ABSTRACT
Christian and Buddhist monks have many things in common, though their spiritual structure is different. Buddhism is an instructive example of man's striving for redemption. "For the Zen Buddhist, whatever exists, exists outside of man; animals, plants, stones, earth, fire, water exist without any demands in the middle of existence, not being able to leave that origin". Zen is less prophetic because of its Buddhist origin and less future-oriented than the teachings of the Hind mystics such as Sri Aurobindo and Gopi Krishna. The relation to respiration is taken as an example for the attitude towards all inner- and outer stimuli, which could disturb the ego's concentration during meditation. Zen is a translucent symptom of man's struggle for inner adaptation. It offers an insight in this struggle, especially when compared with western methods for inner adaptation.
