ZenGate Chronicles: Part I
Tracing the river back to its source
Long before the teachings of Zen found their way into Japanese monasteries and quiet mountain temples, there was a young prince who walked away from his palace in search of something the world could not give him.
The Protected Prince
Siddhartha Gautama was born in the 5th or 6th century BCE, the son of a royal family in what is now Nepal. His father, deeply attached to him, received a prophecy: his son would either become a great king or a spiritual teacher who would renounce the world. Wanting to steer him toward power and worldly success, the king surrounded Siddhartha with luxury, pleasure, and carefully curated beauty.
Everything unpleasant was kept far from his sight – aging, sickness, death, and spiritual seekers were hidden. The streets were polished before he rode through them, filled only with youthful smiles and music. He married, had a child, and lived a life many would call ideal.
But the truth has a way of seeping through the cracks.
The Four Encounters
On four separate excursions outside the palace, Siddhartha encountered what his father had tried to hide:
- An old man, bent with time
- A sick man, trembling with illness
- A corpse, wrapped for burial
- And finally, a wandering ascetic, radiating calm despite his poverty
Each encounter struck Siddhartha to the core. He saw the reality of life’s impermanence. For the first time, he realized: suffering is inescapable, and pleasure cannot protect us from it.
That night, he looked upon his sleeping wife and newborn son with love and sorrow, and made the most courageous decision of his life: he walked away from the palace, from his identity, from everything he knew – into the unknown.
The Years of Seeking
He lived as a wandering seeker for years, practicing intense austerities. It is said he fasted until he nearly died. He studied under sages, meditated for days without movement, pushed his body and mind to the edge of existence. His followers admired his discipline, but he began to see that neither indulgence nor extreme renunciation held the answer.
One day, a village woman offered him a bowl of rice. He accepted it, and his followers turned away in disappointment. But he had realized something profound.
The Middle Way
Not long after, he heard a musician tuning a stringed instrument. When the string was too loose – it made no sound, when too tight – it snapped.
In that moment, he understood: the truth lies not in extremes, but in balance.
For the next seven weeks (49 days) he sat beneath a Bodhi tree and vowed not to rise until he had awakened. There, he faced his inner demons, illusions, fears – until they passed like shadows in wind. And then, in deep stillness, he awakened. He became the Buddha, the “awakened one.”
The Path Spreads
For the next 45 years, the Buddha walked and taught across northern India. His teachings gave rise to three major streams of Buddhism:
- Theravāda – “The Way of the Elders,” focusing on personal liberation through meditation and ethical living
- Mahāyāna – “The Great Vehicle,” emphasizing compassion and the collective liberation of all beings
- Vajrayāna – “The Diamond Vehicle,” a tantric path that integrates ritual, energy work, and symbolic transformation
Among Mahāyāna’s many schools was Chan Buddhism, born in China. And this is where the seed of Zen was planted.
Enter Bodhidharma
Nearly a thousand years after the Buddha, in the 6th century CE, a fierce, silent figure crossed the mountains from India into China. His name was Bodhidharma. He carried no scriptures – only a deep presence and a piercing gaze.
Bodhidharma is said to have meditated for nine years in front of a wall, wordless. When asked what he had brought to China, he replied:
“A special transmission outside the scriptures,
Not founded on words and letters.
Pointing directly to the human mind,
Seeing one’s true nature and becoming Buddha.”
This was Chan -a form of Buddhism stripped to its essence. Experience over explanation. Direct insight over doctrine.
Chan later traveled to Japan, where it became Zen.
The Zen Flame
Zen does not seek enlightenment in the future – it sees it already present in each moment.
It asks not for belief, but for presence. Not for theories, but for practice.
It teaches that whether you’re sitting in meditation or repairing a roof, truth is found in the now.
And so, the Gate remains…
From the palace walls to the stillness of the Bodhi tree…
From the rice bowl to the rain-soaked caves of Bodhidharma…
Zen is not a doctrine – it’s a return.
A return to the direct experience of life.
A return to the place where awakening is not something to reach for – but something to remember.
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