Zen Buddhism is believed to have originated around 7th century CE in China. It is a combination of various thoughts of Mahyana Buddhists. Zen Buddhism believes in acting on the basis of impulse, gracefully accepting whatever is happening in life, rightful thinking so on. It stresses on meditation, belief in dharma. At the same time it is against reading of religious books.
Zen Buddhism believes that every human being has chastity and foresight; the purpose of Zen Buddhism is to help humans locate these in themselves. This achievement is made possible through the process of meditation and a thought on their every day experience. Treading on this path, Zen Buddhists believe, can lead to achievement of ultimate knowledge. The Zen Buddhists do not lay emphasis on holy texts because they believe that what can actually help humans gain the ultimate knowledge is not the words written in holy texts, but a better understanding of one self.
The fact that the followers of Zen Buddhism do not stress on the reading of texts should not be confused with that they did not believe in its existence. Zen Buddhism also has its base in the teachings of Mahayana Buddhists and Buddha Siddhartha Gautama. But at the same time they believe that Buddha himself attained enlightenment not depending on any books. So they believe in following this very path.
The way to achieve enlightenment that is to have an insight of one's own self is believed by the preachers of Zen Buddhism to be found in Lankavatara Sutra and Mahayana Sutras. The Zen Buddhist teachers had enough knowledge of Buddhist scriptures. Along with the importance added to meditation, equally important for the Zen Buddhists is the Four Noble Truths of Buddha, as well as his Eight Fold Path.
Though Zen Buddhism does not believe in written scriptures it has got influenced to a large extent by the Lankavatara Sutra, Hredaya Pranayaparamita, and Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra. Not only has it got influenced from written works, it also has a large number of written works to its credit. Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is an instance and so is Dogen Zengis Shobogenzo and koans. Zen Buddhists propagate the idea of collective practice on a daily basis; meditation is an integral part of its routine.
Zen Buddhism propagates meditation. While meditating one is supposed to be sitting in the posture of half-lotus. One is supposed to keep all attention towards counting their breath. While meditating, one usually sits on a mat adjacent to the room's center. The ancestors of Zen Buddhism in China are Huike, Hongren, Huineng, Daoxin, Sengcan, Bodhidharma.
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