Zen meditation goes back over a thousand years and there are no written records available to cover its exact start. So, as you would expect, it is steeped in tradition. No-one is totally certain exactly how or when Zen meditation first started although one of the earliest influences is the Flower Sermon. This ceremony was wordless and this is thought to help the purity of the sermon, where the Sakyamuni or Bhudda offers a white flower to the Sangha, an assembly of people who have a common goal or interest. This kind of ritualistic ceremony is often associated with Zen Bhuddism.
These early origins give Zen meditation a lot of its mystique and mystery. Rather than following a series of written creeds, practicers of Zen rely on the direct experience of different things as they journey from being a student to (eventually) a teacher of the art.
This can make it difficult for beginners to get to grips with Zen meditation methods as the learning takes place over an extended period of time, which is at odds with our modern aim of having everything we want instantly available. That said, the benefits of this are that you end up with a deeper understanding and arguably a better meditation experience.
The method is split up into 5 schools, also known as houses:
Guiyang Schoool, Linji, Caodong, Yunmen and Fayan. They were named after the different Zen masters who founded them and, as you would expect, each takes a slightly different approach.
Between them, these different schools have influenced the current methodology of Zen Bhuddism.
There are also national differences in the way that Zen is practiced. for instance, China's version is called Chán. At one time, this was the largest sect in Chinese Bhuddism and it was responsible for a large body of literature which is still referred to today.
Japan sees three different schools from Soto, the largest, down to Obaku via Rinzai. The Japanese versions are very open and have even seen a recent Christian Zen version emerge.
Thien Buddhism is the largest school of Bhuddism in Vietnam and can trace its roots back to 580 AD when an Indian monk visited Vietnam and introduced the local population to the art of Zen.
Regardless of the school, one of the main styles of Zen meditation is the sitting meditation. It has different names according to the country it is being practiced in but usually involves practitioners sitting in what is called the "lotus" position - the archetypal form of sitting with your legs crossed and hands resting in your lap that is so often used in movies and on television to depict someone meditating.
Some Zen schools also use an intensive group practice where monks meditate for hours and hours every day. A typical routine is to meditate for between thirty and fifty minutes, then take a short break or meal before meditating again. This is only for the most dedicated as very little time is left for sleep or communication outside the monastery.
