Zen Group of Pittsburgh:
Brief Introduction to Buddhist-Christian Practice

• Zen meditation developed within the spiritual tradition of Buddhism as a form of silent meditation that focuses on the breath and emptying the mind. As a form of silent meditation, it has been practiced for the last 2,500 years as a way of mindfully bringing our awareness to the "here and now" and centering ourselves to realize the inherent calm, peace, and compassion that is within each of us.

• Our group is affiliated with the Kwan Um School of Zen, founded by the Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, who also led Christian-Buddhist retreats at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky (there will be a picture below). While Buddhism has many religious ceremonial trappings, it does not espouse any theistic creed, meaning that it is a form of contemplation and meditation that can be used by people who do and do not believe in God alike. Zen is not a devotional practice - while we may have a buddha statue out while we meditate, the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is just a person. Instead, as people like to say in the Kwan Um School, Zen is about "learning to believe in ourselves 100%." The Buddha statue represents all of us and is taken as a symbol of the buddha nature/christ consciousness we each have within ourselves.

• Since we mainly chant and silently meditate during our Wednesday meetings, the way we approach zen meditation has a lot in common with the silencio, oratio, contemplatio structure of Catholic contemplative prayer and Lectio Divina. We are mainly focused on using these practices as a unifying experience to bring us back to the present moment and realize what is right in front of us at all times. This connection between zen meditation and contemplative prayer inspired the Cistercian monks Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating to rethink how they approached their own prayer lives.
• During our sessions, we usually do three chants: Evening Bell Chant, Heart Sutra in English, and the Great Dharani. Chanting usually takes us about 15-20 minutes. Then we do 30 minutes of meditation, and then afterwards do a brief reading and have a brief discussion at the end. As we silently meditate, we usually focus on counting our breaths and letting our thoughts "float away like clouds" - not holding on to anything that arises in our mind and letting it go peacefully.

• The connection between Zen meditation and Christian contemplation started back in the 1950s and 1960s during Vatican II and reaffirmed through the declaration Nostra Aetate  and the belief that other spiritual traditions reflect "a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men." Since then, there have been Jesuits, nuns, and monks that have also become Zen Masters, such as Fr. Robert Kennedy, S.J., Sr. Elaine MacInnes, and Fr. Kevin Hunt. The use of Zen meditation within Catholic circles has been seen as a way to bridge the gap between East and West and start a fruitful dialogue concerning the similarities of the spiritual traditions instead of on their differences.

• As the Zen Roshi Koun Yamada said, we use Zen meditation not to make people Buddhists, but to make ourselves better Christians.