Zen terminology
Zen terminology
| The lay person participating for the first time in a Zazen meeting will
feel slightly embarrassed. This is due to the specific Zen terminology.
Therefore we‘d ask those who wish to participate to have a look at the
following words. It is important to know the meaning of the terms. |
B |
|
| Banka | Evening service, reading sutra. |
C |
|
| Choka | Morning service, reading sutra. |
| Chukai | Originally, this means losening robe and kesa. In the meantime it means the breaks between the →shijo of two periods of zazen, when the strict posture may be released. |
D |
|
| Densu | Office, taking care of the tasks in the Buddha hall and the main hall. The lodging of the densu is called densuryo. |
| Dojo | Place of training, of →shugyo. For Zen practice as well as for martial arts. |
| Dokusan | Voluntary, individual →sanzen. A student meets the →Roshi in order to present independently the interpretation of a →koan. |
F |
|
| Fukusu | Cloth for wrapping up bowls. |
G |
|
| Gassho | Bringing the palms of the hands together. Expresses that one is there with all one's heart. |
| Ge | Teachings of Zen in verse, praising ancient monks and masters. |
| Gyojuzaga | Walking-standing-sitting-lying down. All movements of everyday life belong to these four kinds of moving, they are called →shiigi. |
H |
|
| Handaikan | Office of serving at meal times, in turns. |
| Hankafuza | Half lotus seat; left foot on right leg. |
| Hojo | It's said that Vimalakirti, one of the Buddha's students, lived in a room in which all sides (Ho) had a length of about 2.5m (one jo). Thus the temple building in which the chief priest is living is named so. The main hall of a temple as well may be called hojo. |
I |
|
| Ino | Leader of the assembly of the monks. Starts chanting the sutra and the other monks follow, reads the praises alone. |
| Inryo | The residence of the →Roshi or of the eldest. |
| Intoku | To take care in secret of low, unpopular jobs and thus gain merit. The often detested cleaning of the toilets is one of them. |
| Isshu | The character 'shu' is used to denote the counting of incense sticks. Nowadays it's employed for measuring time during zazen. Burning one incense stick takes about 45 minutes. |
J |
|
| Jihatsu | One's own bowls, wrapped up in a cloth and carried around. At the table they will be unwrapped, used, cleaned and wrapped up again. |
| Jikido | Dining hall. |
| Jikijitsu | Being in charge for the day. Office of organizing everyday life, being responsible for buildings and implements and to supervise all tasks. Meanwhile it means the responsibility in the →zendo, leading zazen. |
| Juki | The soup pot, for miso soup etc. |
| Jukyo | Reading sutra, aloud or quiet. |
| Junkei | Jundokeisei. Going around in the →zendo with the →keisaku to correct those who appear to lack concentration or seem to be sleepy. |
K |
|
| Kaichin | Spreading matresses before going to bed, then night rest. |
| Kaihan | By hitting the wooden board hanging near the zendo the time is being told. |
| Kaijo | Getting up, beginning the day. |
| Kaiyoku | Going to the bath. In zen temples every five days it is wash- and bathing day, on days with a 4 or a 9 in the date. |
| Kankin | Reading buddhist teachings and sutras quietly. Seeing the words with the eyes, taking up the meaning with the heart. |
| Kannazen | As the student has to work with the→koan, one after the other, the →sanzen of the →Roshi and the disciple is the centrepoint of the practice which is to lead to enlightment. This is the method of Rinzai Zen, the method of Soto Zen is called →mokushozen. |
| Kanto | Leader at meals, head of the →handaikan. |
| Kato | Means: Hanging up at the hook. Someone who newly enters the monks community to take part in the training for a certain time at first hangs up his robe and his clothes at the hook above his mat which will henceforth serve as his sleeping and living space. |
| Keisaku | A stick, used to encourage and to warn. In Soto Zen called kyosaku. |
| Kenge | Judging and interpreting the →koan, from an independent point of view. |
| Kensho | Clearly realizing one's own original nature, the enlightment. |
| Kentan | The →shike or the →jikijitsu go round in the →zendo and check the zazen posture. |
| Kinhin | Walk around a specific room. In zazen one gets up from time to time and, hands held in →shashu, walks around quietly, in order to prevent sleepiness and to rest tired legs. |
| Koan | Problem, given by the →Roshi to the disciple. |
| Koban | Coaster for incense sticks, which are used to determine the length of zazen. |
| Kosoku | Ancient examples. Great words, sayings, guiding lines and commentaries by great masters and outstanding zen personalities. Used in zen as material to deal with. |
| Kukyu | Serving at mealtimes. Those serving are called →handaikan. |
M |
|
| Mokushozen | While the style of Rinzai Zen is called →kannazen, in Soto it is mokushozen. Quietly emerged in zazen, then the spiritual work of the mind emanates. |
