chan

Dhyana, Chan, Zen is a form of Buddhism that combines Taoism and the Buddha's teachings. It emphasizes the idea of change and recognizes that people's thoughts and personalities can change over time. Taoism also influences the practice of meditation, which can be done in a relaxed and natural way, such as sitting on a rock or walking slowly. The sitting practice in Zen helps to observe and quiet the mind, leading to a peaceful state that can be carried into daily life. If meditation doesn't bring noticeable changes or improve happiness, it may not be the right practice for someone. Buddhism focuses on moving towards happiness and peace, rather than dwelling on suffering and impermanence. Hi everyone. One of my favorite forms of Buddhism is Dhyana, Chan, Zen. When it became Chan it became a combination of Taoism and the Buddha's teachings. So it was a combination of two eastern systems of thought. And in some ways they're very different, but there are similarities and there are aspects within them that can be combined in this way. And I think from Taoism you reinforce or you learn the idea of change. When something gets to an extreme it changes to its opposite. And this is a very strange thing. People assume that there is a constant within them that always will be there, right through from childhood or even if you want pre-childhood, pre-infant. And that constant is something that is developed and it stays there. And they are a person or a persona or a personality with a set system of thought, a set idea of how the world works. In fact they're very rigid because these things can change with age and all kinds of other reasons why they may change. So the important thing is to recognize that aspect of change within oneself and if you wish you can actually create the conditions for that to happen more important. So this is one of the important teachings within Taoism that are there for you to explore. The other thing that they did is they have a much more relaxed form of meditation. They just sit on a rock or they just sit in a wood somewhere or they just move slowly, carefully, walking, walking type meditations and there is this naturalness within their practices which is very different to the way you often see Zen, sitting against a wall and a very rigid form of practice. The two combine quite well and the two combine so that the hard practice, if you like, the sitting practice which is very valuable and very useful actually improves the rest of your practice when you're off the cushion as it were. And it's quite normal and natural for people to combine walking and slowness and a more contemplative life in general into their practice when they sit. The sitting is really to see the mind itself changing. Changing as we just sit and we see it changing. It goes here and it goes there and it thinks this and it thinks that and you have the sense gates, the different sensations arising in the body. Oh, I'm bored. Oh, this is happening. Oh, when will this end and so on. What am I doing this for? All those kinds of thoughts arise. Arising in Buddhism is quite an important idea that these thoughts arise and eventually they sort of quieten down and it is that quietness, that stillness and that again the quiet is a good way, peace is a good way of putting it. So you have this peaceful mind state which arises quite naturally just through the hard practice and continues into daily life and that's the important thing. That's the important aspect. If you do meditation and it doesn't change you in some way that you notice, you're either doing it wrong, you're doing too much or it's just not for you. You have to find something else to improve your life, improve your sukha. In Buddhism we call it sukha, developing happiness because we're not about, as is often thought in Buddhism, we're not about dukkha which is suffering and impermanence and things not being quite right. We're trying to acknowledge that that is a part of our experience, it's part of everyone's experience but we can do something to improve it so we move towards sukha which is the happiness, the peace, the joy. OK, that's all from me for today. Bye now.