Dhyāna in Buddhism the Japanese Rinzai school, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line. The Zen student's mastery of a given kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview (referred to in Japanese as "dokusan" (独参), "daisan" (代参), or "sanzen" (参禅)). While there is no unique answer to a kōan, practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the kōan and of Zen through their responses. The teacher may approve or disapprove of the answer and guide the student in the right direction. The interaction with a Zen teacher is central in
Zen Narratives as the expression of a transcendent truth, which according to him was expressed by Mahayana Buddhism, but not by the pragmatic analysis of the oldest Buddhism, which emphasizes anatta. This romantic vision fits into Western romantic notions of self-realization and the true self, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning: The Traditional Zen Narrative atrracted the interest of Beat poets and writers in the 1950s: Contemporary research on Buddhism has shed new light on the history of Chan and Zen. Since the 1960s the scientific research on Zen has created another narrative of Zen. The