Being Zen: Zen Practice and its Asian Roots

“Being Zen” in contemporary Western culture has come to mean “remaining inwardly composed, emotionally nonreactive, and gracefully present amid the pressures of everyday life.” (CHAT 5.2). As if we could somehow will that state to happen in ourselves or others by purchasing a particular product or by simply repeating the phrase. In reality, Zen practice is a complex contemplative and religious phenomenon that originated over many centuries in Asia and was transmitted to the West over the past century. We will examine the Asian roots of Zen and how it came to be practiced in the West in an effort to discover for ourselves what “being Zen” genuinely means.