I'm curious as to how Zen in the West differs from Zen in Japan. I only visited one Zen temple during my 15-day vacation to Japan last year, and that was Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavillion. On the grounds was a small temple dedicated to Acalanatha (Japanese: Fudo Myo-o), who is typically associated with esoteric Shingon Buddhism and is the main deity invoked in their Goma fire ritual.
In the West, Zen seems to be pretty austere and simplistic. I only attended one Zen gathering in New Zealand, but it basically involved two sessions of sitting meditation with a session of walking meditation in between, with some chanting including the Heart Sutra at the end. A simple altar with a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha was placed at the front of the meditation space. It was held in a church basement so I don't know what a regular center or temple would look like.
I'm currently in Korea where Zen (seon in Korean) is the dominant school of Buddhism. Korean temples are highly ornate, featuring large statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as paintings depicting Buddhist scenes. Priests dress in robes and conduct ceremonies that involve ringing a bell, bowing and chanting. I did attend an English language meditation session at a Korean Seon temple where we did sitting meditation and walking meditation much like we did in the Japanese Zen group in NZ.
I'm curious as to what Zen in Japan is like. Are Zen temples ornate like Korean temples? Do they feature ceremonies where priests in robes chant sutras? If so, why do you think that side of it didn't come to the West - just the sitting meditation and walking meditation?
Submitted May 25, 2019 at 08:56PM by KiwiNFLFan http://bit.ly/2Mj3sXM
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