The giant Buddha is part of the Po Lin monastery and temple complex set up nearly 100 years ago by three Zen masters.

天坛大佛是宝莲禅寺建筑群的一部分。禅寺是在约百年前由三位禅师创立的。

Zen has developed as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, the school of Buddhism practised in China and other northern Asian countries.

禅宗是大乘佛教逐渐发展而成的一个分支，是在中国及其他北亚国家广为传播的宗派。

Zen Buddhists believe that all people have the qualities that the Buddha had, and emphasise that these can be developed and were not unique to the Buddha only.

禅宗相信所有人都具有佛性，并强调佛性可以逐步养成，而非佛陀独有。

The aim of Zen is to discover this quality within each person, through meditation and practice of the Buddha's teachings.

禅宗的目的，就是要通过冥想和实修来发掘每个人潜在的佛性。

The ultimate goal is to become a completely enlightened Buddha.

最终目标则是成为大彻大悟的佛。

Meditation has always been central to Buddhism, but here in China a new brand of meditation was born.

冥想一直都是佛教修行的核心方式。但在中国，它有了另外一个名字。

And it took its name from a Sanskrit word Dhyana which is actually very hard to translate, but it means a kind of alert, productive state of mind.

它来源于梵文中“Dhyana”一词。这个词很难精准翻译，它指的是一种敏锐而丰富的精神状态。

In China it was called Chan and when it travels to Japan it becomes Zen.

中国人称它为“禅”。流传到日本以后成为“Zen”（还是“禅”）。

It's a school of Buddhism which lays enormous emphasis on certain kinds of meditative practice.

这是个对特定种类的冥想修行极其重视的佛教宗派。

What you try to do is purely to empty your mind.

你要努力做的仅仅是清除杂念。

It has an ideology that rational thought is not going to get you to enlightenment or Nirvana.

它的观点是，理性思维不会使你开悟或涅槃。

It's practised here in a small secluded monastery, minutes away from the giant Buddha.

实修的地点在一个僻静小禅院中，距离大佛有几分钟路程。

Formal silent meditation is central to Zen and is practised by both the laity and the ordained together.

庄重宁静的坐禅是禅宗的核心。俗家百姓和受戒僧人一起参禅打坐。