REL 101 Class notes, Week 6, Lectures 1-2

450-550 CE: Bodhidharma, founder of Chan (Zen) Buddhism

Zen Buddhism: Bodhidharma

  1. Chan/Zen Buddhism: Historical Background
    • Chinese Philosophical Schools
    • Legend of Bodhidharma
  2. Zen as the Meditation School
  3. Bodhidharma's Zen Buddhist Thought
    • Encouter with Emperor Wu - "Nothing holy whatsoever, there is only vast emptiness"
    • Transmitting the Dharma Seal - Four disciples and "attaining the marrow"

Zen Buddhism and Daoism - Comparisons

Daoism (Zhuangzi)    Zen Buddhism (Bodhidharma)
Shared:
closeness to nature, individual intuition, simplicity and spontaneity,
iconoclasm (anti-establishment), decentralization
sparing with words, often cryptic


Differences: