with shining eyes and smiled. And the Buddha said, "I have the treasure of seeing the perfect Dharma, the magical spirit of nirvana, free from the impurity of reality, and I gave this treasure to Mahakashyapa." This smiling monk turned out to be just Mahakashyapa, one of the great disciples of the Buddha. Mahakashyapa's moment of awakening happened when the Buddha raised a flower over his head. The monk saw the flower for what it was and received the “seal of the heart,” to use Zen terminology. The Buddha transmitted his profound understanding from heart to heart. He took the seal of his heart and made an impression with it on the heart of Mahakashyapa. Mahakashyapa was awakened by the flower and his deep perception.

Thus, according to Zen, the tradition of direct ("from heart to heart") transmission of awakening from teacher to student began. In India, awakening was passed on in this way for twenty-eight generations of mentors from Mahakashyapa to Bodhidharma himself - the 28th patriarch of the Buddhist school of contemplation in India and the first patriarch of the Buddhist school of Ch'an in China.

Bodhidharma said, "The Buddha directly conveyed Zen, which has nothing to do with the scriptures and doctrines you study." So, according to Zen - the true meaning of Buddhism is comprehended only through increased self-contemplation - "look into your nature and become a Buddha" (and not as a result of studying doctrinal and philosophical texts), and also "from heart to heart" - thanks to the tradition of transmission from teacher to student.

In order to emphasize the principle of the immediacy of this transmission and to eradicate the students' attachment to the letter, image, symbol, many Chan mentors of the early period defiantly burned sutra texts and sacred images. One could not even speak of teaching Zen, because it cannot be taught through symbols. Zen passes directly from master to student, from mind to mind, from heart to heart. Zen itself is a kind of “seal of the mind (heart)”, which cannot be found in the scriptures, since it is “not based on letters and words” - A special transmission of the awakened consciousness from the heart of the teacher to the heart of the student without relying on written signs- the transmission in another way of what cannot be expressed by speech - "direct indication", a kind of non-verbal way of communication, without which the Buddhist experience could never be passed on from generation to generation.

Zen Practices

Satori

Satori - "Enlightenment", a sudden awakening. Since all human beings inherently possess the capacity for enlightenment, the task of the Zen practitioner is to realize it. Satori always comes suddenly, like a flash of lightning. Enlightenment knows no parts and divisions, so it cannot be perceived gradually.

Awakening Methods

It is believed that in comparison with practical training "from heart to heart" - even the instructions of the Buddha himself play a secondary role in Zen Buddhism. For modern students - in addition to transmission from heart to heart, listening, reading, reflection are also necessary. The direct methods of pointing in Zen are more effective than reading books, but they do not imply complete abandonment of reading either.

For training, the master can use any method, but the most widespread practices are zazen (sitting meditation) and koan (parable-mystery that does not have a logically substantiated answer).

Zen is dominated by instantaneous, sudden awakening, which can sometimes be brought about by specific techniques. The most famous of them is the koan. This is a kind of paradox, absurd for ordinary reason, which, having become an object of contemplation, stimulates awakening, as it were.

Meditative practice

Zazen practice

Zazen - meditation in the "lotus position" - requires, on the one hand, the utmost concentration of consciousness, on the other hand, the ability not to think about any specific problem. “Just sit” and, not paying attention to any thing in particular, perceive everything around you as a whole, to the smallest detail, knowing about their presence in the same way as you know about the presence of your own ears, without seeing them.

“The perfect man uses his mind like a mirror: he lacks nothing and rejects nothing. Accepts but does not hold

Instead of trying to clear or empty the mind, one should simply let it go, because the mind is not something that can be mastered. Letting go of the mind is the same as letting go of the flow of thoughts and impressions that come and go "into the mind". There is no need to suppress them, or hold them back, or interfere with their course. It is in zazen meditation that the action of the Taoist "wu-xin" - "no-mind" is practiced.

