Dharma Combat

Description

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Dharma combat, called issatsu or shosan in Japanese, is a term in some schools of Buddhism referring to an intense exchange between student and teacher, and sometimes between teachers, as an occasion for one or both to demonstrate his or her understanding of the Dharma and Buddhist tenets. It is used by both students and teachers to test and sharpen their understanding. Practice is primarily seen in Zen Culture, particularly S t Zen and the Kwan Um School of Zen. In both, it is a key component in the Dharma transmission process. Zen practitioners will often have a sanzen, where the student has a face to face interview with their master. This is also called nishitsu, which literally means entering the roomand refers to the student entering the room for private dharma combat.