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I'm one of those odd people that likes looking up definitions of words I'm not sure about. If someone asked me to define the word "Zen", I would have said something like: A state of enlightenment and peace.
I never realised Zen is actually a type of Buddhism. *grins* That's so cool!
Zen (zĕn)
n.
A school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Also called Zen Buddhism.
[Japanese zen, from Chinese (Mandarin) chán, meditation, from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, from dhyāti, he meditates.]
WORD HISTORY It is hard to believe that a word as Asian as Zen is ultimately an Indo-European word. Zen, which has been in English since 1727, is the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese chán, “quietude.” Chán comes from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, “meditation,” from the Sanskrit root dhyā–, dhī–, “to see, observe.” The Indo-European root behind the Sanskrit is *dheiə–, *dhyā–, “to see, look at.” This root also shows up in Greek, where *dhyā- developed into sā–, as in Common Greek *sāma, “sign, distinguishing mark.” This became sēma in Attic Greek, the source of English semantic.
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celtic_sky *grins*
I never realised Zen is actually a type of Buddhism. *grins* That's so cool!
Zen (zĕn)
n.
A school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Also called Zen Buddhism.
[Japanese zen, from Chinese (Mandarin) chán, meditation, from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, from dhyāti, he meditates.]
WORD HISTORY It is hard to believe that a word as Asian as Zen is ultimately an Indo-European word. Zen, which has been in English since 1727, is the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese chán, “quietude.” Chán comes from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, “meditation,” from the Sanskrit root dhyā–, dhī–, “to see, observe.” The Indo-European root behind the Sanskrit is *dheiə–, *dhyā–, “to see, look at.” This root also shows up in Greek, where *dhyā- developed into sā–, as in Common Greek *sāma, “sign, distinguishing mark.” This became sēma in Attic Greek, the source of English semantic.
Why am I looking up definitions of the word "Zen?" Blame
celtic_sky *grins*
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A famous book from back in the day is titled "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
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