Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Also called Zen Buddhism.
Wiktionary
- n. religion A denomination of Buddhism elaborated in Japan.
- n. informal A philosophy of calm reminiscent of that of the Buddhist denomination.
- adj. colloquial Extremely relaxed and collected
WordNet 3.0
- n. street name for lysergic acid diethylamide
- n. a Buddhist doctrine that enlightenment can be attained through direct intuitive insight
- n. school of Mahayana Buddhism asserting that enlightenment can come through meditation and intuition rather than faith; China and Japan
Etymologies
- From Japanese 禅 (zen), from Middle Chinese 禅那 (chánnà), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, "a type of meditation"); compare Pali झान (jhāna) (Wiktionary)
- Japanese zen, from Chinese (Mandarin) chán, meditation, from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, from dhyāti, he meditates. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Many use the term Zen to mean meditation, however the reason why I have chosen the name Sushi Zen is because the word Zen means "healthy" or "good for your body.”
“In fact, the word "Zen" has become almost meaningless, reducing the ancient practice to a mere advertising modifier.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Sigman: Zen and the Art of Presidential Politics -- or Not
“She was a graceful woman, who embodied the word "Zen," and she was my favorite aunt because she never judged and was always supportive of me and my four siblings.”
The Huffington Post: Toan Lam: Slow Your Roll: Think Twice Before You Yell, Honk or Lose It!
“It was what I called his Zen rope-a-dope strategy and it worked.”
“They also often seem to adhere to what I call the Zen Teflon approach to spinnable events: "if you act as if you are teflon and believe you are teflon, you will * be* teflon.”
“While masons run into the danger of dropping a rock on a toe or putting their backs out, they also have the stillness and slower pace that comes with what he calls a Zen trade, Reinhart said.”
“They combine the magic of a Zen tale, told by Jon J Muth, with a mysterious ghost story, a full moon, and in "Zen Ghosts," a Halloween night.”
“Web Zen is created and curated by Frank Davis, and re-posted here on Boing Boing with his kind permission.”
“In Ms. Page's sits a large stone tub that looks out on a fenced in Zen garden with stones, large rocks and grasses.”
“This reminds lay practitioners that Zen is not only about monastic training, but can also be practiced in everyday life.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Zen’.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for Zen.
fbharjo I wonder if the same 'zen'is true of the characters in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" Aug 23, 2010
ruzuzu "Perhaps it would save time if he went back to get his car, but then again it was only a short distance, and he had a tremendous propensity for getting lost when driving. This was largely because of his "Zen" method of navigation, which was simply to find any car that looked as if it knew where it was going and follow it. The results were often more surprising than successful, but he felt it was worth it for the sake of the few occasions when it was both."
Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988). Aug 23, 2010