Am I too sensitive for finding it beyond cringe when crackers throw around the term "zen-like"?
Am I too sensitive for finding it beyond cringe when crackers throw around the term "zen-like"?
I saw some people on Reddit discussing whether someone was being orientalist, and I agreed they were simply by using the phrase "zen-like concentration". I'm not offended by them using this term, I just find it stupid. "Zen-like" has absolutely no meaning, but gives an air of eastern spirituality and mysticism. I personally think you should only be able to use that phrase if you can give a detailed and verifiable explanation about the differences between zen-like concentration, huayan-like concentration, mahasthabir nikaya-like concentration, and chan-like concentration, as well as recognize that the last one is exactly the same as zen.
And why is it only ever "zen-like"? I'm sure everyone would find it strange if Asians suddenly started to use the terms "seventh day adventism-like" or "independent fundamentalist baptist-like" to refer to the elements of American culture they find exotic.
You can't call it zen unless it's from the zen region of Japan. Otherwise it's just sparkling concentration.
I feel like it's a short and convenient loaner word to describe calm/focus/concentration at this point.
I was going to talk shit about OP not understanding etymology but the example sentence on Miriam Webster for "zen like" was about Obama so now I agree with OP.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Ahem, don't you know drone bombing brown kids and increasing deportations while claiming to stand for freedom, progress, and dignity for all is in fact the epitome of zen?
if Asians suddenly started to use the terms "seventh day adventism-like" or "independent fundamentalist baptist-like" to refer to the elements of American culture they find exotic
oh please do fuck yeah lmao. unironically a great bit
"Oh man we went to the amusement park, had burgers and to top it all off we then went to this demolition derby! The whole day was packed with evangelical-like action!"
It's the same as crackers using karma wrong.
Crackers really love using words from other cultures wrong.
i think you get "zen" because it's so much shorter and convenient than "meditative". there's definitely some magical overlap with midcentury martial arts, especially with kyudo being called "zen archery" sometimes.
was buddhism exported like yoga was? (it was but that guy sucks shit lol) i remember somebody tried to have a struggle session about crackers doing yoga but nothing came of it because that was given rather than plundered.
And why is it only ever "zen-like"? I'm sure everyone would find it strange if Asians suddenly started to use the terms "seventh day adventism-like" or "independent fundamentalist baptist-like" to refer to the elements of American culture they find exotic.
there's a bunch of japanese media that treats christian symbols and syncretic mysticism the way that you get norse gods in marvel or whatever. that seems kinda normal and maybe there should be more of it.
that seems kinda normal and maybe there should be more of it.
abrahamic symbolism in anime fucking rocks (except for when it doesn't)
Apparently some guy named DT Suzuki introduced a modernized version Zen to the West as like a secular buddhism in the 50s. So westerners see “Zen” as like the meditation and the folk wisdom bits of buddhism.
"wow this calm or focused thing reminds me of this rly specific kind of japanese zen buddhism which is the second most powerful out of all buddhisms after the dalai lama ones"
i let it slide for now
I dunno. The term is a bit silly but i cant be fucked to care one way or the other, honestly.
Honestly I prefer Zen-like crackers to Zenz-like crackers.
hippies can be cool. it's hit or miss.
you can't say zen unless you play zenyatta in overwatch
Maybe a little, I mean it is dumb but getting bothered by it enough to make a post would only really make sense if you are Buddhist I think
I don't see why I need to be bothered about something greatly in order to make a post. I'm at work, so it's not like I've got anything better to do. Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I shitpost on company time.
Braver than the troops
Zen was once the predominant sect followed by the Samurai ruling class so arguably butchering peasants and warring with opposing Buddhist sects is also "zen-like".
As an idea for annoying these types of westoids, when they talk about Zen you express surprise that they're into Chinese religion. When they sputter and talk about Zen being Japamese, point out that Zen originated as Chan Buddhism in the Tang dynasty and enquire about specific doctrinal differences between Zen and Chan.
To me the most interesting thing about actual Zen is the stick.
In Zen Buddhism, the keisaku (Japanese: 警策, Chinese: 香板, xiāng bǎn; kyōsaku in the Soto school) is a flat wooden stick or slat used during periods of meditation to remedy sleepiness or lapses of concentration. This is accomplished through a strike or series of strikes, usually administered on the meditator's back and shoulders in the muscular area between the shoulder and the spine. The keisaku itself is thin and somewhat flexible; strikes with it, though they may cause momentary sting if performed vigorously, are not injurious.
