Zen Buddhism is: “A direct transmission outside tradition and outside scripture: no dependence on words, directly pointing to the human heart, seeing into one’s own nature and realizing Buddhahood”.

Zen uses everyday ideas to point to reality, rather than religious ideas – “When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble” Ummon

I am Bodhidharma, the first Zen patriarch – When the Chinese emperor asked me “What is this Holy religion all about”, I explained that it is “Vast emptiness, with nothing holy in it”.

What he didn’t understand is that ideas like “Holiness” or “Buddha” are just constructions of the mind – in Zen we want to go beyond these constructions, to see things as they really are.

I don’t want you to think about reality – I want you to experience it, so stop thinking, and start experiencing!

When you sit and look at a tree, you don’t just see the tree, but a whole host of other mental images, you think “That’s a nice green colour”, or “Those fruit would taste good”, but you don’t just sit and see the tree.

All humans are only a hair’s breadth from the experience of enlightenment, which we call “Satori”. Satori is experienced naturally as part of life, when we lose ourselves in experience of a sunset, or something beautiful. The Zen approach to enlightenment is about trying to encourage those moments!

Zen says that enlightenment is like a rose – you can’t grow a rose on your own, but you can make it likely that a rose will occur! Enlightenment is the same, you can’t make yourself enlightened, but you can make it likely that enlightenment experiences will occur!

So how can you work on the rose garden of your mind?

A good way is to practice Zazen. This just means “sitting”, and is really all about doing just that – as one Zen master said, “When I sit, I just sit”. Zazen is an intense and difficult form of Meditation practice.

Zazen is best practiced in a Zendo – a Zen room. Many of these are in monasteries, but technically, any room where Zazen is done is a zendo.

I’ve got a really important job in the Zendo – I have to stop the monks going to sleep. If I see someone nodding off, I give them a tap with this stick, then we bow to each other & they get on with meditating. Some harder strikes may be necessary for sleepy heads, and if I break my stick on you, the tradition is that you buy me a bottle of Sake!

A good zendo is run by a Roshi – a teacher who is acknowledged to have had regular experience of Satori, and who knows how to transmit that experience to each individual. Everyone may need a different stimulus to tip them over into enlightenment – a joke, a riddle, a slap, a plate thrown at them… Whatever it takes.

How many rocks are there – are they supposed to be rocks or Islands? Some Zendos will have gardens attached – but Gardens that are designed to help the mind see past appearances

In Zen we strive for Satori - the lightning flash of enlightenment - this is an instant experience that arises spontaneously. Achieving Satori does not make you a Buddha, however, we are pursuing a different goal to other Buddhists - one that does not want to abandon this world.

In Zen we teach that “You are the Buddha” - all beings have a “Buddha nature” - one does not have to become Buddha, because one has always been Buddha, we just need to wake up to it. Your own everyday mind, is the Buddha mind.

In Zen we do not see that there is a difference between Nirvana, and the everyday world that surrounds us - we celebrate nature in our poetry and art. Every action you perform is spiritual, provided that it is natural and spontaneous - Zen is about making life holy, not going outside it to find holiness.

A famous Zen teaching method is the Koan - a Koan is a nonsense riddle, or saying - it deliberately makes no sense, and is designed to jerk you out of normal ways of thinking and into Satori. What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Koans may be statements - “The Buddha is a dung heap coolie”! Koans may be questions with answers provided - “What is the Buddha? Three pounds of flax”. “Does a Dog have a Buddha nature” - “Wu” (Sounds like “Woof” & means “Nothing”)

Or maybe even a story: “The novice went to see Bodhidharma, and said “I want peace of mind”. “Bring out your mind”, said Bodhidharma, “and I’ll give it peace!”

The practice of Zen has had an enormous influence of Japanese culture!

The Discipline and simplicity of Zen appealed to us Samurai! Yeah, Zen is just like a Japanese sword fight – you spend a long time staring your opponent in the eye, both of you totally immobile, and then suddenly, “swish”, the fight is over, and you are walking away, cleaning your sword, before his body has hit the ground.

The point of Karate is not to be able to kill your opponent, but to train your body and mind so that you lose yourself in the experience of the moment – when you watch your body acting without thought – that is a kind of Satori Yeah, but this still hurts!

Zen influences everything - From calligraphy to flower arranging…

Even making a cup of tea…

Remember - Zen can’t be put into words - You can only experience it as it is passed from the mind of your teacher to your mind. So - this whole presentation is a waste of time.