A Zen Thought...

Almost every professional/person around the world who is involved in people training or HR activities is familiar with a word – Zen.

Zen stories, Zen mindset, Zen this and Zen that…. I am very happy and feel thankful to the western management (and people training) gurus for promoting that word. It is nice to see that they have found something good in Zen thoughts.

One of the most common/popular searches among humans is the search for Truth or God. For most of them (the majority) the search ends in some scripture, irrespective of religions. But there are some who dare to think beyond. That is a good sign.

Zen thoughts and stories are part of Zen Buddhism which belongs to the Mahayana branch of Buddhism (Mahayana is a Sanskrit word. Maha means big/great and yana means ‘vehicle’ (sometimes translated as ‘path’ since it is one of the different paths in Buddhism). Siddhartha Gauthama/Gauthama Buddha was born in India (563 BC) and hence the influence of Sanskrit or Pali). Zen approach is ‘think beyond the physical to find the answer’.

Zen Buddhism believes that there is Buddha Prajna (this again is a Sanskrit word and translates closely to wisdom) within every one of us. We can find it only through looking within us. That is why Zen approach has wonderful and deep rooted stories, thoughts and meditation methods.

After seeing many oriental things getting patented (or trying to patent Eg. Basmati rice, Yoga, Neem, my own Guru’s breathing technique….) by the westerners for the purpose of making ‘exclusive’ money, I really hope that we (the people from the land where Buddha lived) wont be asked to pay a fee to use the word Zen or practicing a Zen meditation!!