Buddhism started in India. It then was learnt and mastered by one of the great hindu yoga practioner. He specialized one Buddhist meditation technique called "jana meditation" he then brought it to China. He called it "jana Buddhism"
Chinese could not pronounce it properly. It ended up becomming "chana Buddhism" and then "chen Buddhism". "chen Buddhism" went to Japan. They altered the core of it a bit and of cause the pronounciation changed again to "zen Buddhism"
However, if you want to learn the original Buddhism, you have to find the original version. Buddhas own words were translated to a language called "Pali" and then was saved in Sri Lanka. This version later on became Theravada Buddhism. It is a practice path. Not a learning path. And the practice is so hard that it is extremely difficult to find true Theravada Monks. They only live in forests who call themselves "duthanga monks". Some are found in Thai forests, some in Burma, very few in Sri Lanka.
Ajaan Chah is one such famous Duthanga Monk.
Chinese could not pronounce it properly. It ended up becomming "chana Buddhism" and then "chen Buddhism". "chen Buddhism" went to Japan. They altered the core of it a bit and of cause the pronounciation changed again to "zen Buddhism"
However, if you want to learn the original Buddhism, you have to find the original version. Buddhas own words were translated to a language called "Pali" and then was saved in Sri Lanka. This version later on became Theravada Buddhism. It is a practice path. Not a learning path. And the practice is so hard that it is extremely difficult to find true Theravada Monks. They only live in forests who call themselves "duthanga monks". Some are found in Thai forests, some in Burma, very few in Sri Lanka.
Ajaan Chah is one such famous Duthanga Monk.
