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Kanji Detail for 禅 - "zen, meditation"

禅

  • Meaning

    禅 means "zen, meditation." Also associated with to abdicate.

    1. Zen - A school of Buddhism emphasizing meditation and intuition.

    2. Meditation - Deep contemplation; focused mental discipline.

    3. Abdicate - To give up the throne (historical meaning).

  • Words using 禅

    • 禅寺 ぜんでら Listen Zen temple
    • 座禅 ざぜん Listen zazen (seated Zen meditation, usu. in a cross-legged position)

  • Tattoo check: 禅

    • Verified meaning: zen, meditation
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read さとり, しずか, しづか, ぜん)
    • Also carries these associations: to abdicate

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 禅

    Given names 禅(さとり)Listen 禅(しずか)Listen 禅(しづか)Listen 禅(ゆずる)Listen

    Surnames 禅(ぜん)Listen 禅(ゆずり)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    Zen; silent meditation

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    meditation, contemplation

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    dhyana (Sanskrit); Zen; meditation (Buddhism)

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    meditation, contemplation

  • Onyomi

    tip

    sen(セン) セン

    zen(ゼン) ゼン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    shizuka(しず-か) しず-か

    yuzu.ru(ゆず-る) ゆず-る

  • Strokes

    tip

    13 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    示 礻 (shimesu・shimesuhen)

  • Related Keywords

    zen meditation to abdicate abdication contemplation awareness buddhism concentration enlightenment focused harmony insight introspection mental mind peace serenity stillness thought

Sentences including 禅

  • He sat in Zen meditation.

  • I never go to Kyoto without visiting the Nanzenji Temple.

  • They say Zen cultivates our mind.

  • Zen priests beg for alms near Shinjuku station.

  • What? A little soup and celery is all I get? I'm not a Zen monk. I can't survive on an austerity diet like this.

  • Zen Buddhism is also called "Buddha's mind school" because of its basic tenet of transmitting the mind of Buddha directly from teacher to student without relying on writings or sutras.

More kanji with the radical 示 礻 (shimesu・shimesuhen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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