Prayer beads made of seeds, likely bladdernut, with image of Bodhidharma carved on each bead

Many of us are trying to find little moments of zen in our day-to-day lives. Some look to the Rubin Museum to do just that, whether it’s by joining a Mindfulness Meditation session or by quieting the mind in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room. But can you really describe the Rubin and its collection as “zen”? That depends on what you mean. The concept has become so popular in American culture that its meaning has changed. Here’s why you might think again before calling the Rubin “zen.”

For many people, the term “zen” is synonymous with Buddhism. However, Zen is actually only one of many different Buddhist traditions. The specific sect of Zen Buddhism was the first to take root in the West, which helps explain why the connection between the idea of Zen and the religion of Buddhism in America is so strong.

The first formal introduction of Zen to America was likely during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, where Zen teacher Shaku Soen spoke at the World Parliament of Religions. By the 1950s and 1960s, several Zen Buddhist masters began to immigrate to the United States, establishing major Zen centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Just a few years later, members of the counterculture movement of the 1960s like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Jack Kerouac would study at these centers, and later incorporate Zen teachings and terminology into their writing. These texts helped Zen expand into American culture and thought.

“Zen” is a common word used by many to describe anything or anyone who seems calm and grounded, but what does the word actually mean? Though “zen” is a Japanese word, the Buddhist tradition called Zen actually originated in China under the name chan during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). The term “chan” itself is the Chinese version of the Sanskrit word dhyana which is often translated into “meditation.”

The Rubin’s collection features art from the Himalayan region, which traditionally practices a different type of Buddhism known as Vajrayana, Tantric, or Esoteric Buddhism. According to the legend, during the eighth century the great Tibetan emperor Trisong Detsen held debates between Chinese Buddhists (chan or zen) and Indian Buddhists (Vajrayana) to decide which type of Buddhism the empire was going to adopt as a state religion. Ultimately, the Indian Buddhists won, resulting in Vajrayana influences seen in much of Himalayan art henceforth.

The two traditions differ when it comes to how enlightenment is achieved. Zen strongly emphasizes meditation and what’s called “spontaneous” enlightenment. By simply meditating as much as possible, a person creates the opportunity for enlightenment to arise within them. Vajrayana, on the other hand, teaches a path of “gradual” enlightenment, providing a prescribed system with the use of many rituals and objects, which is often surprising to many Westerners when comparing Vajrayana to Zen’s minimalist aesthetic.