Welcome to Gaia! ::

Has anyone heard of this?
It's a tradition of Zen Buddhism, that claims that it is the closest to Bodhidharma's teachings. Also, the website states that Dogen-Zenji's path is second-hand. Personally, I've found the info and insight it offers to be, itself, second-hand. "The extreme emphasis, in modern Zen centers, on seated meditation alone will not advance a student of Buddhism to the level of wisdom the Buddha attained under the Bo- tree. Without extensive Sutra study and proper instruction in Dharma, no actual advance can be made to the other shore of intuitive wisdom." What do you guys think? (This is, in particular, a question for Zen Buddhists, but of course, is open to any input.)
Here's the website, for anyone interested: http://www.darkzen.com/

Agreed! biggrin

I love this Quote...
this is one of the main reasons i choose Buddhism...

It seems that Dark Zen is an online cult. It's one of the handful of schools not recognized by e-sangha.com. Be wary when you view information from their site.

This is possible, though it seems hard to tell from the website. However, this Zenmar character does lack tolerance for the trappings and authority of the traditional Japanese Zen sects (like Soto and Rinzai) and talks about a transcendent "dark principle" (Yin?) that he claims is the true transmission of the Buddha (compared to the mere canon literature). It is difficult for me to figure whether or not the Dark Zen folks (or simply Zenmar?) are "sutric" or not...

Zenmar's brief descriptions of "tapping the dark principle" sounds like common reports of successful meditation from just about any tradition, so I'm unconvinced that he's describing something unique to his tradition. It seems that Taoist concepts traditionally associated with Lao Tzu (as in the Tao Te Ching where Yin preceded Yang in the beginning and the Master represented this) are being associated with the Buddha and the sectarian claims to originality is due to this; apparently the Buddha taught some type of 'yin meditation' system outside the sutras. Beyond that, I can't tell of much doctrinal differences between Dark Zen and traditional Zen, since both emphasize the direct experience of one's own Mind outside intellectualism.

As far as Zenmar's critiques of Zen Buddhism goes, his views seem to be largely in line with mine (e.g. in "Dark Zen - Critique of Modern Zen" he mentions that strangeness and irrationality of the teachings and general ignorance of the Dharma associated with Dogen Zenji and Hakuin Zenji). In that essay, Zenmar emphasized the need to study the sutras in addition to practicing sitting meditation, but didn't explain the need for his Dark Principle transmission. Overall, his discussions seem to be well-informed and well-argued.

Here's a link off the website concerning an interview with Zenmar:
http://www.darkzen.com/teachings/zenmarinterview.htm