ZEN BUDDHISM

ZEN BUDDHISM

1. Origins of zen

   • Began in China, when Bodhidarma brought Buddhism there.
   • Influenced by Taoism
   • The word Zen comes from the Sanskrit word for meditation

2. Is Zen just a psychotherapy?

   • Alan Watts thought Buddhism was a type of psychological therapy and NOT a religion. It is the transformation of one's consciousness from the deluded western idea of what we are: a homunculus who operates our body from inside our skull.
     • We have to move away from the idea of a profound division between me and not me - we should try to act in union with nature.
       • We consider that we must act in a certain way but it is only valuable if we choose to do so freely - paradoxical
         • WE CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD IN WHICH WE EXIST - THIS DIVISION IS A HALLUCINATION

3. AVIDYA

   • We don't see the world as it is but rather as we have been taught to see it