N |
|
| Nibennorai | Leaving the →zendo for the toilet. Possible during →chukai. |
R |
|
| Roshi | Abbreviation of the title 'Rodaishi', meaning great old teacher. Old refers to the great experience. |
S |
|
| Saba | Rice, offered to the world of ghosts and demons, but no more than seven grains. |
| Sabaki | Receptacle to collect the →saba from the table. |
| Saiki | Container for pickled vegetables etc. |
| Saiza | Lunch |
| Samu | Means fulfilling ones duty. Daily tasks in the →sodo. |
| Sanmokudo | The three 'halls of silence' are the →zendo, the dining hall and the bath. Unnecessary talking is not allowed. |
| Sanno | Servant of the →shike. The inji. |
| Sanzen | Going to the →shike's room and present →kenge, the interpretation of a problem. Also nisshitsusanzen. |
| Sarei | Originally having tea as act of politeness at zen temples. Distinction is made between sosarei, when everybody is present, and yakuisarei, when only those who are holding an office take part. |
| Sesshin | Concentrating one's mind, not dispersing it. In zen 'sesshin' means a period of time when zazen is being practiced day and night ceaselessly. At the →sodo a sesshin usually lasts seven days. |
| Sessuiki | Container used for the remains of food and the leftover water. Actually it is the container for the water left over from cleaning the →jihatsu, though half of that is being drunk. |
| Shashu | Holding the hands in front of the breast, left top of the right. The right hand covering the breast without touching. Ellbows are held horizontally. |
| Shiigi | The four forms of daily existence, →gyojuzaga. |
| Shijo | In zazen the period of time when one is to remain silent. |
| Shika | Office of receiving guests and taking care of business. |
| Shikantaza | Following zazen without intention, from the point where there is no aiming at virtue or enlightment, merely practicing zazen. |
| Shike | The highest leader a student can contact, the →Roshi. |
| Shoji | The responsible for the service at the →shoso as well as the attendance of the →zendo, also called jisha. |
| Shoken | Formal visit of the practitioner to the →shike. |
| Shoso | The holy monk. In the →zendo enshrined figure, usually the statue of Monju Bosatsu, representing wisdom. |
| Shugyo | Educate one's heart. Forge one's mind. Practice of rectitude. |
| Shukuza | Breakfast |
| Shuya | Nightly round before going to bed. The person in charge checks all buildings whether all doors are closed, whether there are no fires going. This he does reciting the mantra of the protecting god of the night, beating the big wood rattle. |
| Sosan | General sanzen. On the sign of the bell all students of the →sodo go to the →sanzen in the →shike's room. |
| Sorin | The same as →sodo. |
| Sodo | The settlement of the monks, where they lead a common life. A →dojo, exclusively designated for →shugyo. The zen monastery. |
| Susokukan | Counting one's breath during zazen. This method to concentrate oneself aims at steadying the mind. |
T |
|
| Tan | Tan means unity. The individual space of a monk in the →zendo is called tan. Usually, the size of one tatami mat is one tan. 'Tanpyo' is a wood plate, that is hung up above the tan, inscribed with the monk's name. |
| Teisho | Lecture, teaching of the zen way. The →Roshi, aimed at the disciples, raises words of former masters, the patriarchs, or from the →kosoku in order to give instruction on the zen way. |
| Tenzo | Cook |
| Tosu | Toilet |
U |
|
| Unsui | Monk in training, the zen disciple. Abbreviation for kounryusui, meaning:
drifting clouds, flowing water. Serene and never dwelling, as clouds and
water, being on the move, longing for the true master of this world. Also
called 'unno', or if there are many 'daishu'. |
Y |
|
| Yakuseki | Yaku means medicine, seki means stone and stands for needles made of stone for healing practice. So yakuseki means medicine as well as treatment. In zen it's the word for dinner. |
| Yaza | Zazen during the night. After →kaichin one secretly leaves the →zendo to practice zazen on his own "under a tree on a stone". |
Z |
|
| Zafu | A round cushion, which one uses to be able to sit better. Used in Soto Zen. In Rinzai one either folds up the tanbuton, the matress of a →tan, or one uses a long, rectangular cushion. |
| Zen | Originates from the sanskrit word 'dhyana', became 'channa' in China, 'zenna' in Japan and nowadays the short form 'zen' is usual. Being one with world. Also →zenjo. |
| Zendo | Hall for zen practice, where one practices zazen. |
| Zenjo | The word →zen, from Sanskrit, added to the word 'jo', from Chinese, meaning 'settling down'. Means a state of deep concentration, where I and you, subject and object is one. |
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Kyoto Kokusai Zendo
Inukai, Sogabe-cho
Kameoka-shi
621-0027 Kyoto prefecture, JAPAN
Tel / Fax:
++81-(0)771- Jotokuji -24-0152 (English)
Tokoji -23-1784
E-mail: zen@tekishin.org
