Zen is an awakening to the dynamic reality of the present moment.
In Zen practice, we meditate to bring calm and attentive focus on “right here, right now.” Through meditation practice, we grow increasingly able to live our lives in the present moment throughout the day.
Zen is a spiritual path, a path of inter-connection, of seeing through all duality that separates “me” from “other,” of living the awareness that there is no separation.
The practice of Zen is life itself, embodying radical inquiry into the true nature of the Self and the true nature of reality. To practice Zen meditation is in itself an expression of this reality, an embodiment of the awakened state.
Zen meditation develops a centered, focused awareness, integrating body and mind into the heart of life itself. In zazen (seated silent meditation), we assume a posture of dynamic relaxation and experience fully the natural, relaxed flow of the breath as the mind’s attention comes to the present moment.
The above description of Zen is more-or-less true of most meditation disciplines, though the words used to describe the practice may differ somewhat. UU Zen Centers offers genuine meditation instruction within the framework of a Zen "style," as represented in certain emphases in the teachings and certain rituals and unison readings (chants).
One form of practice that is unique to Zen – and not all Zen centers offer it – is koan practice.(Click here for an account of koans.) At some Zen centers, students who have built up experience meditating and been a part of the center for a while may have the chance to begin koan practice, which requires one-on-one interviews with a teacher or guide, and is a particularly sharp method for cultivating the insights and inner peace that meditation brings.
Zen practice grew from the initial experience of the enlightenment or awakening of Siddhartha Guatama, known as the Buddha (the awakened one), 2,500 years ago. The practices and teachings of the Buddha spread from India to China where they picked up influences from Taoism. Taoist-influenced Buddhism moved into Japan as “Zen,” which is the Japanese translation of the Sanskrit word “dhyana” with means meditation. The emphasis in Zen is on meditation rather than study of sutras.
UU Zen is Zen that happens to be led by Unitarian Universalists.
Unitarians (founded 1825) and Universalists (founded 1793) consolidated in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Today, Unitarian Universalist congregations openly embrace diversity of belief and spiritual practice. Since the introduction of the first Buddhist texts to America in the mid-nineteenth century, Buddhism has been influential among Unitarians. Early Unitarians were attracted to Buddhism's emphasis on individual experience, rather than appeal to scriptures or belief in miraculous events, as the basis for spiritual authority.
In recent years, Unitarian Universalists have increasingly been drawn to explore Zen and other Buddhist religious practices for inviting a direct and immediate experience of reality and providing a balance to purely intellectual inquiry. The Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship
These principles are a variation of the seven Unitarian Universalist principles, modified to incorporate Zen Buddhist teachings.
UU Zen practice realizes:
- the inherent worth, dignity, and buddha-nature of every being;
- justice, equity, and compassion in all our relations;
- total acceptance of reality just as it is, and encouragement to spiritual growth;
- the free and responsible cultivation of understanding;
- the right of conscience and the use of democratic process;
- world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- oneness with the interdependent web of all existence which constitutes us and of which each of us is the whole.