From yoga to Zen, though not in the route I took

Sanskrit Dhyana was corrupted into Chinese Ch’an and thence, in Japan, into Zen.

The sixth patriarch insisted there would be an awakening in prajna (transcendental wisdom) rather than in mere absorption of quiet sitting …

~*~

My name, Jnana, also appears transliterated from Sanskrit as Gyana, meaning the “wise use of knowledge,” among other nuances Here, in an image by Yulem via Wikimedia Commons, is an Indian hook hanger made of bronze with rudraksha beads showing one of the most frequently used hand positions, or mudras, during the practice of pranayama and meditation to symbolize the movement of human consciousness toward holy light.

 

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