The Zennist' (RSS 1.0) Posts on 'The Zennist' (RSS 2.0) Comments on 'Fake Zen' (Atom) Comments on 'Fake Zen' (RSS 2.0) Home Being led into a pit of fire Zen is far from being mundane The Zennist Going to the very heart of Zen. into a pit of fire | Main | Zen is far from being mundane » Fake Zen Zen Buddhism is sliding downhill at a rather fast rate becoming “fake Zen” which is a distortion of Zen’s history By distortion I mean a narrative that essentially falsifies Zen by a variety of means such as omitting key facts . To aid those who are new to Zen I have decided to do a Q (crazy monk) who will be the fake Zen master. Is this also a satire on contemporary Zen Beginner: I am new to Zen. It seems to me that what I have learned so far is that Zen is not a religion like Buddhism. Yes, that is right. Zen is not a religion like Buddhism. Buddhists make statues and pray to Buddha. Zen is not a religion—it is not faith based This means that there are no rules to follow in Zen. Yes, there is etiquette and a few rituals of a joke. In the old days Zen was not really practiced so much in a monastery as : So having a good time is basically Zen, like drinking beer or occasionally doing drugs and having , yes. You could say that Zen is the way of emptiness which is the way of In a nutshell what is the history of Zen, I mean what should beginners need to know? Luànsēng: The Chinese invented Zen, then later the Buddhists hijacked it claiming it was In so doing, Buddhism tried to make Zen religious, that you are supposed to realize your Buddha nature or pure Mind. Also Buddhists wanted Zen to be about seated meditation learning to still your thoughts calm down. But this is not what Zen meditation is really about. Zen meditation is just experiencing is, nothing more. Zen masters just want you to be natural, doing anything Beginner: I read somewhere that Zen is really a form of Taoism. Is that true If Taoism is the Way, then Zen is the Way of having a good time so you long time. Before Buddhism took hold of Zen, the old masters just walked around the woods or who was the world’s foremost expert on Zen, lived a Zen life similar to that of Liu Beginner: Why do the Zen masters speak of the Buddha so often? Sometimes if the students are too serious about religion Zen masters might cut off their finger or kill a cat : I am just curious about sex and Zen. Luànsēng: In the West Zen masters usually have sex with their nuns or more advanced the woods and enjoy each other. Since Zen is not connected with Buddhism sex is okay if you like each other. Just remember that in Zen there are no judges. years I have collected a lot of materials from fake Zennists. But some of the material came from other people who spent time in an American Zen monastery. this together in the form of a satire on contemporary Zen is meant to offend everyone connected with this kind of Zen except the person who enjoys reading this satire! Religion, Weblogs, yoga, Zen | Permalink Zen stuff 's Zen paintings (great site!)