ZEN is the pathless path! A contradiction in terms it may well seem at first, but the true seeker soon realizes that there is no other way to describe a system that defies definition. Zen is new and distinct from every other religion. The root of Zen is in Buddhism, but I say that Buddhism has flowered in Zen. In the lifetime of the Buddha, his work brought about a revolutionary change in society, but once he was gone, his charisma too started waning. In his lifetime, the hindu priests, pundits and scholars could do nothing to stop his mission. Buddha was an extraordinarily intelligent man. His logic and reasoning were so sound and scientific, that he attracted hordes of intelligent young men and women. People who had become custodians of the hindu religion, suddenly seemed childish, naïve and even downright unintelligent compared to him. The educated hindus could not understand what Buddha was saying. They thought he was the biggest enemy of the hindu religion. And yet they could not do anything to stop him. But once Buddha was gone, things became much easier for them.
In those days, Buddha was an unusual man on the landscape of religion. He was a mahatma who never spoke about the soul or of god. If someone asked him whether the soul exists or not, or whether god exists or not, he would remain silent. Hindus thought he was a non-believer, an atheist. They could not understand the kind of religion he wished to propagate; one in which there was no room for soul or god. Buddha had his own philosophy; that god and soul are just mere words that people have accepted without question or experience. The custodians of religion became the sworn enemies of Buddha. To Buddha, they did not matter. The day he died, they drew their swords to fight the philosophy of a person who was no more. While the hindu religion was fixated on the relevance of yagnas, Buddha said that there is no need for them. He said that heaven and hell are fabrications of the mind and there is no heaven to be attained by performing yagnas, so do not waste your time, money and material in repeating mantras and chanting them for hours. To the hindus who had practiced these yagnas for centuries, this was something unacceptable. Buddha had hit at the very foundation of the organizations that controlled the hindu religion.
Hindu dharma believed in the ashram system, where life is divided into four sections. The first is bramacharya or celibacy, the second is grahasthya or a householder’s existance, the third is vanprastha or a semi retirement mode, and the fourth and last stage is sanyasa or reunciation. Buddha said that no one knows whether he will live to a ripe old age or die young. No one has a guarantee of time. So if you wish to seek the truth - do it now. If you wish to come out of the vicious cycle of pain and pleasure, do it now and do not wait for old age or that last phase of your life when you will take sanyasa. Begin your journey now . He started initiating very young people into sanyasa. The whole system of the hindu religion was in a topsy-turvy state.
Many times I have seen some gurus initiating children into sanyasa. But they themselves are householders and do not initiate their own biological children into sanyasa. On the contrary, they get their children married and even gift them their seat - the ‘Guru Gaddi.’ Other people’s children are made to serve their children! But Buddha was a very different person. He not only initiated young men and women into sanyasa, but also his own mother, son and even his wife. It is said that Buddha’s wife Yashodra sent her son Rahul to Buddha with the plea that he be given his rightful inheritance. Rahul went to Buddha and after prostrating before him said, “I am Rahul your son, you left me at a very young age. Now I have come to ask you a question. Every son has a right to his father’s property. Being your son, I have come here to stake my rightful claim. My mother has sent me to you.” Yashodra had thought that Rahul’s words would insult the Buddha. After all, what does a wandering monk own? What is his legacy? A begging bowl and tattered clothes! Buddha was a prince who would had inherited his father’s kingdom had he remained at home. He would have had all the riches, palaces and armies, but he left everything to become a renunciate. And what does a renunciate own? This was Yashodra’s attempt to shame the Buddha into returning home. But a Buddha is a Buddha. When he heard this statement from his son, he placed his hand on Rahul’s head and called his chief disciple Sariputa and said, “Prepare for the ceremony, I will initiate Rahul into sanyasa because my sanyasa is my treasure and this is what I am going to give to my son.” Buddha initiated his eight year old son into sanyasa. Rahul’s head was shaven, he was given yellow clothes and taken into the sangha.

The custodians of hindu religion were angry and confused at finding that inspite of their long history, people were attracted towards the Buddha in such huge numbers, that thousands of young men and women were becoming bhikhus. People of all classes and castes were getting close to the Buddha. No one could compete with Buddha on the basis of logic and reasoning. Buddha was perhaps the first scientist in religion. To religion, he brought reasoning, analysis and an understanding of the basic functions of the mind and body. Buddha remains unparalleled by any master before or after him. He was from a warrior clan and had seen and experienced life and the functioning of society as a whole. He had observed that society believes that sanyasa is only for old people. He broke this social misconception and presented a new line of thought: if you are not aware of when death will strike, how can you plan to dedicate your life to spiritualism in your old age? So he initiated people of all age groups and the youngest was Rahul, his own son who was eight years old at the time.
Just imagine! Buddha had initiated more than ten thousand ‘bikhus’ and ‘bikhunis’ into sanyasa and most of them travelled with him. Thousands of bikhus walking in a line, one after the another, walking awarefully and reciting the triratna:

