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Zen
Definitions
- 1 Of or related to Zen Buddhism.
"Zen meditation"
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Zen: of or related to Zen Buddhism, particularly its focus on indirect teaching of wisdom through riddles and stories. alt-of
"Greggs: You hung over? Just sayin', you look like shit. Moreland: You know what you need at a crime scene? Greggs: Rubber glove? Moreland: Soft eyes. Greggs: Like I'm s'posed to cry an' shit? Moreland: You got soft eyes, you can see the whole thing. You got hard eyes? You starin' at the same tree, missin' the forest. Greggs: Ah. Zen shit. Moreland: Soft eyes, grasshopper."
- 3 Alternative letter-case form of zen. alt-of, colloquial
""It sounds very Zen," I said. "A log cabin with no logs.""
- 4 Wise, displaying enlightenment or similar wisdom, insightful, unburdened and free of worries, extremely relaxed and capable. colloquial
- 1 A school of Mahayana Buddhism characterized by sudden enlightenment achieved by indirect means and principally associated with China and Japan.
"For Orientals these mysterious formulae are clear and familiar truths, but for us they are completely bewildering... Dhyana Buddhism, which is known in Japan as "Zen"... is not speculation at all but immediate experience of what, as the bottomless ground of Being, cannot be apprehended by intellectual means, and cannot be conceived or interpreted even after the most unequivocal and incontestable experiences: one knows it by not knowing it."
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of zen: (religion) enlightenment and (informal) mindful action, instruction, or behavior considered similar to Zen. alt-of, uncountable
"Hōyen... used to produce his own hand and ask his disciples, why it was called a hand? When we know the reason, there is satori and we have Zen."
- 2 Synonym of enlightenment, particularly the kind acquired through Zen meditation. uncountable
- 3 street name for lysergic acid diethylamide wordnet
- 4 An approach to instruction, understanding, or an activity similarly emphasizing simplicity and intuition rather than conventional thinking or fixation on goals. uncountable
"the zen of cooking"
- 5 a Buddhist doctrine that enlightenment can be attained through direct intuitive insight wordnet
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- 6 school of Mahayana Buddhism asserting that enlightenment can come through meditation and intuition rather than faith; China and Japan wordnet
Etymology
From Japanese 禅(ぜん) (zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Doublet of dhyana and Chan.
From Japanese 禅(ぜん) (zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Doublet of dhyana and Chan.
From Japanese 禅(ぜん) (zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Doublet of dhyana and Chan.
From Zen. In more general use, popularized by Eugen Herrigel's 1948 Zen in the Art of Archery and Robert M. Pirsig's 1974 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
From Zen. In more general use, popularized by Eugen Herrigel's 1948 Zen in the Art of Archery and Robert M. Pirsig's 1974 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
See also for "zen"
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