Koans

Stages of the Zen State of Mind

There were several stages of achieving "emptiness" of consciousness:

• "single-point consciousness" (yi-nian-hsin),
• "consciousness devoid of thoughts" (wu-nian-hsin),
• "non-consciousness" (wu-hsin) or "not-me" (wu).

These are the stages of “emptying” the consciousness and achieving shunyata or kun (Chinese), that is, emptiness, because one of the goals of Chan art is to create special conditions when the psyche is left to itself and works spontaneously, being globally holistic or transpersonal (in sense of co-existence or co-knowledge with other people and with the world).

Martial Arts Zen and Samurai Zen

Quite unexpectedly, the way to comprehend Buddhism has become something that contradicts one of the five fundamental Buddhist prohibitions - "refrain from killing." Probably it was in China, where Buddhism was subjected to the liberating influence of Taoism, that Zen destroyed the conventional ethical framework of Buddhism and, as an effective psycho-training, first joined the military disciplines. Today, Zen is already applied to all areas of activity, from playing the guitar to sex.

"Of all those gathered, only the closest disciple of the Buddha, Mahakashyapa, accepted the sign of the Teacher and barely perceptibly smiled in response from the corners of his eyes." It is from this recognized canonical episode that the whole tradition of transmitting the teachings of Chan / Zen with the help of the so-called. "tricks" - any improvised and, it would seem, the most inappropriate things for this, secular and other activities, such as brewing tea, theatrical performance, playing the flute, the art of ikebana, composing. The same goes for martial arts.

For the first time, martial arts were combined with Zen as a body-developing gymnastics, and then also as a tempering with the spirit of fearlessness - in the Chinese Buddhist monastery of Shaolin.

Since then, Zen has been what distinguishes the martial art of the East from the Western sport. Many outstanding masters of kendo (fencing), karate, judo, aikido were adherents of Zen. This is due to the fact that the situation of a real fight, a fight in which severe injuries and death are possible, requires from a person precisely those qualities that Zen cultivates.

In a combat situation, a fighter does not have time to reason, the situation changes so quickly that a logical analysis of the enemy’s actions and planning his own will inevitably lead to defeat. Thought is too slow to follow such a technical action as a blow that lasts a fraction of a second. A pure consciousness, unclouded by unnecessary thoughts, like a mirror reflects any changes in the surrounding space and allows the fighter to react spontaneously, not far-fetched. It is also very important during the fight the absence of fear, like any other emotions.

Takuan Soho (1573-1644), a Zen master and author of treatises on the ancient Japanese art of swordsmanship (now preserved in kendo techniques), calls the calmness of a warrior who has reached the highest level of skill unshakable wisdom. "IN You certainly see the sword about to strike you," says Takuan. " But don't let your mind "stop" there. Abandon the intention to contact the enemy in response to his threatening attack, stop making any plans for this. Just perceive the opponent's movements and don't let your mind "stop" there.»

The martial arts of China and Japan are, first of all, arts, a way of developing the “spiritual abilities of the samurai”, the implementation of the “Way” (“tao” or “do”) - the path of a warrior, the path of the sword, the path of the arrow. Bushido, the famous "Way of the Samurai" - a set of rules and norms for the "true", "ideal" warrior has been developed in Japan for centuries and absorbed most of the provisions of Zen Buddhism, especially the ideas of strict self-control and indifference to death. Self-control and self-control were elevated to the rank of virtue and were considered valuable qualities of the samurai character. In direct connection with bushido was also zazen meditation, which developed confidence and composure in the samurai in the face of death.

Zen ethics

Do not treat anything as good or bad. Just be an observer (witness).

Zen Aesthetics

The impact of Zen on the modern world

In the works of H. Hesse, J. Salinger, J. Kerouac, R. Zelazny, in the poetry of H. Snyder and A. Ginsberg, in the painting of W. Van Gogh and A. Matisse, in the music of G. Mahler and J. Cage, in philosophy of A. Schweitzer, in the works on psychology of C. G. Jung and E. Fromm. In the 60s. "Zen boom" swept through many American universities and gave a certain color to the beat movement.

