What is really the essence of Zen Buddhism?
One has to understand that Zen Buddhism is not a theory, or a body of knowledge. It is not a belief, a canon, or a religion; but rather, it is a practical experience. Zen is not something you can intellectualize, it is your personal experience of the here and the now. Zen does not worry about the afterlife, reincarnation, or God, it is focused on this moment－right now.
Zen meditation or Zazen, is basically seated meditation wherein the one practicing it is in good posture, “pushing the sky” with the top of his head, paying careful attention to breathing, until he is fully alert and present. The end goal of Zen Buddhism is to take someone’s rational and intellectual mind out of the mental loop, so that he can realize his own Buddha-nature.
It is meditation with no regard for physical objects and other anchors; just letting the thoughts ebb and flow without any kind of resistance or interference. This sense of being focused in the present is the true essence of Zazen. It is backed by scientific research that Zazen, when practiced repeatedly, has been proven to facilitate recovery from sickness, strengthen one’s spiritual resources, and free he who practices it from his own anxiety and destructive impulses.
Zen Buddhism is not confined to the time spent in meditation. It is something more than Zazen. It is considered a state of mind that is seamlessly weaved into daily life. Zen Buddhism entails living life in the moment, thus increasing serenity and productivity. It is throwing away learned responses to day-to-day pressures from this modern society that we are currently in and recognizing things for what they are. It is living in vital freedom, unbound, being open to whatever that may come and may go.
( Source : learnjapanese123.com )
Zen Buddhism
When one discusses Zen Buddhism, always, it seems to point to the practices such as sitting meditation and koan. Zen Buddhism is also known for its emphasis on discovering your own Buddha nature and the idea of instant enlightenment. However, i feel that koans will not make sense unless one has done in-depth study of Buddhism. Also, if one practices sitting meditation, but without a Buddhist background, then actually, it can lead to insights that are not necessarily understood from a Buddhistic point of view. One might imagine one is having a "god-like experience or meeting "god" if one does not have the right terminology, knowledge and study. This is because many different religions also practice meditation and prayer. So then, what makes zen zen?
I found this interesting quote from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-zen/#OverDual
"we can say that Zen is an anti-philosophy in that it is not a systematization of knowledge built on the use of a discursive mode of reasoning anchored in the (alleged) certainty or transparency of ego-consciousness, one that follows an epistemological paradigm built on an ego-logical, either-or, dualistic mode of knowing. Yet, it upholds something like a philosophy that springs forth through a reflective restatement of the practice, though this “upholding” must be understood with a proviso that it maintains, as mentioned in the foregoing, a “positionless position.” (Abe, 1989.)"
So actually, zen is about being non-dualistic. It's about going beyond the idea of self and other.
However, other buddhist schools also talk about non-dualism. In that case, what makes zen zen? Is it mainly its practice?