What is the difference between Zen and Buddhism?

Are they the same thing? Is Zen a part of Buddhism? I am not clear on the distinction between these 2 practices. Thanks.|||Zen is one approach to "enlightenment", which is the goal of Buddhism. Some Buddhists attempt to achieve the greater consciousness through ascetic prectices, others through devotional rituals. Zen Buddhists employ a style of meditation and mental exercises that attempt to shock the mind out of conventional thinking.|||Zen is a school of Buddhism - The essential element of Zen Buddhism is found in its name, for Zen means "meditation." Zen teaches that enlightenment is achieved through the profound realization that one is already an enlightened being. This awakening can happen gradually or in a flash of insight (as emphasized by the Soto and Rinzai schools, respectively). But in either case, it is the result of one's own efforts. Deities and scriptures can offer only limited assistance.





It's part of the mahayana school of Buddhism Mahayana Buddhism emerged in the first century CE as a more liberal, accessible interpretation of Buddhism. As the "Greater Vehicle" (literally, the "Greater Ox-Cart"), Mahayana is a path available to people from all walks of life - not just monks and ascetics.





Theravada (traditional) and Mahayana Buddhists differ in their perspective on the ultimate purpose of life and the way in which it can be attained. Theravada Buddhists strive to become arhats, or perfected saints who have attained enlightenment and nirvana. This is considered to only be possible for monks and nuns, who devote their entire lives to the task. The best outcome the laity can hope for is to be reborn in the monastic life.





Mahayana Buddhists, on the other hand, hope to become not arhats but boddhisatvas, saints who have become enlightened but who unselfishly delay nirvana to help others attain it as well, as the Buddha did. Perhaps more significantly for one who would choose between the paths, Mahayana Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson. The various subdivisions within the Mahayana tradition, such as Zen, Nichiren, and Pure Land, promote different ways of attaining this goal, but all are agreed that it can be attained in a single lifetime by anyone who puts his or her mind (and sometimes body) to it.





The Mahayana form of Buddhism tends to be more religious in nature than its Theravadan counterpart. It often includes veneration of celestial beings, Buddhas and boddhisatvas, ceremonies, religious rituals, magical rites, and the use of icons, images, and other sacred objects. The role of such religious elements varies, however: it is central to Tibetan/Tantric Buddhism, but is highly discouraged by Zen practitioners, who have been known to burn statues of the Buddha to demonstrate their unimportance.





Hope this helps


Halcon :-))|||Zen is a state, not a philosophy. It is the way the Japanese pronounced the Chinese word "Ch'an", which is the Chinese pronunciation of the Sanskrit word for meditation, "dhyana". The state of no thought, totally contentless awareness, is called "samadhi" or "pure consciousness", and being able to function in that state is called "Zen". There are schools which aim at Zen and use Buddhism as the basis of their teachings, but not one of them would say Buddhism is necessary to Zen.|||Zen is a Japanese term, borrowed from the Chinese "Chan", meaning "to sit". It describes methodology rather than philosophy. Buddhism traveled from India, through the Himalayas, into China and then into Japan. Along the way it adopted local flavors and customs. So Tibetan Buddhism, headed by the Dali Lama, doesn't look much like Nichiren Zen from Japan.





The basic tenets that Buddha taught, the four noble truths, the eightfold path, the illusion of samasara, of separateness, vs. the reality of nirvana, oneness, the need for each individual to explore and question all the teachings for his or her self, are common to most branches and schools, however.|||Zen is a sub-set of Buddhism. Much the same as Catholicism is a sub-set of Christianity. In both cases, there is no difference.|||The word 'zen' was explained to me as meaning the simple way of...


I write haiku poems and they are the simple version of poetry. Where as Buddhism is a religion that embraces the art of 'zen'.|||Zen is Japanese Buddhism. It means Meditation. Chan is Chinese Buddhism. Most of those schools don't focus too much on scripture, but on meditating, koans, etc...|||I was going to answer this question but Halcon has already given an excellent response. Admirable.