ABSTRACT
Religion is garbed by the time, the place, and the nature of the people who have it. In Mohammedism stealing is not the crime that it is in Christianity because there was a scarcity of food in early Mohammedan countries. This is an example of environmental influences on religion. The fundamental teaching of Buddhism is emancipation. Zazen has some connections with Yoga techniques, but otherwise Buddhism has not. Recent excavations show that the zazen position is very ancient and that it predates Yoga practices. The Mahayana Buddhist method is to get free without breaking the box. Transcending the opposites is what the Buddha did for six years. A new point. 'Zen' comes from 'dhyana', which means thinking calmly or calm thinking or carefully weighed thinking. Americans need the spiritual union of mind and body to get a basis for their culture. Zen might furnish it. The East has developed spiritually because it is poor materially.
