- 1禪、禪宗（日本傳來的佛教宗派）；口語形容詞用法指「很禪、很淡定、極簡不焦躁」
Zen is a school of Buddhism. It came from China, where it was called Chan, and grew famous in Japan, and its special point is this: you do not reach understanding mainly by reading holy books or by long reasoning, but by sitting in meditation, and by paying complete attention to whatever you are doing — sweeping, drinking tea, breathing. Sudden understanding matters more than slow argument. You will see it in Zen Buddhism, Zen master, Zen temple, Zen garden (those quiet gardens of raked sand and a few stones). In everyday English there is a second, much looser use, and it is the one you will actually hear more often. People use Zen as an adjective meaning calm, simple, and unbothered — 'a very Zen bedroom' (plain, uncluttered), 'she was so Zen about missing the flight' (she did not get upset at all). This use is informal, quite modern, and often written with a small z. dislike it, because staying calm about a flight is not really what Zen practice is; but it is now completely normal speech, so you should understand it. Notice that the two uses feel very different: one is a serious religious word, one is close to ' out'.
組成English took it from Japanese 禅 zen, which came from Chinese 禪 chán, which was a short form of 禪那 chánnà — and that was Chinese people writing down the sound of Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning a kind of deep meditation. So one word travelled India → China → Japan → English, and the Chinese students in your class already own the middle of that road.
同家族的字
- Chanthe Chinese name of the very same school — Zen and Chan are the same word, one borrowed through Japanese and one through Chinese
- dhyanathe original Sanskrit word for meditation that both Zen and Chan grew out of
原始詞典資料8 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Zenname/zɛn/
- 1
lifestylereligionA school of Mahayana Buddhism characterized by sudden enlightenment achieved by indirect means and principally associated with China and Japan.
- For Orientals these mysterious formulae are clear and familiar truths, but for us they are completely bewildering... Dhyana Buddhism, which is known in Japan as "Zen"... is not speculation at all but immediate experience of what, as the bottomless ground of Being, cannot be apprehended by intellectual means, and cannot be conceived or interpreted even after the most unequivocal and incontestable experiences: one knows it by not knowing it.
- Philosophical mysticism, the idea that truth is indefinable and can be apprehended only by nonrational means, has been with us since the beginning of history. It's the basis of Zen practice.
Zenadj/zɛn/
- 1
lifestylereligionOf or related to Zen Buddhism.
- Zen meditation
- Zen monk
zennoun/ˈzɛn/
- 1
lifestylereligionSynonym of enlightenment, particularly the kind acquired through Zen meditation.
- 2
An approach to instruction, understanding, or an activity similarly emphasizing simplicity and intuition rather than conventional thinking or fixation on goals.
- the zen of cooking
- the zen of passing the bar exam
zenadj/ˈzɛn/
- 1
Wise, displaying enlightenment or similar wisdom, insightful, unburdened and free of worries, extremely relaxed and capable.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。