Zen: from China to cyberspace: Why Dharma is now more relevant than ever

This essay discuss how Chan flourished out of the Dhyana tradition. How it came from China, moved to Korea, Japan, spread to the West, including USA, Europe and Australia. And then on new media like Internet. The author believes that the straightforward and non-hierarchic approach of Zen made it an appropriate answer to the needs of millions of people along the centuries, and this is especially true here and now. After seeing how Seon spread so far, we then discuss practical ways of making it even more accessible in the cyberspace, with potential and limits of new media. Chan, Seon and Zen stand for similar Dharma schools, respectively in China, Korea and Japan. Zen became a house-hold name, because Japanese Zen masters played an important role in spreading awareness about it, that is why Zen has been used as title for this booklet. The author, Frank Ra, is Italian, has spent most of his adult life in North America, England and Estonia, and travelling around the World. He settled in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. He is a Dharma instructor, currently furthering his knowledge by attending Amida Trust's training about Buddhist psychology and its therapeutic applications; has been coaching and working in eCommunication since late 1995; he also studied business and graduated in International Relations and Diplomacy. He blogs on http://www.amareway.org/