David Eckel: 23 Zen

The Kamakura Period also saw the appearance of Zen, now one of the most popular Buddhist movements in the West. As the Japanese version of the Chinese meditative tradition known as Ch’an, Zen focuses on developing a direct, experiential awareness of Emptiness.

Rejecting the idea of a “degenerate age,” the great Zen masters of the Kamakura Period, most notably Dogen (1200–1253), understood Emptiness as an experience of timelessness in each passing moment.

The practice of Zen meditation has had a major influence on the martial discipline of Japanese warriors and in the practice of the arts, from flower-arranging and landscape painting to Japanese poetry.

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