You are in the midst of the Kingdom of God . .
Buddhism is quite well known in the West today. All schools of Buddhism are based on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived in northern India about 2500 years ago. At the age of 33 he had an experience - a religious awakening, through which he saw what this universe is, how it works and how we human beings can live in harmony. From that time until his death at the age of 80 he strove to instill this insight into his followers.
Over time several distinct schools of Buddhism evolved, of which Zen is one that emphasizes zazen - sitting meditation.
Here is a famous description of Zen Buddhism:
達磨四聖句
Daruma no Shiseiku Four Sacred Verses of
Bodhidharma.
教外別傳 Kyõge
betsuden A special transmission outside
the scriptures;
不立文字 Furyû
monji
Not depending upon
words and letters;
直指人心 Jikishi
ninshin
Directly pointing at the mind-heart of man;
見性成佛 Kenshõ
jõbutsu Seeing into one's
nature and attaining Buddhahood.
These verses are easily understood except for “attaining Buddhahood”. This can be translated as “realization of perfect enlightenment”: an experience of the fact of primordial perfection of all and everything. There is nothing to attain, nothing to get. It is already here. Wake up! You are in the midst of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore zazen is simply sitting. There is nothing to strive for, nothing to gain. Mastering this state however, takes some adjustment and this is where Zen training comes in.
One organization that can help you here is TaikyoJi, Egely Monastery.
Our practice is based on the Rinzai School of Zen Buddha Dharma. Rinzai Zen Buddhism is famous for using koans to awaken its students to the “special transmission outside the scriptures”. Koans are dialogues or questions that are impossible to understand intellectually, but rather point to direct experiences.
Our teacher, Denko Mortensen, first became interested in Zen Buddhism in the late sixties in Denmark. He went to Ryutaku-Ji in Japan, where he met Soen Nakagawa Roshi, and later became a student of Soen Roshi’s successor, Eido Shimano Roshi. Denko was ordained as a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk on July 4th 1980. Denko received Dharma Transmission (Inka) from Eido Roshi in 2002.
