ANINTRODUCTION TO ZEN BUDDHISM
ForthisreasonthereJirepeoplewhowoulddeclarethat
thisbranchofBuddhismisinrealitynoBuddhisminthesensethatthelatteriscommonlyunderstood.Mycontention,how-
ever,isthis:anythingthathaslifeinitisanorganism,anditis
intheverynatureofanorganismthatitneverremainsinthesamestateofexistence.Anacornisquitedifferent,evenasa
youngoakwithtenderleavesjustoutofitsprotectiveshellis
quitedifferentfromafull-growntree sostately and gigantic
andtoweringuptothesky.Butthroughoutthesevaryingphases
ofchangethereisacontinuationofgrowthandunmistakablemarksofidentity,whenceweknowthatoneandthesameplant
has passed throughmany stages ofbecoming. Theso-called
primitiveBuddhismistheseed;outofitFar-EasternBuddhism
hascomeintoexistencewiththepromiseofstillfurthergrowth.ScholarsmaytalkofhistoricalBuddhism,butmysubjecthere
istoseeBuddhismnotonlyinitshistoricaldevelopmentbutfrom
thepointofviewofitsstillvitallyconcerningusasaquickening
spiritualforceintheFarEast.AmongthemanysectsofBuddhismthathavegrownup,
especiallyinChinaandJapan,wefindauniqueorderclaiming
totransmittheessenceandspiritofBuddhismdirectlyfromits
author,andthisnotthroughanysecretdocumentorbymeansofanymysteriousrite.Thborderisoneofthemostsignificant
aspectsofBuddhism, not only fromthe pointofview ofits
historicalimportanceandspiritualvitality,butfromthepoint
ofviewofitsmostoriginalandstimulatingmannerofdemon-stration. The"DoctrineoftheBuddha-heart {buddhahridaya)"
isitsscholasticname,butmorecommonlyitisknownas"Zen".
ThatZenisnotthesameasDhyana,thoughthetermZ'^^
derived from the Chinese transliteration {ch'an-na; zenna in
Japanese)oftheoriginalSanskrit,willbeexplainedlateron.
Thisschoolisuniqueinvariouswaysinthehistoryofreligion.
Itsdoctrines, theoreticallystated,may besaid tobethoseof
speculativemysticism,buttheyarepresentedanddemonstrated
insuchamannerthatonlythoseinitiateswho,afterlongtrain-
ing,haveactuallygainedaninsightintothesystemcanunder-standtheirultimatesignification.Tothosewhohavenotacquired
this penetrating knowledge, that is, to those who have not
experiencedZenintheireverydayactivelife—itsteachings,or
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