Yet no one ever calls being slapped with a stick a zen-like experience.
Someone in this thread said...
I feel like it's a short and convenient loaner word to describe calm/focus/concentration at this point.
I'm American that's how I think most Americans certainly look at the word/concept. And most Americans never bother to learn anything and have no curiosity so they do and say things without thinking and without caring.
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It's not orientalist, it's just white people being vapid
I think you are not taking into account that Zen Buddhism has become a popular thing in the West. It's basically quick and easy Buddhism without all the work and just saying things are zen is more like a shortcut than it is a derogatory term
it's not meant to be derogatory, but the lazy shortcut is orientalist
Overwatch players in shambles
because people think zen = nirvana so they’re saying “Nirvana-like” sort of like how people say “heavenly” but different and probably more bastardized
Should we stop using the word zen entirely or just be mindful of the origin of it?
No we should meditate on it until we're enlightened
Alternatively, replace Zen-like with Xen-like. Def. "A state of deep concentration, like one is nearing the end of a Half-Life speedrun"
Be mindful of it's origin, and consider if it actually has any meaning in the context you're using it in.
Words have meaning only insofar as the people you are communicating with understand them. No one is going to be confused by what you mean by zen, even if the meaning they interpret is far away from the cultural origins of the word.
You can't make me stop listening to "Zauvijek Zen" in any case!
the "seventh day adventism" example would only make sense if seventh day adventists were known for their emphasis on meditation. Its kind of a cringe loaner word but idk if I'd go so far as to say it's completely meaningless like the examples you give, or outright orientalist
I've seen people use it in a context that has nothing to do with meditation or calm. The example I saw was about bartending. Maybe it's not always orientalist, but I think it can often be. For example, I once saw some place describe the Japanese word "genki", which means to be well or in good health, as being a zen-like state of mind. At that point, you may as well call it a "seventh day adventism-like state of mind", because both terms are meaningless in this context.
yeah saying genki = zen seems actually orientalist to me lol, in addition to being meaningless drivel
"genki" ... as being [in] a zen-like state of mind
Right now I am in a genki (Zen-like) state of pissing myself laughing
As the Zen masters (some type of martial art I think) of Chi... Kor... no, Japan would put it, this is cringe sugiru (def. "to be in excess; to be un-Zen-like")
Edit: seriously though, if whoever wrote that wanted to play into oriental exoticization, then genki literally means "fundamental qi", doesn't it? The term originates in Chinese cosmology, so why drag Zen into this at all?
western spiritual traditions are farcical, and show no curiosity whatsoever into the various types of religious experience or other anomalous mental states. like the various types of Buddhism have whole lexicons and conceptual maps of all kinds of specific features of consciousness, whereas Christians merely justify whatever whim or gut feeling they have by attributing it to Jesus or God or An Angel and if you do anything like 'meditation' they think you are a satanist or a victim of satanist propaganda. so in typical angloid fashion we steal whatever terms from other cultures we deem useful and forget the entire context or origin or purpose of the concepts we steal.
TL:DR it would be weird to say 'seventh day adventism-like' because there is no specific meditative or mental practices associated with that religious tradition, as whitoids are soulless ice mutant people with primitive barbaric cultures that revolve purely around colonialism (theft) and warfare. the angloid brainpan is incapable of the advanced thought required for spiritual pursuits or even complicated philosophical investigation.
the angloid brainpan is incapable of the advanced thought required for spiritual pursuits or even complicated philosophical investigation
not quite true, we are more than capable of complicated philosophical investigation, as long as it never gets anywhere or actually helps anyone. The moment you suggest something even remotely practicable you will be eliminated.
philosophy: maybe we should think about stuff sometimes, like fundamental questions concerning rationality and knowledge and reality
westoids: ogey
westoids: writes nothing but apologia for the status quo
philosophy: westoids, how could you possibly think that's what i mea-
westoids: another certified
bangerimperialism
Zen Buddhism is also pretty strange, like as someone (white western) who really values meditation and the psychology aspects of Buddhism, isn't zen kind of like a fusion between Buddhism and Shinto and bushido to make a Buddhism that allows violence and Japanese supremacy as part of its structure?
Zen Buddhism has some really good koans tho, so what do i know
