Japanese Zen expressions of this selfless existence. Zen emphasizes zazen, meditation c.q. dhyana in astting position. In Soto, the emphasis is on shikantaza, 'just sitting', while Rinzai also uses koans to train the mind. In alternation with zazen, there is walking meditation, "kinhin", in which one walks with full attention. To facilitate insight, a Zen teacher can assign a kōan. This is a short anecdote, which seems irrational, but contains subtle references to the Buddhist teachings. An example of a kōan is Joshu's 'Mu': "A monk asked: "Does a dog have buddha-nature?" Joshu responded: "Mu!"" Zen-meditation aims at "non-thinking," in Japanese "fu
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