What Are The Most Important Concepts Of Zen? Why?

Concepts of Zen
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Concepts of Zen
Introduction
Zen is attributed to the awakening of a Japanese man called Shakyamuni Gotama who lived about 2500 years ago in India. Zen forms the heart of the Japanese culture within the context of the school Mahayana Buddhism. The whole idea of Zen is the practice of Zen meditation also known as Zazen. Za means sitting while zen is meditation, according to the Japanese. Zen, therefore, is a way of self-discovery and vigilance attained by sitting and meditating on a meditation cushion. When Zen is practiced, it becomes an attitude of spiritual awakening from which the entire actions of life flow such as eating, breathing, sleeping, talking, walking and thinking among many others. Thus, Zen is a meditation practice that emphasizes rigorous self-control which should be expressed or reflected in one’s daily life and it should act in favour or for the benefit of others.
There are a number of Zen’s most important concepts. First and foremost, Zen emphasizes on the concept of letting go. Letting go is a mental practice in which an individual should recognize the fact that a human mind shall not have an end to the emotional distractions that keep dragging the mind away but rather exercise behaviour of bringing back the mind whenever it seems to be taken away or distracted (Suzuki and Jaffe 42). The idea is not getting concerned about distractions but practicing to let go of the fantasies, exciting moments or disturbances that drag the mind away while someone is at the state of unconscious (Suzuki and Jaffe 42). Fantasies or distractions are spontaneous and upon realization of distraction, Zen says that they should be let off and the mind brought back.
Another concept of Zen is attentive intimacy. Attentive intimacy is the product of a successful ability of letting go. Once an individual is able to let go the fantasies and distractions to the mind, it follows that the same individual is perfecting his or her ability of being attentive to daily activities pertaining to life (Watts 173). Being attentive brings about the intimacy as the mind is less distant from the self and intimacy can be formed with things around and maintains mindfulness of other people around (Watts2). Strong intimacysmoothen relationships and creates ability of solving problems as the mind may be devotedto finding solutions while it is free from distractions.
Apart from letting go and attentive intimacy, Zen further develops a concept of response to disturbances. At the beginning stages of practicing Zen, it is evident that more distractions can appear in the m...