Buddhism and Serene Reflection Meditation (Soto Zen)

The Buddha Shakyamuni lived 2,500 years ago in India. He was a human being who possessed the same spiritual potential that is in us all. He devoted his life to the search for this truth and, following His Spiritual Realisation, He spent the remainder of His life helping others find what He had found. Spiritual Realisation is the direct experience of one’s true nature thus leading to the ending of suffering and the awakening of compassion.

The Buddhist teaching of Serene Reflection Meditation was brought to China at the beginning of the 6th century by an Indian Buddhist monk named Bodidharma. He taught a direct transmission of the Truth that all could experience for themselves, and the foundation of this was the practice of meditation. The Chinese for Serene Reflection Meditation is Ts'ao-Tung Ch'an and so this way became known as the Ch’an tradition. When Ts'ao-Tung Ch'an was introduced into Japan it became known there as Soto Zen.