Freelance Journey

Zazen Zazen, Sanzen, and Samu are three important factors in the Zen Monastery. Before I decide which of the three I consider the greatest importance, I want to give a brief description of each of the three techniques in the Zen Monastery starting with Zazen. Zazen Zazen is a form of sitting meditation with a cross-legged posture in Japanese Zen Buddhism.  Regarded as an insight to the nature of existence, the purpose of zazen for the meditator is to suspend any judgmental thinking and "completely focus his conscious on the existential reality of the moment, and stay with that" (Bresnan 496). In Japanese, this technique is called shikantaza, as it allows the meditator to fully grasp the moment. Below is a quick beginner's tutorial of Zazen meditation: Sanzen Sanzen Sanzen is a type of "meeting in dokusan with the roshi" (Bresnan 512). In other words, Sanzen is a private interview between master and student. In a Sanzen, a student would be let in to a roshi'

Introduction The Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and Europe that was established during the Han Dynasty when China opened trade routes to the west.  From the video " The Silk Road: Where East Meets West: Episode 1 ," there was one detail that I noticed that wasn't in Patrick Bresnan's  Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. In the text, traveling "the Silk Road necessarily splits into a northern and a southern route when it reached the desert of the Takla Makan" (Bresnan 378). In the video, passing through those routes where the Great Wall of China used to stretch out is the Yangguan (Yang Pass), a pass where there once was a gate where "you paid you toll and passed though" ( Silk , 37:11 - 37:15). For how this reflects the environment, it is important to learn as much as we can about the location so that we can have a better understanding of their origins. Map of the Silk Road Mogao G

  Confucius Introduction In 255 BCE, the Zhou Dynasty would reach it's end due to the Period of Warring States, where the country of China was ravaged by constant feudal warfare, ruined crops, armies and conquest, and the suffering of the peasants. By the end of the Zhou Dynasty, history would "see the appearance of many new social philosophies, all of them seeking to be a blueprint for the right ordering of society and government. That was a natural response to the turmoil of the times" (Bresnan 304). Because of this, the Period of Warring States would also be known as the Period of a Hundred Philosophies. Two that were mentioned in Patrick Bresnan's  Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought were Confucianism and Daoism (also known as Taoism) with Confucianism being one of the earlier schools founded by Confucius. After reading both chapters on Confucianism and Daoism, there were specific questions about Confucius from the book that caught my atte