Buddham sharanam gachami
Sangham sharanam gachami
Dhamam sharanam gachami

Wherever Buddha went, his whole entourage would create a fervor, a magic that people were stirred just by the sight of these young men and women walking in silence, vibrating and pulsating with the deep resonance of peace.
Buddha gave a new definition to religion; his teachings are presented as the four noble truths or ‘Arya-Satya.’ First, there is misery in this world; second, there is a way to come out of misery; third, there is a reason for these miseries; fourth, nirvana is the goal.
Understand this for it is something very close to human nature. You have heard about the soul and of god. You have seen and experienced the pain of the world. The word god remains an empty word as long as there is no experience attached to it. Buddha said, “understand this life which you are living, see that there is dukh, misery in this world. You may cram-up the holy scriptures and shastras in your mind. But what is the use if you do not understand the way to come out of the misery and pain?”
You must have observed that whenever there is some turbulence in the life of a religious person, his whole belief system weakens. He begins to doubt even the existence of god. Buddha ended the whole discussion and debate about soul and god. He said, “For now there is pain in your life and every moment your life is passing by, old age is coming closer and death can strike at any time. After death, whether or not there will be another life is just a matter of speculation. Whether or not there will be a birth is not important, what is important is to learn how to live our present life. How can you expect joy and peace from the other life which you may or may not have?”
When Buddha was alive, his charismatic personality mesmerized people. His logic and his reasoning made people understand what he was saying, but the day he died, all of his enemies, who thought that Buddha was trying to destroy the hindu religion became proactive. Hindus - who say that their religion is a religion of tolerance, patience and non violence - showed a different facet of their character. The Buddhist math and ashrams were burnt and many ‘bhikus’ were killed. All the good work done by Buddha was destroyed in a span of some fifty years and the roots of the Buddha dharma were forced out of the country.
In order to propagate and survive, many Buddhist monks started traveling outside India. One of them was Bodhidharma, who went all the way to China looking for a capable person to whom he could transfer his knowledge. He had resolved not to speak till he found the right person. It is said that after arriving in China, he sat facing a wall. He just sat by the wall and never looked at any individual for more than twelve years. He said, “The one who is not thirsty should not be given water, the one who is not thirsty to know, eager to know what truth is, why should I talk to such a person?”
Bodhidharma took Buddhism to China and in course of time dhyan became ‘chan’ in the Chinese language. It is said that after a long period, finally Bodhidharma got a disciple and then he started his work. Bodhidharma is the first preceptor of Zen. The word dhyan became chan in China and by the time it reached Japan it became zen. So, what is Zen? Zen is meditativeness. What is meditativeness? It is the journey of moving inwards. There is nothing outside of you, whatever is there is right within you. And what is the way to go in? The way is zen.
What is the difference between zen and meditation? In India and in Indian philosophy, dhyan is a method where the objective is to experience the transcendental stages. Where the objective is to heighten the level of consciousness. But zen is altogether different. Zen does not separate your normal every-day life from your meditative life. What you are and how you are - in that very situation one can practice zen.

According to zen, meditation is not something you do. It is not for some specific time that you are spiritual and are expected to do spiritual things; and at other times you go about your worldly affairs. Zen says that this very life is spiritual, all places and all times are spiritual. There is no particular method as such, which is supposed to be practiced in zen. Your ordinary life is transformed into meditation, so you need not leave your home. Become a bhiku or shave your head; there is no need for any outer change. The only change which has to be brought about is within you, in you. And the process with which this transformation is brought about is zen.
It is difficult to define zen, but it is very easy to understand that zen does not divide you. Zen does not separate you from your mind, or the world from god. For zen, the world and god are one. This very mind is a Buddha mind and your very being is a divine being - is it not amazing?
Normally you think of a particular place as being special or divine - temple, monastery, pilgrim center or ashram. This morning I was reading in a newspaper about an ashram where firearms were used and people were killed. Would you call this an ashram? or a divine place? The trustees of hindu temples and gurdwaras often fight one another. Whenever it is time for electing the trustees, rage is unleashed, people exchange blows and beat one another with slippers. I really wonder how they take their slippers inside the religious premises, because normally in hindu and sikh shrines, slippers are taken off before entering the building. In gurdwaras, the situation is more grim, because baptsized sikhs wear a kirpan - a small dagger. So if anything goes wrong, they have a weapon to inflict an injury which can be potentially fatal. There have been instances in many gurdawaras where swords were drawn and people were killed. Would you call these places religious or sacred? It is your mind which accepts these labels, it is just blind faith and the conditioning of your mind which says that a particular place is sacred.
Zen says every place is sacred; unholy is in your mind. The day you become pure, the day you make your mind pure, from that day onwards, all places and all spaces become pure and spiritual. All differences are man made, all labels are fabrications of society. All places are sacred as every atom has divine energy pulsuating in it. Right from the core of your being to the core of any object, one and only one energy is present.