Zen, important school of East Asian Buddhism that constitutes the mainstream monastic form of Mahayana Buddhism in China, Korea, and Vietnam and accounts for approximately 20 percent of the Buddhist temples in Japan.

The Origins of Zen Zen is a school of Buddhism which emphasises the practice of meditation as the key ingredient to awakening ones inner nature, compassion and wisdom. The practice of meditation (Zen in Japanese) as a means of attaining enlightenment was introduced, as we have seen, by the Buddha himself.

Often referred to simply as “Zen meditation,” it is a form of seated meditation that is central to Zen Buddhism. Thought to have originated in India in the 5 ^th century BCE, this ritual has been transferred from master to disciple uninterrupted for thousands of years.