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
Buddhism in Vietnam and a new Thiền style has "no affinity with or any foundation in traditional Vietnamese Buddhist practices" and according to Alexander Soucy (2007) his style of Zen Buddhism is not reflective of actual Vietnamese Buddhism. Thích Nhất Hạnh often recounts about his early Thiền practices in Vietnam in his Dharma talks saying that he continued and developed this practice in the West which has a distinctive Vietnamese Thiền flavor. Thích Nhất Hạnh's Buddhist teachings have started to return to a Vietnam where the Buddhist landscape is now being shaped by the combined Vietnamese and Westernized Buddhism that is focused more