Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that takes meditation as its central practice and direct insight as its goal. It arose in China as Chan, was carried to Japan where it flourished under the name Zen, and has since spread worldwide.

The tradition traces its origin to the Buddha’s wordless transmission of the dharma to Mahakashyapa and to the legendary arrival of Bodhidharma in China. Historical development is more complex, involving the interaction of Indian meditation techniques with Chinese culture and Daoist sensibilities. Two major Japanese branches emerged: Rinzai, which uses paradoxical riddles called koans to provoke breakthrough, and Soto, which emphasizes shikantaza, “just sitting,” without deliberate striving for any particular state.

Zen training is austere. Long hours of seated meditation, attention to posture and breath, and the guidance of a teacher are the ordinary means. Enlightenment is described as the sudden recognition of one’s own true nature, already complete. Art forms—ink painting, calligraphy, garden design, the tea ceremony—became vehicles for the same insight expressed in everyday activity.

Zen distrusts elaborate doctrine and verbal explanation. The point is not to talk about the moon but to see it.