Dear friends, today is November 24th, 1994. We are together in the winter retreat. As you know, the theme of this winter retreat is the living tradition of meditation in the Buddhist path. The living tradition of Buddhist meditation.

The word "meditation" is English, and it has been used to translate the word "thiền". Thiền, to say it fully, is "thiền na". [Thầy writes on the board: thiền na.] Because people like to abbreviate, they drop the "na" and just say "thiền". In Sanskrit, it is "dhyāna". [Thầy writes on the board: dhyāna.]

And when the Chinese read the word "dhyāna", they pronounce it "ch'an na". [Thầy writes on the board: ch'an na.] And they also drop the "na", so it becomes "ch'an". So "ch'an" is the Chinese word, "thiền" is the Vietnamese word. [Thầy writes on the board the Chinese character: 禪.] In Vietnamese, we read it as "thiền". Meanwhile, the Japanese pronounce it "zen". [Thầy writes on the board: zen.] The Koreans pronounce it "son". [Thầy writes on the board: son.]

The root of the Sanskrit word "dhyāna" is "dhyā". That is the root. "Dhyāyati" means to think. It means to contemplate. It means to focus your attention on a subject. Meditation, reflection. And within it, there is the meaning of thinking inwardly. That is why, in the old days, the patriarchs translated "thiền" as "tư duy tu" — contemplation practice. [Thầy writes on the board: dhyāna: tư duy tu.]