Zen Principles - Tea Ceremony Japan

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Zen Principles Mentioned in the Introductory Zen Buddhism

Books summarized by Adam Acar, PhD. See references.

Zen is a philosophy that was born out of Mahayana Buddhism in

the 11th century. Zen puts less emphasis on ancient religious
practices and focuses on meditation, selflessness, and unity in
the universe. Some main principles of Zen philosophy are the
denial of the ego, the focus on interconnectedness in the
universe, the recognition of attachment as a source of suffering,
and the realization that human perception is faulty. While these
principles are based on the rules of Buddhism most of them are
related to East Asian values such as Taoism and Confucianism.
The following is a summary of the principles of Japanese Zen
Buddhism prepared by Adam Acar, PhD.
1. There is no such thing as “self”

There is no such thing as yourself or myself. There is no such

thing as “ego”: it is just something we presume to exist.  There is
no self, a.k.a. “anatta.” As the universe is always in
transformation, we don’t have fixed selves or ego, it always
changes and it is not something solid that should be cherished
or glorified. You are not your thoughts, you are not your pains,
you are not your emotions. As Dogen said “To study Zen is to
study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget
the self is to be awakened by all things.” The separation
between self and others is just an illusion that disappears when
we are awakened. 

“The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting

with something.” – Koun Yamada

“Rather than being your emotions and thoughts, be the

awareness behind them.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Emotionally we have many problems, but these problems are

not actual problems; they are something created; they are
problems pointed out by our self-centered ideas or views.” –
Shunryu Suzuki 

2. Everything constantly changes, nothing

is finished

This principle is known as “mujo.” Everything is impermanent,

your thoughts, your pains, your sufferings, your body, and so on.
Whatever we see in our environment was once different and will
be different. In the same vein, nothing is perfect in the universe
because everything is in constant transformation and everything
decays after birth. Even if things look perfect, under the
microscope they have many defects, flaws, and inconsistencies.
In Japanese culture, there is a term called wabi-sabi that any
artwork that emphasizes imperfectness, incompleteness, and
impermanence is what constitutes true beauty. In other words,
an asymmetric old bowl is more precious than a brand new
perfectly shaped bowl because of its history and resemblance
to nature-made objects. Another similar term is mono no aware
referring to the bittersweet awareness that all the beautiful
things around us are short-lived; perfectly exemplified by the
two-week cherry blossom season.
 “Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the
imperfection is perfect reality.” – Shunryu Suzuki

“All conditioned things are impermanent” – when one sees this

with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”  – Gautama
Buddha

“It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us

suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.” –
Tich Nhat Hnah

“Everything by its very nature is subject to the process of infinite

transformation.” – Dogen 

3. Things we value are “empty”

This principle is called “wu” in Chinese “ku” in Japanese

shunyata in Hindi. The heart sutra, the most cited sutra of all
times, starts with “that ultimately all phenomena are sunyata,
empty of an unchanging essence.”  Emptiness does not mean
nothing exists, it means nothing exists on its own, as everything
exists relative to other things that constantly change. Emptiness
is actually the middle state between absence and existence.
Zen monks consider emptiness as the awakening stage when
people feel boundless unity with the universe, also symbolized
with the zen circle showing that inside and outside of the circle
are one. Emptiness is also accepted in modern physics, as there
is vast emptiness among the smallest beings such as atoms
and the largest beings, stars, and planets. Similar to the
emptiness there is also the concept of nothingness in Zen.

Nothingness (mu, void) is also a principle related to emptiness.

All beings emerge from nothingness and return to nothingness.
In the zen philosophy, this concept is quite similar to emptiness
and emphasizes the importance of eliminating the duality of
perception as nothingness and everything-ness are nothing but
one. In martial arts, mu-shin means no mind or mind without a
mind that only relies on one’s heart. If somebody is fighting with
mu-shin that means the individual does not have ego, anger,
anxiety, or fear.

“Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and

are nothing in themselves.” – Nagarjuna

“When you go into nothingness, you become everything.” –

Buddha
 “Tell me then, what is the most important principle or teaching
of Zen?”

