Chan (禪)
A school of Buddhism under the umbrella of Mahāyāna Buddhism (Great Vehicle - Large Scope)
Pronounced Chán in Mandarin language while when it crossed over into Japan known as Zen in Japanese.
How is concentration practiced in Chan? There are two major methods of meditation that have evolved in Chan:
- the Silent Illumination of the Caodong School
- the gong'an method of the Linji School.
Silent Illumination
Silent Illumination, as the name implies, is the method of illuminating the mind through quiescent sitting. This practice does contain some elements of the earlier shamatha-vipashyana practice of the Theravada and is also closely related to the Zen practice of shikantaza (just sitting).Read more on Ch'an here
