"zen" the word itself

Has this always been the case?

I feel like I hear or read the word "zen" 20 or more times a day now.

I just looked in the San Francisco Chronicle and there was an article about a service called "zen home," which is a version of a maid service in which the maids use "green" products, wear quasi asian garb and light aromatherapy candles throughout the house/apartment.

What is "zen" about that? Is "zen" being equated with "green" these days? Or is it just that the whole idea of "zen cleaning" connotes some kind of simple, spare, spiritualish, cleanliness that will improve one's environment?

Technically I guess "zen" used to mean "meditation." Is that right? The Chinese and then Japanese Zen style of Buddhism was supposed to be a more stripped down style of dharma, focusing more on seated meditation than maybe other traditions?

Now I think it also means somehow, vaguely, "peace of mind," or "flow," in a sense that one is being very "zen" if one is in the flow of their activities.

And, probably, just the stark look of things we think of from zen places and things -- the caligraphy, the simple vase with the single flower, the polished wood floors, the black zabutans and zafus placed just so, the quiet, the whole idea of peace, etc. I can see why all that can seem pretty attractive. Its nice. It's calming.

But of course this is all a bit annoying to me. I feel like (beyond the more gross marketing appropriation of the word which is yucky but inevitable as long as it works) something is being missed. Isn't the peace that comes from actual Zen the result of staying mindful and aware of whatever is happening, no matter how clean/messy, pretty/ugly, peaceful/chaotic? And, isn't the stark beauty of some zen environments and rituals the result of practitioners emptiness and/or a way to use forms and rituals to produce emptiness?

I always found it odd, hilarious and awesome that the one time that I was inside one of the residences of one of the big deal zen teachers at Green Gulch Farm the place was a complete mess and appeared to be the home of borderline hoarder.

"is it just that the whole idea of "zen cleaning" connotes some kind of
simple, spare, spiritualish, cleanliness that will improve one's
environment?"

yes.

Worst Horse calls this 'the dharma burger'.

That's worth linking to:

http://theworsthorse.com/about/

lol
wow that's hilarious

reminds me of this show which came out a few years ago about a detective wrongly accused then released after spending years in prison, where he had "studied zen" for some reason. I watched a few cringeworthy episodes since I worked at a video store and the dvd was free. A while later I saw an interview with the show's writer/creator which explained everything. He said he had deliberately not spoken with any zen teachers or practitioners, not visited any zen groups, not read up critically on zen... because he didn't want to contaminate his creative vision. How absurd is that? He seemed very pleased with himself, perhaps even implying that his attitude was "zen". Dharma big-mac anyone?

And let's not forget the famous 'zen dipped in karma wrapped in chocolate' ad campaign for something or other.

I remember that show. I think it was called Life, with the British actor Damian Lewis. He's an enjoyable enough performer, but the bulk of his Zen practice seemed to be listening to self-help tapes while driving a sports car incredibly fast.

ahhahahaha totally that was definitely the show Kind of too bad though huh? I think it would be cool to have more grass fed organic dharma burgers in our pop culture

Thanks for the info on "dharma burgers" and the link everyone. I think there are way way more dharma burgers out there.

The man who coaches the Laker, I think his name his Phil Jackson, apparently is an actual zen practioner and when the word Zen is thrown out in regard to him it is actually true. I think. I better check on that.

oh yeah, Mike I remember something about that. I think that's legit.

From Brad Warner (I don't think this is copywrighted)