“Vast emptiness,” Bodhidharma replied, meaning, of course, the

void of nonattachment.

4. Attachment is the source of suffering

Attachment to worldly things has many problems: attachment to

self makes it difficult to empathize with others, clinging to
things we love creates stress because everything transforms
and eventually disappears. As Buddha said, “If you become
attached to something, its impermanence will eventually be
realized, and at the end, you will suffer more.” The main source
of human suffering (dukkha) is being attached to worldly things.

“Attachment is the source of all suffering.”  – Buddha

“You only lose what you cling to” – Buddha

“Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting

go of something every day.” – Zen proverb.

“Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed that is.

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” – Master
Yoda from S. W. 

5. Everything in the universe is

connected. You are the universe.

When a person realizes that “self” is an illusion he/she is likely

to feel like one with the universe and feel more connected. The
interconnectedness in the universe arises from three thoughts:
one of them is the fact that we grow by absorbing things in
nature and at any time things in nature are temporarily in our
body (air, water, etc.). The second one, while not so popular in
all Zen schools, is reincarnation; the belief that after we die we
may come back to life as another creature. The third teaching is
the concept of sunyata or emptiness where all things are
undifferentiated when the “self” is taken out of the context. It is
expected that the appropriate way of meditation helps us realize
self and others or objects in any subject’s mind are separated in
abstract terms but not in realistic terms. Zen practitioners
believe that our environment is deeply interconnected,
sometimes known as the butterfly effect, as the flap of
butterflies’ wings in Japan can create an earthquake in
thousands of South America. Zen practices such as kyudo,
calligraphy, or Tea ceremony (https://mai-ko.com/travel/culture-
in-japan/tea-ceremony/japanese-tea-ceremony/) also propose
that we should become one with what we are doing, becoming
one with the task.

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe
as a wave is continuous with the ocean.” – Alan Watts

“You are never alone. You are eternally connected with

everyone.” – Amit Ray

“Awakening is intimacy with all things.” – Dogen

“Remember that the universe is already taking care of you.” –

Buddha

“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” –

Thich Nhat Hanh

“Enlightenment is when the wave realizes that it is the ocean.” –

Thich Nhat Hanh

6. Our Logic is misleading. Appearances are

faulty.

Opposite of Western philosophy, Asian philosophy proposes

that we can reach truth by relying on our emotions and intuitions
because our logic and sensual perception is always faulty. Zen
is a form of mysticism or non-rational experience of the
universe. The dualistic perception that separates the perceiver
from the perceived or mind from body or subject from object or
background from the foreground is wrong. There is no me and
the outside world. Things are not how they seem and human
perception is faulty. Most Buddhist schools propose that
perceived reality is an illusion and the only way to liberate
ourselves is to meditate and perceive the true nature of
objects.“Koans, the riddles that violate physical rules or
common presumptions, are necessary for getting rid of the trap
of our established logical thinking.

There is a concept in Japanese called nyoze which refers to

the suchness of things or the true nature of things. Everything
in the universe has an inherent disposition that may not be
clearly visible to the human eye. Water is meant to be wet, fire is
meant to heat, and the wind is meant to blow. But it is not as
simple as that, understanding the true essence of everything
around us can only happen by awakening also known as satori
or kensho.

“We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a

reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see
that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That
is all.” – Buddha

“The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.” –

Buddha

“Japanese philosophy is about hearing the voices of voiceless

things and sensing the shape of shapeless things because what
we normally see and hear is just the background.” – Nishida
Kotaru

7. Accept that painful things may happen

This idea stems from the main Buddhist idea that suffering is
natural and everything in life is temporary. As Lao Tse once said
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t
resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let
things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” Zen
philosophy is accepting things including disasters, failures, and
even negative personal traits rather than denying them or
fighting against them. Zen is about having the mental strength
to deal with discomforting things in life. For instance, Zen
training often involves sitting on one’s knees for hours or
working in the cold which helps us develop a mindset that it is
OK to have an unpleasant stimulus in our environment and once
we accept them they don’t feel unpleasant and they may even
give us strength. While a huge sudden stream in a river may
frighten us, the power of the stream will be ours if we allow it to
carry us.