Many psychotherapeutic schools have experienced the influence of Zen - such as Gestalt therapy and the founder Fritz Perls himself, as well as well-known trainings such as ECT.

John Enright, who worked for many years in Gestalt with Perls, in his book "Gestalt Leading to Enlightenment" directly wrote that he considers mini-satori to be the main goal of Gestalt therapy - the achievement of a special insight or catharsis - after which most old problems dissolve .

see also

Notes

Links

• Zen, Tao - texts of books (Zen Buddhism, Taoism) - in the electronic library on the website of Ki Aikido in Moscow

Zen is the doctrine of full awareness of the nature of reality, of enlightenment. It is believed that this type of Buddhism was brought to China by the Indian monk Bodhidharma, and from there spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and in the 19th and 20th centuries to the West. Bodhidharma himself defined Zen Buddhism as "a direct transition to awakened consciousness, bypassing tradition and sacred texts."

It is believed that the truth of Zen lives in each of us. You just need to look inside and find it there without resorting to outside help. Zen practice stops all mental activity by focusing your thoughts on what you are doing at the present moment, here and now.

Zen style life

- Master, you have reached a venerable age and deep enlightenment. How did you do it?
- All because I don't stop practicing Zen.
- Zen - what is it?
- Nothing special. Knowing Zen is easy. When I want to drink, I drink; when I want to eat, I eat; when I want to sleep, I sleep. As for the rest, I follow nature and the laws of naturalness. These are the basic ideas of Zen Buddhism.
But doesn't everyone do the same?
- Not. Judge for yourself: when you need to drink - you go over your problems and failures in your head, when you need to eat - you think about anything but food, when you need to sleep - you try to solve all the world's problems. Drinks, eats, sleeps only your body. Your thoughts revolve around money, fame, sex, food and much more. But when I'm hungry, I just eat. When I'm tired, I only sleep. I have no thinking, and therefore I have no inner and outer.

The challenge for a Zen practitioner is to see the uniqueness, simplicity, and essence of each thing. And seeing this - to find harmony with the world, every thing in it and with oneself.

The man of Zen Buddhism does not attach to anything, and does not reject anything. He is like a cloud that moves wherever he wants. He lives with an open heart and allows life to flow calmly through him, accepting all its gifts: grief and joy, gains and losses, meetings and partings. To be Zen means to do everything perfectly. Being completely deluded, suffering from stomach pain, watching a butterfly, making soup or writing a report.

In this way, you are able, by discarding prejudices and limitations, to penetrate into the essence of life itself. Right now. Zen philosophy is directly in front of you at this moment.

What is Zen? 10 Rules of Zen Buddhism for Harmony

- Be mindful of everything you are doing at the moment. If you wash the cup, wash the cup. Invest 100% with your mind and heart in what you are doing right now, and then you will achieve really good results. The mind will always be sharp and fresh if you learn to focus on the present moment. It's easy, you just need to remind yourself to be careful. When you eat, be aware of the taste and texture of food - by the way, it is very easy to lose weight this way, because you will no longer automatically eat too much. As you walk down the stairs, focus on the descent, don't think about the papers waiting for you in the office or about the person who lives in another city. Monks practice walking meditation, where they become aware of their feet touching or leaving the ground. A great way to get rid of thoughts is to listen to your breath. And when such attentiveness becomes a habit, your efficiency will increase several times. You will learn to concentrate easily, not to be distracted by anything. Become a great negotiator, subtly feeling the interlocutor. And in general, in work you will not be equal. (But for you zen, ambition doesn't matter.)

- Act, don't just talk. Here is the real secret to success. In the East, words without practice are worthless: mastery can be achieved by laying bricks every day, but not by reading books about it. Bodhidharma asked his disciples to burn scriptures so that they would not become slaves to words instead of practicing the teaching expressed by the word. Knowledge is a map on which the ultimate goal is indicated, but in order to achieve it, you need to go through the entire route yourself.

