The basic purpose of Zen meditation is to help us to recognise the nature of the mind and to become the master of our mind. Through constant practice of Zen meditation, the practitioner gradually can manage his own thoughts, by taming his distracted and troublesome mind in order to reach the joy that comes with the clarity of thought and inner peace. The aim of Zen is to achieve the enlightenment and improve the quality of our life.
According to Zen Buddhism, everyone possesses the mind. All people - whether practitioner, monk, rich, poor, man or woman - has in itself that innate gift and power. The Mind can simultaneously generate and express thoughts under all circumstances that are unique of all existence, living conditions . Therefore, the thought and the phenomenon are inseparable. Different thoughts represent different shapes of phenomena. By changing our thoughts we can change the external phenomenon. As everyone has the ability to generate thoughts, practitioners also have the ability to create the quality of them and, therefore, to create the quality of your life today and tomorrow.
For example, thoughts of sadness or joy are generated as a result of the mind determination. They come from the individual judgment or definition of certain phenomena and response to this phenomenon.
When we are in a bad mood, even when we are told a joke from our favourite comic, it will not make us laugh unless our mind is free from worries and attachments. This proves that the cultivation of the Mind is an individual task outside phenomena or problems that happen are just the extension of our thoughts. The problems are a negative manifestation of our karma. When this truth or fact is not understood, the individual creates his own personal definition supported in their habitual way of thinking. This illusory form of thought simply creates another layer of problems because the subject is not focused on the root of the problem so that the problem will reappear again and again.
Due to the powerful and innate function of Mind, Zen Buddhism gives great attention and emphasis to the development of awareness, control and purification of the mind. Be the master of your own mind and thoughts is to be the master of your own life. For example, the ability to do good deeds of charity is due to good thoughts. Similarly, the ability to do evil deeds is due to bad thoughts. Owning your thoughts is to be a master of your own reality and what happens in your life. When negative thoughts are dominated, negative results in life gradually being eliminated. Similarly, to improve my own circumstances, you need to adopt positive attitudes and ways of thinking in order to have effective positive reactions, so simple.
Hence, Zen meditation is the key to transform my life for the better, learning how to control my mind from the origin of thoughts. Experiencing the clarity of my true nature as well, and only then, the challenges of life are achieved and problems are solved.
In summary, the purpose of Zen meditation is to teach us to see the root or cause of what happens to us in our life and use the Mind successfully to solve problems and create effects or results. Once one knows that the mind is responsible for all manifestations of thoughts and phenomena, the practitioner can learn to be the true master of his thoughts and his life and thus be able to completely eliminate the negative effects as suffering and create happiness and success in life. In general, Zen meditation, quality of life improves dramatically.
