Өзінің табиғатын көру: Кеншо тәжірибесі

Seeing one's "true nature" as inherently empty of a personal self

Kenshō (Romanji; Japanese and classical Chinese: 見性, Pinyin: jianxing, Sanskrit: dṛṣṭi svabhāva) is an East Asian Buddhist term from the Chan / Zen tradition which means "seeing" or "perceiving" (見) the "nature" or "essence" (性). It is usually translated as "seeing one's (true) nature". The "nature" here refers to buddha nature, ultimate reality, the Dharmadhatu. The term appears in one of the classic slogans which define Chan Buddhism: to see oneʼs own nature and accomplish Buddhahood (見性成佛). Kenshō is an initial insight or sudden awakening, not full Buddhahood. It is to be followed by further training which deepens this insight, allows one to learn to express it in daily life and gradually removes the remaining defilements. The Japanese term kenshō is often used interchangeably with satori, which is derived from the verb satoru, and means "comprehension; understanding".

Translating kenshō into English is semantically complex.

Although the Zen tradition is reluctant to speak openly about the 'experience' of kensho, personal accounts can be found in Zen texts. Keido Fukushima, a 20th century Rinzai abbott, gives the following description:

Kenshō may be attained without the aid of a teacher. For example, Richard Clarke (1933), who studied with Philip Kapleau, states that he had a spontaneous kensho when he was 13. Dennis Genpo Merzel states he had what he described as an "awakening experience" in 1971:
blockquote|It was in February of that year, and I was 26 years old. My second serious relationship was ending, and I was feeling very confined and conflicted. I needed to get some space, so I went out to the Mojave desert for a three day camping weekend with two friends. On the Friday, I hiked up a mountain alone. I knew nothing about meditation or spiritual practice. I was just sitting there, thinking about my life and the things going on. I felt I had gotten pretty screwed up for such a young age. I could see my VW camper, my home for the weekend, parked a few miles away. But at the same time, I was aware that my home was back in Long Beach, California. And a natural koan came to me: Where is home? All of a sudden, I had a kind of breakthrough. I felt myself fall away, and I became one with the cosmos, one with the universe, one with all things. I knew in that moment that wherever I am, that is home; home is everywhere. I also knew who I was, beyond description, but let’s call it Big Mind. That experience completely changed my life. i. e. "priest" or "teacher," and the first Western female Zen priest, had a prolonged religious experience in the 1970s, including a series of visions and recalling past lives, when she was severely ill. She regarded these experiences as "a profound kensho (enlightenment) experience," constituting a third kensho, and published an account of these visions, and an elaborate scheme of stages of awakening, in How to Grow a Lotus Blossom. Her interpretations, which parallel Christian mysticism, were controversial, and rejected by some as makyo ("illusion"). According to Jiyu Kennett, such experiences are not uncommon, but are rarely spoken of; she regarded publishing her own experiences as a way to acknowledge the existence and validity of such experiences, which, according to her, may contribute to further insight after initial awakening. She acknowledged the risks and potential for controversy in publishing her account, but felt that the benefits of releasing such information outweighed the risks.

According to Harris, working towards kensho is usually a lengthy process stretched out over years or even decades. Contrary to this, Victor Hori notes that with koan study kensho may appear within six months. Sōtō tends towards a gradual approach, preferring to let the experiences happen on their own. Rinzai tends toward the use of Koans as a technique to unroot the habitual workings of the mind. During intensive zazen various hallucinations and psychological disturbances may arise. These are referred to as makyo. Distinguishing these delusions from actual kensho is the primary function of the teacher, as the student may be erroneously convinced they have realized kensho.

Contemporary Japanese Sōtō downplays the importance of kenshō, due to the sectarian rivalry with Rinzai, which emphasizes kenshō. Nevertheless, kenshō also has its role in Sōtō. The "genjo koan", or the "koan of everyday life" which "appears naturally in daily life", is emphasized. Students are not encouraged to actively seek out kenshō experiences. In Sōtō practice kenshōs "are allowed to occur naturally, as a by product of practice. Meditative training is seen as the unfolding of one great kenshō:

According to Brad Warner, in the Sōtō school there are two kinds of awakening. One is the practice of shikantaza, which is the "actual enlightened activity of the Buddha". The other is the accumulation of little bits of understanding, which come together, giving way to a deeper intuitive knowledge.

Kenshō also plays a central in the Sanbō Kyōdan, a Japanese Zen organisation which played a decisive role in the transmission of Zen to the United States. Yasutani, the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan, was disappointed about the lack of interest in kensho in the Soto school. Yasutani's emphasis on koan training and the importance of kensho was transmitted to his American students:

It is also reflected in the inclusion of a relative great amount of kensho stories in "The Three Pillars of Zen", written by Philip Kapleau, a student of Yasutani.

After kensho, further practice is needed to attain a natural, effortless, down to earth state of being, the "ultimate liberation", "knowing without any kind of defilement". Kensho may bring insight, but not change the mental dispositions, a shortcoming experienced by both Hakuin and modern teachers like Jack Kornfield and Barry Magid.

Kenshō is described as appearing suddenly, upon an interaction with someone else, at hearing or reading some significant phrase, or at the perceiving of an unexpected sound or sight. The idea of "sudden insight" has been hotly debated in the history of Zen. It became part of the Traditional Zen Narrative in the 8th century. Chinul, a 12th century Korean Seon master, emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. The contemporary Korean Seon master Seongcheol opposed this, emphasizing "sudden enlightenment, sudden cultivation". But Jiyu Kennett, a contemporary western teacher, warns that attaining kenshō does not mean that a person is free from morality, the laws of karma, or the consequences of ones actions. This warning is reflected in the Wild fox koan.

While the Japanese term "kenshō" is generally used by practitioners of Zen Buddhism, the insight it refers to is not limited to Japanese Zen Buddhism, or even to Buddhism in general.

The Theravada tradition, which is best known in the west through the modern Vipassana movement, discerns four stages of enlightenment, in which Nirvana is reached in four succeeding sudden steps of insight.

An analogy given by Dzogchen masters is that one's nature is like a mirror which reflects with complete openness, but is not affected by the reflections. Rigpa is the knowledge that ensues from recognizing this mirror like clarity, which cannot be found by searching nor identified. One knows that there is a primordial freedom from grasping his or her mind.

In Advaita Vedanta moksha is attained by jnana, insight knowledge. In Shankara's philosophical synthesis insight samadhi is used as a subsidiary to this goal. Swami Vivekananda emphasized the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi as a means to validate religious, transcendental knowledge.