- Take direct action. Many hours of thinking about "what will happen if ..." - this is not about Zen. It is simple, direct and immediate. So if you want to say or do something, just say or do it without complicating it. For example, hug your father with the words: "You know, dad, I love you very much." Or tell your boss that you need a raise. (Or hug your boss and say, "You know, dad, you need a raise for me.")

- Relax. This is the most enjoyable part of everyday Zen. True, if the world is illusory, is it worth straining? Why bother if events cannot be changed? And if you can, then there is nothing to worry about. Let yourself live a little, like grass, go with the flow ... Accept yourself and your manifestations: there are no shortcomings, it is people who invented them. You are perfect. And stop blaming yourself for everything. When you reproach yourself, you reproach the divine principle, the Absolute in yourself, as if it could be imperfect. It's like blaming the moon for not being yellow enough and the sun for being too hot.

- Rest. Use the quiet moments that arise during the day as a time of self-observation and calmness, meditation or a short nap. Even young people can benefit from a short afternoon break. Learn some of the qigong exercises or learn how to breathe with your stomach. Contemplate something pleasant. Don't forget to recharge the internal batteries.

- listen to your heart. Reach out to him every time you make an important decision. Don Juan warned: if your Way has no heart, it will kill you. Stop doing what you don't like and do what you love. If you have not yet chosen the Path, remember your dreams. About the most secret childhood desires. Maybe this is just what you need right now?

- Accept things as they are. Get used to them. Events happen the way they happen, and we divide them into good and bad instead of looking at the facts directly. You know, anything can become a source of conflict, threat or violence. But maybe - compassion, love and joy. It all depends on the angle of view. Watch life and move according to its flow: this will help you live and develop.

- Be open. Listen to people not only with your head, but with your whole heart, and not for the sake of continuing your monologue when there is a pause. Embrace new ideas and principles, no matter how wise and experienced you feel. Open up to change and unexpected opportunities - sometimes what seems like a detour turns out to be the shortest path to your goal. Keep looking for new friends, do not shut yourself off from strangers - one of them can change your life and be of great help.

- Find funny things in everyday life. Give free rein to your sense of humor, don't take everything too seriously. Seriousness is a way of making simple things complex. Read the beginner's guide: "You've been set up. You've been scammed on all your money to the cent. All money is an illusion. You have nothing. There wasn't." Or: "Don't be afraid to be alone with yourself. You don't bite."

- Just be. Enter your pure existence without boundaries. Zen contains nothing that fetters human nature. Among the stories about Zen there is this: a student comes to the Master and asks to show him the way to liberation. "Who does not want you?" the Teacher asks. "No one," the student answers, and immediately attains enlightenment.

Hello dear site readers! Today, every Internet user has the opportunity to publish their thoughts, useful information, news and any other content that will be read by other visitors to the network.

Therefore, in this post we will talk about the new and modern Yandex.Zen service, with the help of which authors can increase the number of readers of their sites, brands can promote their own products, and online publications get the opportunity to showcase their best content. And ordinary copywriters will be able to earn if they create a feed there and publish unique content every day.

So let's take a closer look at what Yandex Zen is, how it works, what features it offers, and so on.

What is Yandex Zen and how it works

Yandex Zen is a service of individual recommendations created by Yandex in 2017.

The program's job is to track and analyze the user's preferences, as a result of which each client gets the opportunity to view only the information that interests him.

The service is available not only in the browser version, but a mobile client has also been developed. The program refers to applications in which artificial intelligence is built in, aimed at working with the client.

In simple terms, the Yandex Zen service is an intellectual database that collects information about the sites visited by the user, the program also analyzes the interests indicated by the client and, based on this, news and articles available on the Internet are issued.

It is worth noting that not only those pages that were previously opened, but also new ones will be visible in the feed.

If you are interested in any news, you must click on it, after which the publication will be opened in a new tab. To update the feed, you need to click on the "More cards" button or press F5.

As you already understood, anyone can start running their own Zen channel and get paid for it, the main thing is not to violate the rules of the service.

So, to create a channel, you need:

Open the publisher platform at zen.yandex.ru.

