780-841 AD
1. Ordinary Zen (Bompu Zen)
This is Zen for self improvement. You sit to calm down. You sit to reduce stress. You sit to become healthier and more focused. It works. Your mind becomes steadier. You react less. You break some bad habits. But it doesn’t touch the root. It does not question who you think you are. It does not break the illusion of being separate from life. It is helpful, but it is not yet awakening.
2. The Outside Way Zen (Gedo Zen)
This is concentration used for a purpose. Martial arts. Tea ceremony. Archery. Religious contemplation. You train the mind to become Powerful and precise. You may gain unusual abilities, a strong presence, great skill, even feel mystical. But the aim is still something. Skill. Power. Mastery. It is disciplined. It can be beautiful. But it is not the Buddha’s Way.
3. Small Vehicle Zen (Shojo Zen)
This is Zen for personal peace. You sit to end your suffering. You sit to escape confusion. You sit to reach enlightenment for yourself. It is Buddhist, but it is still narrow. Because it is still about my liberation. As long as the world burns and your practice is only about your own calm, Something is incomplete.
4. Great Vehicle Zen (Daijo Zen)
Now we are closer. You sit to see your true nature. To break through the illusion of separation. To wake up. This is the Zen of Awakening, Seeing into your own nature. At first, you sit to awaken. Then you realise sitting is awakening. Zazen is not a method to get somewhere. It is the expression of what you are. Practice and realisation are not two.
5. Highest Vehicle Zen (Saijojo Zen)
This is simply Being. No gaining. No improving. No striving for enlightenment. Just Being. Not to become Buddha, but as Buddha. Nothing added. Nothing missing. This is what Dogen called Just Sitting. Complete stillness. Complete ordinariness.