Question
Hello,
I have attended a vipassana course, and it is a technique that seeks concentration on sensations rather than on breathing… I think there are more opportunities to lose concentration when directing attention to different parts of the body (you have to keep moving your attention) than when keeping your attention constantly fixed on breathing…
I would like to know your opinion of vipassana. What is the difference between Zen and vipassana??
Thank you in advance.
Ignacio Cerda
Ignacio
Answer from Master Kosen
Actually, calling our school the “Zen school” is a mistake. The true patriarchs call it “Butsu do,” the Buddha Way.
It is the authentic teaching transmitted from Buddha to Buddha and clearly explained by Avalokiteshvara to Shariputra in the Hannya Shingyo Sutra. Zen comes from the Sanskrit word dhyana. The dhyanas are meditations and states of ecstasy. Most are practiced seated in lotus. But the sitting practiced and taught by the Buddha, although it includes dhyana, goes much further.
It is shikantaza: just sitting.
Kosen