Then click on the “I” logo located in the upper left part of the screen.

Here we have to fill in the information about the channel and the user.

The most important part of creating a channel are the parameters:

• The channel logo cannot be animated and must be in the following format (PNG, JPG, BMP, or SVG). As a result of loading the logo is scaled to a square with a side of 156 pixels. Experts recommend using a picture that has an opaque background and does not have any inscriptions.
• Next, enter the name, you can use the name as the name.
• In the channel description field, you need to enter meaningful information about the project, due to an interesting description, you can significantly increase the number of subscribers.
• In the "Links" field, you must specify profiles from social networks.
• It is important to enter your own phone number correctly, this is necessary to further restore access to your account if necessary.
• It is also important to enter the email address that you currently use. In this way, the support service will be able to contact you, and news related to the service will also be sent to this address.

After that, you can proceed to posting articles.

The following type of content is available today and in the near future:

• Video
• narrative

If you want to write a standard article in the Zen feed on the computer, select the "Become" item.

And with the help of the editor, we indicate the title of the post, the content itself, add pictures, videos, links, and before publishing, we indicate the keywords.

Very important! You can only write unique articles in Zen, don't even think about copy-paste. Otherwise, the channel will fall under the filter and will not be ranked in the feed.

We will look at how to publish content in more detail in the following articles and videos.

How you can make money on the news feed

I think it will not be a secret for you that you can earn money on publications in Zen. The scheme here is very simple, advertising from Yandex Direct will be automatically embedded in your posts.

And if a visitor, while reading your post, clicks on a YAN ad or watches a video, then you will receive money to your account for this. Naturally, the more views of articles, the more income.

Note! To start making a profit in Yandex Zen, the content author needs to reach 7,000 reads of his posts on the channel in seven days.

1 read = 40 seconds of visitor time on the page.

Here's how easy it is to track on the channel, where you can immediately see below the post how many of the views of the article were reads.

With the withdrawal of earned funds, there may be problems only in the fact that this is a YAN, so you need to fill out a questionnaire and upload the necessary documents, after which the user accepts the offer.

How to enable Yandex Zen

Since this is the brainchild of a Russian-language search engine, such a feed is automatically embedded in Yandex Browser.

And then many users do not even know that such a news feed exists at all, some think that it is not in their browser, but it turns out that it is simply not included. To activate the ribbon, you need to go to the "Settings" section.

It is worth noting that the last item may be missing due to the use of the old page interface. To do this, you must select a new format.

Then you should restart the program.

For the service to work on a smartphone, you need to install the application or update the browser on your phone, as a result of the update, the program will be available on the device.

Enabling the service is performed in the same way as on a computer.

How to disable Yandex Zen

Many people believe that they do not need this news feed, and then the question arises of how to turn it off. There shouldn't be any problems.

It is enough to go to "Settings" and uncheck the item "Show in a new Zen tab - a feed of personal recommendations" - we put a tick in front of it.

If desired, the news feed can be activated at any time.

Disabling the service on the phone is the same as on the computer.

What is Zen for and who will benefit

Despite the fact that the service has been operating quite recently, many Internet users know about it. However, the question of why and for whom the program was created is still relevant.

For what:

• First of all, for content monetization. Very often, bloggers, not seeing the positive results of their work, give up and stop promoting their blog. So, it is Yandex that helps young and promising users earn money by viewing their material, and the service also gives cash rewards for channel promotion.
• For traffic. Marketers claim that traffic plays a crucial role for the network, so a service that offers articles to people who are interested in a particular topic is simply necessary in the modern world.
• For popularity, of course, in the face of the author blogging on Yandex Zen, they will not be recognized, but many will know that he correctly expresses his thoughts and writes well.

For whom:

• For users with a personal blog. By linking your account to the service being studied, the blogger gets the opportunity to advertise certain products on his page, from which he will make a profit.
• For entire companies that have their own websites.

As a result, I would like to say that despite the fact that the service has been officially operating since 2017, today it has become quite popular among modern Internet users.

