A new "sangha" -- meaning community or order -- has been set up under the auspices of the Minster chapter and meets within the medieval precincts every other Friday for an hour and a half's silent meditation.

I'm sure there are those who think I'm an out and out heretic but it seems to me perhaps Zen poses fewer problems [than other non-Christian customs] because it doesn't claim to be a system of doctrine or belief.

It was the idea of the Revd Canon Dr Christopher Collingwood, the Minster's Canon Chancellor, a longstanding enthusiast for Zen practice, which emphasises silent meditation and a focus on breathing techniques.

Dr Collingwood described himself as "religiously bilingual", combining Christian beliefs and Zen ideas, and having "a foot in more than one religious camp".

The ancient Christian tradition of contemplation offers a natural fit with eastern meditation techniques, he argued.

The sessions, which usually attract a group of just over 20 people, first began more than two years ago following Dr Collingwood's arrival at the Minster when word got around of his enthusiasm for Zen ideas.

They are now a regular fixture, listed among the Minster's main "spiritual" activities, alongside its Sunday school and youth group, and have been enthusiastically supported by the Dean, the Very Rev Vivienne Faull.

If anything, Dr Collingwood explained, he had been surprised at how uncontroversial the introduction of Zen ideas into the Church of England had proved so far.

"Funnily enough I have been quite surprised at the number of people who are really interested in it, who don't seem to raise their eyebrows," he said.

"I'm sure there are those who think I'm an out and out heretic but it seems to me perhaps Zen poses fewer problems [than other non-Christian customs] because it doesn't claim to be a system of doctrine or belief."

He said the fusion of Christian and Zen Buddhist ideas dates back to the Second Vatican Council when Roman Catholics were first encouraged to learn from eastern religious traditions in areas such as meditation techniques. It was soon adopted by Anglicans as well.

"It has been going on in the Roman Catholic church for 50 years and more," he explained.

"I think particularly what Roman Catholic missionaries discovered was that it resonated with the Christian contemplative and mystical tradition.

"With figures like St John of the Cross [the 16th Century Spanish mystic] you have got a praying without words, beyond concepts, beyond images.

"When people are meditating in Zen who are Christian I think the focussing on the breath coincides with the idea of the Holy Spirit.

"In the Bible, the word, both in the Hebrew and Greek, can be translated as 'breath', 'spirit' or 'wind'.

"There is a very deep connection there - that breath is the Spirit within us.

"I talk about being religiously bilingual.

"I would say that the focus on breath is attending to the Holy Spirit."

Asked if being religiously bilingual meant that he saw himself as being both Christian and Buddhist, he said: "Yes, I think in a sense, perhaps - I would be conscious exactly about how you might express that.

"There is a recognised phenomenon now which is explored in research ... called 'dual religious belonging' where it is recognised that people have a foot in more than one religious camp.

"Within the Church there was a canon of Coventry, Paul Oestreicher, who is an Anglican who also became a member of the Society of Friends ... a Quaker ... so there is precedent.

"Every human being has multiple identities, you can be a father and a husband and a priest; you can be British but you might be bilingual in another language."

Two years ago the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, disclosed how he too had been influenced by Buddhist ways in his own private devotions.

He explained in an essay in the New Statesman that he spends up to 40 minutes a day squatting and repeating an Eastern Orthodox prayer while performing breathing exercises.

He also spends time pacing slowly and repeatedly prostrating himself as part of an intense early morning ritual of silent meditation and prayer.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, chief executive of pressure group Christian Concern, said: "Buddhism contrasts sharply with Christian teaching about God. The two are incompatible. To try to mix them is deceptive and dishonours Jesus Christ.

"It is remarkable that this is happening in one of the country's best known cathedrals. The Archbishop of York must take swift action. This type of confusion undermines the Church of England's current initiative to encourage Christian prayer."

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