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by Ewk (Author)
Buddhism is not Zen. Mindfulness is not Zen. Zazen meditation is not Zen. Zen is a name that began with Bodhidharma and includes the Zen Patriarchs of China and the Masters that followed him, such as Huang Po and Joshu and the others in the Mumonkan, and even Tung Shan. They taught no practices, no means and no attainment. As Joshu said, "We are all Patriarchs now that Bodhidharma has come." The Zen conversation is characterized by several memes, one of which is the Four Statements of Zen. These memes have largely been abandoned by those who claim to be Zen Buddhists today. Other memes include Negation (no teaching, no attainment, no wisdom), Zen Dialogue or Dharma Combat, Conceptual Thought, and of course Sudden Enlightenment. The Sudden Enlightenment meme is one of the most ignored memes in Zen. The majority of those claiming to teach Zen Buddhism are preaching the Buddhist religion. They preach a path to inner peace, they preach mindfulness, and they put their faith in a practice called zazen sitting meditation. They claim this is Zen. What Zen Masters taught any of this? In contrast, even a brief review of the Zen Masters that we all agree are the beginning of the lineage, Huang Po, Joshu, Mumon, these old men teach no sitting meditation, no inner peace, and only a sudden enlightenment that does not rely on any means and cannot be attained through any effort. This book contrasts the writings of the old Zen Masters with those today who claim to be Zen Buddhists, but are not Zen.