It is worth noting that one group of people are people who publish material, and the other group is reading.

Many claim that Yandex Zen is one of the simplest modern earnings that is available to every person.

Therefore, if you have any interesting thoughts, then post them soon, perhaps this is exactly what readers are waiting for!

Be sure to write in the comments if you use Zen and have you managed to make money on it?

Zen Buddhism comes from India. The Japanese word "zen" comes from the Chinese word "chan", which, in turn, comes from the Sanskrit "dhyana", which translates as "contemplation", "concentration". Zen is one of the schools of Buddhism, which was formed in China in the 5th-6th centuries. Taoism had a great influence on the formation of Zen, so there is much in common between these currents.

Zen Buddhism

Today, Zen Buddhism is the main monastic form of Mahayana Buddhism. ("great chariot") widespread in Southeast Asia and Japan.

In China, Zen Buddhism is called "Chan Buddhism" in Vietnam - "Thien Buddhism", in Korea - "sleep-Buddhism". To Japan Zen Buddhism came relatively late - in the XII century, however, it was the Japanese transcription of the name of this branch of Buddhism that became the most common.

In a broad sense zen is a school of mystical contemplation, a doctrine of enlightenment. Under zen understand the practice zen schools, also referred to as "dhyana" and is the most important part of Buddhist practice.

How did Zen Buddhism come about?

Traditionally, Buddha Shakyamuni himself is considered the first patriarch of Zen. The second patriarch was his disciple Mahakashyapa, to whom the Buddha, after a silent sermon, gave the lotus symbolizing awakening. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and author of books on Buddhism, relates the story this way.

“One day the Buddha stood before a gathering of people at Vulture Peak. All the people were waiting for him to start teaching the dharma, but the Buddha remained silent.

Quite a lot of time has passed, and he has not yet uttered a single word, in his hand was a flower. The eyes of all the people in the crowd were turned to him, but no one understood anything.

Then one monk looked at the Buddha with shining eyes and smiled.

And the Buddha said:

"I have the treasure of seeing the perfect Dharma, the magical spirit of nirvana, free from the impurity of reality, and I gave this treasure to Mahakashyapa."

This smiling monk turned out to be just Mahakashyapa, one of the great disciples of the Buddha. Mahakashyapa was awakened by the flower and his deep perception.

Deen Buddhism is an ever-changing belief that has three strands:

1. « Intellectual Zen»- a philosophy of life that has moved as far as possible from religion and has become popular among artists, philosophers and scientists.
2. Psychedelic Zen- a doctrine that involves the use of drugs in order to expand the boundaries of consciousness.
3. Beat direction- it is known among young people for its simplified rules that promote moral and sexual freedom.

How is Zen Buddhism different from Buddhism?

The desire to achieve Zen means a willingness to sacrifice oneself on the way to it - for example, to show meekness and humility in front of a teacher. Zen Buddhism insists on the observance of a system of rules by the student when the classical direction does not require any kind of worship and testing in the name of religion. Zen is like a technique that is suitable for people who do not want to spend a lot of time on the religious component of the teachings.

Brief essence of the doctrine

It is believed that Zen cannot be taught. One can only suggest the way to achieve personal enlightenment.

More precisely, there is no such thing as enlightenment to be possessed. Therefore, Zen masters ("masters") often say not "to achieve enlightenment", but "to see one's own nature." (Enlightenment is not a state. It is a way of seeing.)

In addition, the path to the vision of one's own nature is different for everyone, since everyone is in their own conditions, with their own baggage of experience and ideas. That is why it is said that in Zen there is no definite path, there is no one definite entrance. These words should also help the practitioner not to replace his awareness with the mechanical execution of some practice or idea.

It is believed that the Zen teacher must see his own nature, because then he can correctly see the state of the "student" and give him the appropriate instructions or push for him. At different stages of practice, the “student” may be given different, “opposite” advice, for example:

* “meditate to calm the mind; try harder";
* “don’t try to achieve enlightenment, but just let go of everything that happens”…