Zen is a millennia-old form of meditation with the aim of recognizing one’s own true nature and freeing oneself from suffering. “Who am I?” – we come to this realization through unintentional, value-free self-observation in zazen. In this way, we gradually bring our imperfect consciousness to perfection and recognize reality.

You can find more information on the homepage of BodhidharmaZendo Vienna.

Seigaku Kigen Oshō has been the spiritual director of BodhidharmaZendo Vienna since March 2012 and was elected abbot of BodhidharmaZendo Vienna by the Rinzai-Ji Order of BodhidharmaZendo in 2019. In this role, he gives Dharma lectures and offers his students guidance in their Zen practice.

Seigaku Kigen Oshō on “What is Zen?”

Ultimately, Zen defies description. On the one hand, it is a profound mystery, but at the same time it is extremely simple. One of my favorite quotes by Huang Po captures the essence of this paradox:

“All phenomena are empty in themselves, but this emptiness is not simply nothingness. By this I mean that the phenomena actually exist, but in a way that is so great that we cannot understand it. It is a being-there that is not-being-there, a not-being-there that nevertheless exists.”

Our understanding of Zen deepens when we repeatedly let go of our attachments – attachments to ego and world, to form and emptiness. Only in this way can we learn to experience the entire universe as part of ourselves and at the same time surrender ourselves completely to the world.