Painful things may happen. Life is full of unfortunate events and

we should accept that we will have pain and disappointments.
After we are born we have to accept that we will get sick, get
old, and die. However, we suffer most of the time because we
are selfish, we are greedy and we are attached too much to the
materialistic world. We can control our suffering, which is
usually driven by attachment to the materialistic world, our
desires, and our ignorance. Another way to control our suffering
is to realize that suffering is nothing but our thoughts only and
our comparison of self to others which doesn’t make sense
because in Zen self doesn’t exist.

“Accept–then act. Whatever the present moment contains,

accept it as if you had chosen it… This will miraculously
transform your whole life.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t

resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.” –
Lao Tse

“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth,

faithfulness the best relationship.” – Buddha

“Pain in life is inevitable but suffering is not. Pain is what the

world does to you, suffering is what you do to yourself.” –
Buddha

“Obstacles don’t block the path, they are the path.” – Zen
proverb

8. Be present, be mindful, fully experience

each moment

Mindfulness is paying 100% attention to what is happening at

this very exact moment and nothing else. Buddha stated that
“do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future and
concentrate on the present moment.”The reason mindfulness is
an important zen concept has to do with the perception of time
and interconnectedness. Dogen Zenji believed that time and
space was actually “time” only and time is something that is
continuous. The only time that matters is the present time:
“now” which has no length and which cannot be divided into two
pieces. Future and past cannot be separated from now which
we have control of and “right here and right now” is the only
location and time that is real. As Dogen says “if one can’t find
the truth wherever he is, where else could he think of finding it?

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,

concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha

“If you can’t find the truth where you are, where else do you think
you can find it?” – Dogen

“Realize that the present moment is the only thing you have and
the past has no power over the present moment.” – Eckhart
Tolle
 “Wherever you are, be there totally.” – Eckhart Tolle

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are
anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are
living in the present.” – Lao Tse

9. Meditation is the way to awakening

The main focus and help us directly experience the world as it is

without the interference of judgments, culture, interferences.
Mindfulness and meditation are learning to enjoy the lack of
stimulation often associated with negative “boredom” feeling
and is usually unexciting. Enlightenment is the termination of
the separation between self and the outside world, separation
between mind and body, and separation between time and
space. This happens accidentally and meditation helps us
experience this accident. In the zen philosophy, the purpose of
meditation is more like self-awareness and mindful
introspection rather than self-control though. When meditation
is done correctly we eventually realize that the concept of self is
a delusion and our logic and assumptions are faulty
interpretations of the universe.

Zen philosophers in general do not believe that the purpose of

meditation is happy because that would be a selfish desire and
the first rule of meditation is getting rid of our self-centeredness
and our endless desires. While some zen schools teach that
meditating leads to awakening, the Soto Zen school proposes
that meditation itself is the goal. In Japanese, awakening is
called satori or kensho which translates as seeing one’s true
self and true nature. Awakening most of the time happens when
doing something routine (washing dishes, house chores,
cleaning, etc). Buddha, on the other hand, meditated for 7 years.
He asked his disciples to sit until they see the truth, so there is
no fixed time length for meditation.

“Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice
within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you
will realize the unity of all things.” – Dogen

“When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at

once our original selves.” – Dogen

“Meditation is an attempt of the conscious mind to find its way

in the unconscious world” – Zen proverb
 “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After
enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” – Zen proverb 

10. Be free from greed and desire

Human beings in general are dissatisfied with their current state

and always look for a better state. This is called the samsara
stage where we seek pleasures and experience suffering and
eventually die to be reborn again. Zen practitioners believe that
nothing can bring us lasting happiness. Human happiness
depends on reaching a conditional future state which may or
may not happen. Tying our happiness to a desired future state
not only prevents us from enjoying our current state but also
face anguish because we either want that future state to
continue or reach even a better state. What is worse, most
sensory pleasures are addictive which naturally cause more
problems if we are slaves to them.

