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WHAT IS ZEN?
The ancient path of Zen (seated meditation to attain enlightenment) has
its roots in the Indian Dhyana (Sanskrit for seated meditation) aspect of
Yoga and was the vehicle that Siddartha Gautama used to reach
enlightenment and become Buddha (the awakened/enlightened one) when he
sat down in front of the Boddhi tree around the fifth century BCE.  Zen
is considered either an off-shoot or a formal sect of Buddhism.  

From Yoga (in ancient India), Dhyana migrated to china around the fifth
century CE with Boddhidarma.  Boddhidarma, like Buddha, was the son of
a king and born into the royal Kshatrya warrior caste in India.  Buddha,
however, was born in the north near the Nepalese border and
Boddhidarma was born in the south (supposedly in Conjeeveram near
present-day Madras).  Boddhidarma’s teacher Prajnatara (who was
responsible for changing Boddhidarma’s name from the original
Boddhitara), instructed him to travel to China to correct the Buddhist
teachings there. Boddhidarma spent years in China perfecting his Dhyana
and it eventually became the basis for his Ch'an (Zen).  Incidentally,
Boddhidarma is also credited for the creation of Shaolin kung-fu from
the roots of his Kshatrya warrior training.

As time passed, Ch’an absorbed some of the native characteristics of
China including a strong influence from Taoism.  As Ch’an made its way to
Korea and Japan, it continued to adapt to the different cultural
characteristics.  Now, Ch'an (Zen) is in many different countries and is
absorbing new regional characteristics from those countries as time goes
by.