Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Section 9 Group 5 Zen

Last class period we discussed a little about Tibetan Buddhism and  the different aspects of Zen. In Tibetan Buddhism we discussed how the one thing that was mainly different about Tibetan Buddhism was that it incorporated the Hindu doctrine of Tantra. We also examined how this form of Buddhism encourages one to use all aspects of the human body to reach Nirvana.
We also talked about Zen Buddhism. We went over the two schools of Zen, the Lin-chi, which promoted a higher use of the koan, and Ts'ao-tung, which focused on remaining in a state of meditation without waiting for things to happen and having a sense of confidence in one's own powers of enlightenment. One of the things our group seemed to find most intriguing was the importance of doubt and questions to the functionality of Zen. One of the most appealing aspects of Zen is that it does not involve an aspect whose answer cannot be derived from every individual. It also pertains greatly to pondering questions that one rarely thinks about, and accepting that doubt should and needs to exist in the world.

Fact Q1. What does "koan" literally mean?

Answer: "public cases"

Thought Q2. What Is the sound of one hand clapping?

1 comment:

  1. I liked the fact that one could reach enlightenment through one's own self. Also that the answers to one's own questions can be answered once you reach your "sense of self" or as Kaitlyn put it -an answer can be derived from every individual. I also agree with the idea that doubt needs to exist in the world.

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