|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zen may be viewed as the inner art and wisdom of the Orient. It was rooted in China by Bodhidharma, who came from India in the sixth century, and was carried eastward into Japan by the twelfth century. Zen emerged as a distinctive school from the blending of one strain of Buddhism (Mayahana) with Chinese Taoist pragmatism five generations after Boddhidharma translated the essence of Buddhism to China. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tao (pronounced ''dow") is the term for the absolute. It is a poetic term layered with meaning. It can be interpreted most simply as a way, or path, for people to follow. Tao is viewed not as a metaphysical abstraction but the fundamental rhythm, flow, and force of the universe. Bodhidharma described enlightenment as entering the Tao. Lao Tzu, who formulated the philosophy of the Tao, described it this way: |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Tao is real, yet unnamable.
It is original non-differentiation and invisible.
Nevertheless, nothing in the universe can dominate it.
If rulers and lords were able to abide by it, all
things in the universe would yield to them naturally.
To abide with Tao in the world is to be the same as
mountain streams flowing to the rivers and the sea.* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*The Way of Lao Tzu, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan, New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1963. |
|
|
|
|
|