P7+Zen,+Monks+and+Nuns

by David R. and Lauren M. Introduction During the Tokagawa period, religion was so important to the Japanese that it became part of their everyday lives. Many Japanese people admired China for its industry, written language and social structure. The Japanese adopted the Main Chinese religion of Zen Buddhism. Meditation was a major part of Zen Buddhism. It helped people attain enlightenment from the gods (Kami). The people who lead the meditation sessions were Monks (if they were male) and Nuns (if they were female). Zen Buddhists practice a special kind of meditation called Zazen.
 * Meditation: Zen, Monks & Nuns p7 **

Meditation- Why do you do it? In Zen Buddhism Meditation is an important part of everyday life. Meditation was used to attain enlightenment. Achieving enlightenment is gradual so people would traditionally meditate a lot. Meditation was also used to gain wisdom. Sometimes it takes people hours to clear their mind of all things. When meditating, people focus their mind on one thing. They also are supposed to focus on their breathing. Gardens are a great place for meditation. Meditation is extremely important to Japanese Monks and every day people.

Meditation-How do you do it? There are two main stages of Zazen. Zazen means seated meditation. The first stage in meditation is the calming stage. The calming is where you are starting to calm down and start focusing. The best way to do this is to try and focus on your breathing. After you have a calm mind you can move onto insight meditation. Insight meditation is the second stage of meditation. There are many exercises for insight meditation. There are many people who practice meditation. If people show signs of dosing off when they are meditating a monk whacks them on the shoulder to keep them awake. Most of the time when people meditate they face a wall so they don’t get distracted.

Nuns- Why are they important to Japanese Culture? Nuns played a big role in the creation of Zen in Japan. There was lots of discrimination to nuns in the Tokugawa shogun. They would not let nuns become Zen teachers or masters. They were not even allowed to go in temples. They had very low social status and were almost unnoticed. They were still a big part in Japanese religious belief. Lots of them donated money towards making new temples to worship Kami. Even though the nuns were not very well known they were still a major part of Japanese history.

Monks-Why are they important to Japanese Culture? Monks were leaders of Zen Buddhism. They were sent from China to Japan to teach the Chinese language to the willing to learn Japanese. With the Chinese language they also brought the religion that they taught back in China, Buddhism. Monks laid Buddhism on top of the Shinto religion that Japanese already practiced. This worked nicely because to main principles of Buddhism and Shinto are very similar. Monks meditated for hours to obtain the enlightenment that they needed to teach the Japanese all about Buddhism. Monks trained their minds to do hours of meditation by answering a riddle that had no answer. They spent years working on it. Monks Practiced Zen Buddhism.

Zen Buddhism Zen is the most popular sect of Buddhism in Japan. It was introduced in the 6th century from China. Buddhists believe in the afterlife and that everything that you do in this life affects the next. Therefore ancestors are very important. Many families have altars in their homes to honor their ancestors. Zen teachings were very popular among the military class. In Zen, Meditation is very important and is done a lot to become a better religious person. Many Japanese find the religious practices of Zen Buddhism just become a part of everyday life.

Conclusion Zen Buddhism is an essential part of Samurai life in the Tokagawa period. It is so essential to Japanese that they don’t think about it, it’s just part of their everyday life. Most Japanese meditate often usually once a day to ensure that they are able know what to do and make clear decisions throughout the day. Nuns and Monks are essential because without them there would be religious chaos. Finally Meditation, Zen Buddhism, Monks & Nuns are extremely important to Japanese people and society.

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