[zen] 
,| 1. | Chinese, Ch'an. Buddhism. a Mahayana movement, introduced into China in the 6th century a.d. and into Japan in the 12th century, that emphasizes enlightenment for the student by the most direct possible means, accepting formal studies and observances only when they form part of such means. Compare koan, mondo. |
| 2. | the discipline and practice of this sect. |
| Zen (zěn) n. A school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Also called Zen Buddhism. [Japanese zen, from Chinese (Mandarin) chán, meditation, from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, from dhyāti, he meditates.] Word History: It is hard to believe that a word as Asian as Zen is ultimately an Indo-European word. Zen, which has been in English since 1727, is the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese chán, "quietude." Chán comes from Pali jhānaṃ, from Sanskrit dhyānam, "meditation," from the Sanskrit root dhyā-, dhī-, "to see, observe." The Indo-European root behind the Sanskrit is *dheiə-, *dhyā-, "to see, look at." This root also shows up in Greek, where *dhyā- developed into sā-, as in Common Greek *sāma, "sign, distinguishing mark." This became sēma in Attic Greek, the source of English semantic. |
An approach to religion, arising from Buddhism, that seeks religious enlightenment by meditation in which there is no consciousness of self.
Note: Deliberately irrational statements are sometimes used in Zen to jar persons into realizing the limits of the common uses of the intellect. One well-known example is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
Zen
[Kehoe, B., "Zen and the Art of the Internet", February 1992.]
[The Jargon File]
zen jargon
To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash of enlightenment. Originally applied to bugs, but occasionally applied to problems of life in general. "How'd you figure out the buffer allocation problem?" "Oh, I zenned it."
Contrast grok, which connotes a time-extended version of zenning a system. Compare hack mode. See also guru.
(1996-09-17)