Number of words – 156

Zen means the same as dhyan. And Zen is a Japanese change of this word. Dhyan is the whole effort of Indian consciousness and means to be so alone, so into your own being, that not even a single thought exists. In fact in English there is no direct translation of the word. Contemplation is not the word. Contemplation means thinking, reflection. Even meditation is not the word, because meditation involves an object to meditate upon. It means something is there. You can meditate on Christ or you can meditate on the Cross, but dhyan means to be so alone that there is nothing to meditate upon. No object, just a simple subjectivity. Consciousness is without clouds, a pure sky. When the word reached China it became Ch’an. When ch’an reached Japan, it became Zen. It comes from the same Sanskrit root, dhyan.

Excerpted from ‘Zen: It’s History & Teaching’ by Osho