Buddha said there are three poisons that cause each other and
our final anguish: greed, hatred, and delusion. And, to take care
of the three poisons, zen practitioners learn to show incremental
generosity to tame our natural greed, have loving compassion
for hatred, and conduct zazen meditation for mindful
introspection. Becoming free of our greed and desires is one of
the initial steps of zen healing. Getting rid of our desires also is
one of the most important steps of eliminating the five
hindrances in the Zen belief that prevent us from having peace
of mind. These five hindrances are a) sensory pleasures
experiences by our five senses b) resentment and grudge
c) lack of focus and energy d) restlessness and sadness f)
doubt and lack of trust.

“There are three fires for our anguish: greed, hatred, and
delusion.” – Buddha

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves
more than is poor.” -Seneca

“It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to
be a slave to them.” – Epictetus

“The meaning of life is just to be alive. Yet, everybody’s in a

great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond
themselves.”-Alan Watts
11. Do not be judgmental 

Buddha said “Do not be the judge of people; do not make

assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding
judgments about others.” We are programmed to judge our
environment either negatively or positively to improve our
survival. When there is a possibility that our egos may be
threatened or challenged we pre-judge others or situations.
However, human judgment often is negative and turns into
blaming. Blaming others returns us as blame by others and
blaming self creates anxiety. The zen teaching is a) we are not
the center of the universe, so we should not think that the things
happening around us happening for us b) things that are
happening are just natural phenomena happening for natural
reasons and they don’t have negative intentions to harm us. The
zen meditation is having an empty mind focusing on the
experience of the moment that forbids judging things in our
minds negatively or positively.

“Do not be the judge; do not make assumptions about others. A

person is destroyed by holding judgments.” – Buddha

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt

separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships
and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and
hurts; it is a sword that kills.” – Buddha

“Wise men don’t judge, they seek to understand.” – Wei Wu Wei

“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of

intelligence.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

12. Compassion is necessary to have peace of

mind

Compassion is often described as unconditional acceptance of

self and others. The Bodhisattva rule is we should have these 4
sublime attitudes towards everyone: benevolence/loving-
kindness, empathic joy, equanimity, and compassion. All
societies emphasize the importance of being kind to others but
the zen philosophy focuses on forgiving others and yourself
because we all are empty, incomplete, imperfect, and
interconnected. When we tame our ego, it is a lot easier to have
compassion for others. While anger and anxiety make us feel
like everyone is against us, the Zen way of thinking helps us
embrace everyone since all humans suffer, have pure nature,
and are inherently awakened (hongaku shiso). Direct contact
with those who suffer more is likely to generate compassion
towards all humanity.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of

throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
– Buddha 

“Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above,

below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.”
– Buddha 

“Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred

alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.” – Buddha

“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” –

Buddha

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you

want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama

13. Life should be simple

A typical monk eats nothing but rice, pickles, and miso soup.
With the belief that any habitual sense of pleasure may be a
source of suffering and attachment to objects we own distorts
our perception of reality, zen practitioners often maintain a
minimal lifestyle. Having a minimalistic lifestyle is the most
guaranteed way of reducing our fear of loss and increasing our
peace of mind as we can start seeing beauty in mundane things
when the clutter diminishes.

“When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to

you.” – Lao Tse

“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest

treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the
source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you
accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.” – Lao Tse

14. Build a community and contribute to it

Buddha, dharma, and sangha. Zen practitioners believe that

these 3 concepts are the most important things in life: the
awakened one (Buddha), the teachings of Buddha (Dharma),
and the community built by the practitioners of his beliefs
(Sangha). Sangha can also be related to interconnectedness
among all humans but some interpret it as the community of the
practitioners of Buddhism only. As the members are those who
renounce worldly desires and dedicate themselves to train at
monasteries, they develop a strong sense of community and
often build closely-knit societies.

