The popular name for Chan Buddhism, in the West, is Zen Buddhism,
as it was Japanese scholars who first introduced Chan Buddhism to
the West with this translation. Indeed, chan is a shortened form of
the Chinese word channa, rendered from the Sanskrit word dhyana,
which denotes practices of the concentration of the mind through
meditation or contemplation. Although rooted in the Indian
tradition of yoga, which aims at the unification of the individual
with the divine, meditative concentration became integrated into
the Buddhist path to enlightenment as one of the three learnings
(sanxue) of Buddhism. Early Buddhist (or the so-called Hinayana
Buddhist) scriptures include the teachings on four stages of
meditation, four divine abodes, four formless meditations, the
tranquility (samatha) and insight (vipassana) meditations, and so
on. Early Buddhist communities commonly practiced these
meditations, along with the moral disciplines and the study of the
scriptures and doctrines. Mahayana Buddhism, in India and East
Asia, continued the practice of meditation as one of the six
perfections (or virtues) of the bodhisattva path. In this general
context, some eminent monks might have composed
scriptures/treatises for the training of meditation or have become
more famed with meditation. However, the school of Chan is more
than just a group of meditation practitioners. As one of the
Chinese Buddhist schools, it involves its own ideology, its own
community, and its own genealogical history, serving to establish
its own identity. The Historical Dictionary of Chan Buddhism
contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive
bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced
entries on important personalities, schools, texts, vocabularies,
doctrines, rituals, temples, events, and other practices. This book
is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone
wanting to know more about Chan Buddhism.
General
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