Where’s the Zen?

I generally don’t do media criticism. I think most journalists do an admirable job in a tough field. So it’s with some reluctance that I’ll acknowledge a pet peeve that surfaced today with an article in the Washington Post’s Weekend section. The article is titled “Get Zen” and the subhead reads “Four Ways Washingtonians can […]

I generally don’t do media criticism. I think most journalists do an admirable job in a tough field. So it’s with some reluctance that I’ll acknowledge a pet peeve that surfaced today with an article in the Washington Post’s Weekend section. The article is titled “Get Zen” and the subhead reads “Four Ways Washingtonians can find Zen without stressing over its cost.” I eagerly skipped through the article, hoping to find some good information on local Zen temples or Zen practitioners. But no. By “Zen” the Post didn’t mean “a variety of Buddhism now practiced especially in Japan, Vietnam and Korea, seeking to attain an intuitive illumination of mind and spirit through meditation,” as Webster’s (and many others) define it. They meant yoga, reiki, qi gong and other “woo-woo-New-Agey,” practices, as writer Ellen MCarthy puts it.

Then comes this: “But Zen isn’t meant to be one-size-fits-all, and each practice is welcoming of newcomers.”

It’s certainly true that Zen is not one-size-fits all. But it’s also true that none of these things are Zen. The article does mention at least one Buddhist temple, but it’s part of the very different Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, tradition. I realize that we’ve taken Zen to new places in America, so to speak, and use the word to vaguely refer to a kind of calm abiding. But lumping all these practices, worthwhile though they may be, under the category of Zen is inaccurate at best, and insulting to Zen practitioners. Somehow I can’t imagine a writer repeatedly using the phrase “gospel singing” and then sending readers to a mosque to check it out.


And yes, I realize that complaining about it is pretty un-“Zen.” But Bodhidharma (picture below) founded Zen. Do he look like he messes around?

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