“If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would
not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.” –
Buddha

“The beloved community is the Sangha. In the Sangha, there are

those who bring happiness to many people. There are those
who cook very well, and there are those who take care of the
garden beautifully and grow nutritious vegetables. There are
those who organize festivities in a very beautiful, creative way.
There are those who don’t have these talents, but when they do
sitting meditation they are very happy, and when they walk they
are also very happy and this brings happiness to others. Such
people are of great benefit to the Sangha. Everybody contributes
their part. You don’t need to be exactly like others. This is true
whether you are thinking of your family as your Sangha or of the
larger beloved community. Everyone has their own abilities.” –
Thich Nhat Hanh 

15. Display gratitude and respect for

everything 

We are always self-centered which creates the most stresses in

our lives. Bowing, and subjugating self is the best way to tame
our ego, though zen says we should eventually get rid of our ego
and become one with the universe. Because of the concept of
emptiness, we can only exist interdependently and our existence
depends on others and everything in the universe. From the
language we speak to the tools we use in everyday life
everything was made by others and we should appreciate that.
We should also respect everyone and everything because we
often fail to perceive the true nature of things with the naked
eye. As everything in the universe is one entity and everything
relies on one another, everything deserves respect. There is a
Japanese value called “mottai nai” which roughly means the
food should be respected not only because of the efforts of the
farmer who grows the food but also the food itself because of
helping our survival. 
 “When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to
you” – Lao Tse

“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest

treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the
source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you
accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.” – Lao Tse 

16. Do not fear anything, even death

According to the zen philosophy, death is not necessarily a bad

thing, it is actually the beginning of a new life. From the moment
we are born the decay begins and instead of worrying about
death we should focus on living a good life and awaken our
spirits. Although Zen considers the human spirit as some sort of
energy, it emphasizes the importance of continuous
transformation and rebirth. Death loses its meaning when one
awakens or reaches Nirvana. Zen also makes it clear that
people should not rely on others and maintain lives without
being afraid of any hardships they may face in life.

“To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of

life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.” – Buddha

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear

what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment
you reject all help are you freed.” – Swami Vivekananda

“When something dies is the greatest teaching.” – Shunryu

Suzuki

“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” –

Buddha

17. Act with equanimity

Roshi Kapleau mentions that zazen has three aims: the power of
concentration, awakening, and realization of the Supreme Way
in our lives. When people have a good practice of meditation
they are no longer slaves to their fears or desires. Equanimity is
also one of the four sublime attitudes referring to the realization
of the transience of life and getting rid of distracting thoughts
and desires that give us the ability to react to our environment
instantly and effectively.
 “Equanimity is the hallmark of spirituality. It is neither chasing
nor avoiding but just being in the middle.” – Amit Ray

“Peaceful in the body, peaceful in speech, The bhikkhu who is

peaceful and well-concentrated. And who has rejected the
world’s bait is called ‘one at peace.” – Buddha

Overall

Zen philosophy was born in India, developed in China, and

arrived in Japan around the 11th century. Although zen is one of
the schools of Buddhism and emphasizes the concepts of
emptiness (sunyata), self-lessness (anatta), and taming our
desires (tanha) it still has many typical Asian values from
Taoism and Neo Confucianism such as intuition over logic,
modesty, middle path, good human nature, and social harmony.
We should remember that the Zen philosophy does not have a
unified book and is divided into three major disciplines which
are rinzai, soto and obaku.

References

Bielefeldt, C. (1988). Dogen’s Manuals of Zen meditation.

University of California Press.

Landaw, J., Bodian, S., & Bühnemann, G. (2011). Buddhism for

dummies. John Wiley & Sons.

Lomas, T., Etcoff, N., Van Gordon, W., & Shonin, E. (2017). Zen
and the art of living mindfully: The health-enhancing potential of
Zen aesthetics. Journal of religion and health, 56(5), 1720-1739.

Robins, C. J. (2002). Zen principles and mindfulness practice in

dialectical behavior therapy. Cognitive and behavioral
practice, 9(1), 50-57.

Suzuki, S. (2020). Zen mind, beginner’s mind. Shambhala

Publications.

Watts, A. (1999). The way of Zen. Vintage