Zen Buddhism

What can philosophers today learn from the psychosomatic practice of Zen Buddhism? How does Zen challenge the methodology of our cerebral practice of philosophy?  In order to address these questions, this essay examines one of the major transitions that have occurred in modern Japanese philosophy, namely the translation of Zen Buddhist ideas into a philosophical idiom. When Zen ideas are discussed in an academic context, we need to be attentive to the fact that they have been displaced from the psychosomatic practices—the embodied-spiritual disciplines—in which they were originally embedded. Fortunately, there have been a few philosophers who have commuted between the psychosomatic practice of Zen and the intellectual discipline of philosophy, most notably the main figures of the first three generations of the Kyoto School: Nishida Kitarō (1870–1945), Nishitani Keiji (1900–90), and Ueda Shizuteru (1926–2019). The central sections of this essay examine how they challenge not just the ideas but also the disembodied methodology of Western philosophy by drawing on their psychosomatic practice of Zen. The final sections then critically compare and contrast Zen’s psychosomatic practice of with Richard Shusterman’s “somaesthetics” and with Pierre Hadot’s retrieval of the ancient Greek and Roman conception of philosophy as a “way of life,” a way that was not only more soteriologically oriented but also more holistically practiced than is modern academic philosophy. The essay concludes by addressing the prospects, for those living in contemporary Western or Westernizing countries, of incorporating psychosomatic disciplines such as those of Zen into the practice of philosophy as a truly holistic pursuit of wisdom and liberating way of life.

Citation information:
Bret W. Davis, “Commuting Between Zen and Philosophy: In the Footsteps of Kyoto School Philosophers and Psychosomatic Practitioners,” in Transitions: Crossing Boundaries in Japanese Philosophy, edited by Francesa Greco, Leon Krings, and Yukiko Kuwayama (Nagoya: Chisokudō Publications, 2021), pp. 71–111.

Nagarjuna, philosophe bouddhiste fondateur de l'école du Madhyamaka du Milieu au II° siècle, est reconnu comme un Patriarche  autant par les écoles tibétaines que par le zen japonais. Il influencera notament l'Hanna Shingyo, le célèbre Sutra du coeur qui est en résonnance avec sa pensée. Ses thèses hardies proposent une déconstruction des vérités bouddhistes sclérosées qui versent dans l'idéalisme ou le matérialisme, en invitant à emprunter une voie radicale de l'entre-deux, entre vérité relative et vérité au sens ultime, avec une approche radicale et décapante de la vacuité et de l'éveil, en phase avec les dernières découvertes de la physique quantique.  Ce nouvel article propose une approche globale de sa philosophie, en insistant sur les conséquences pratiques de sa pensée sur la méditation et les enseignements bouddhistes.

2017 The ten ox-herding pictures are some of the most famous illustrations in Buddhism. The commentaries that have been written on these pictures are vast and wide. In this workbook I've taken the opportunity to share my views about the pictures along with sharing the thoughts and ideas of other contemporary writers on Buddhism who have done so as well.

O zen-budismo é uma forma de budismo mahãyãna de origem chinesa e orientada para a meditação. O presente estudo é concebido “comparativamente”. As filosofias de Platão, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche e Heideggeir, entre outras, são confrontadas com as inteleções filosóficas do zen-budismo. O “método comparativo” é utilizado aqui como um método desbravador de sentidos.

Designed a poster for the twelve links (nidāna): Dependent Origination (paṭiccasamuppāda). This was a desideratum as I am running a Monday Q&A session on every nidāna. Vibhaṅga Sutta (SN 12.2) and Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta, (MN 09) are my references.

Original Post: https://patisota.blogspot.com/2021/06/twelve-links-dependent-origination.html

O maior dos cineastas japoneses, Akira Kurosawa, fez no outono de sua vida um filme baseado nos seus sonhos. A rica simbologia dos oito episódios do filme é um convite para conhecer o folclore e a religiosidade do Extremo Oriente. No entanto, a interpretação de "Sonhos" esbarra num obstáculo considerável: a fossa cultural que separa o Japão do Ocidente. Para transpor essa barreira foi necessário um estudo focado principalmente no budismo, xintó e a biografia do diretor para captar a profundidade dessa obra, somado a comparações com os mitos, lendas e contos de fada da África, do Brasil e da Europa. Tanto a arte como a vida onírica são temas de grande interesse apara analistas Junguianos, e a investigação psicológica desse filme traz uma contribuição valiosa para uma crítica cinematográfica que tem por base o repertório hermenêutico da psicologia analítica.

The primary concern of Mind Cure is the broad, diffuse Mindfulness movement that includes Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) developed by the microbiologist Jon Kabat-Zinn and “all the therapeutic derivatives of MBSR, collectively called MBIs [Mindfulness-Based Interventions]” (p. 8). In this timely study Wakoh Shannon Hickey aims to challenge many contemporary psychologists, physicians, and scientists’ presentation of the Mindfulness movement as secular. Drawing on her specialization in American religion, she associates the movement with the American Mind Cure or mind-body healing tradition “to tell a story that begins two centuries earlier, about people who set the stage on which Kabat-Zinn became a star” (p. 3).

Zen in the attic. A contribution to the reception of Buddhism in Poland. Abstract: The reception of Buddhism, which in Europe began already in the nineteenth century, did not pass over Poland. Initially limited to scientific milieus and small social circles, in time Buddhism became more widely present, especially in artistic communities and youth subculture groups. After the World War Second, despite of being cut off by the Iron Curtain from main cultural changes, Poland was permeated by fashions and phenomena characteristic of the Atlantic civilization, including the fascination for Oriental religiosity, especially Buddhism. Oriental studies were carried out at universities, while individuals and groups of enthusiasts tried on their own to study Buddha’s writings and teachings. There were among those people Władysław Misiewicz from Radom and Piotr Boniński from Gliwice. Their interest, however, was limited to intellectual reflection and they did not practice Buddhism. One of the first groups to practice Buddhist meditation was the circle of artist Andrzej Urbanowicz, who in 1967, together with his friends established an artistic group called “Oneiron”. Texts and intellectual quest led them towards Zen Buddhism, and Urbanowicz’s atelier became the first place in Poland where meditation was practiced. Meetings were also held at Mąchocice Kapitulne near Kielce. Activities of the still unformal group of Buddhists were kept under surveillance by the secret police. In 1975 Philip Kapleau, an American teacher of Buddhism, answered the group’s invitation, and from that time on, he visited Poland many a time. After Urbanowicz left Poland, in 1978, architect Andrzej Korbel became the leader of the group; in time, the Warsaw circle took the lead, with psychotherapist Wojciech Eichelberger. In the meantime, however, eff orts to legalize the group encountered obstacles and it was not until 1981 that the fi rst Zen Buddhist Community in Poland was established. Later on, next groups were organized but, despite the fact that a real breakthrough took place after 1989, already in the 1980s there were four officially registered Buddhist communities, with branches and circles in different towns and cities.

This paper explores the possibilities of examining four of Jim Jarmusch’s films (Stranger than Paradise, Down by Law, Dead Man and Ghost Dog) from the perspectives of various postmodern philosophies. It places Jarmusch’s opus within the larger frame of modern and postmodern cinema employing the theory of Jean-François Lyotard. Philosophies of Nietzsche, Baudrillard, Foucault and Heidegger are used to analyze several aspects of these films. However, the main focus is on a psychoanalytic approach relying on theories of Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Žižek. Thus, Stranger than Paradise is explained through the concepts of big Other and the repressed Other. Down by Law is seen as a quest for the Other which is “deprived of its Otherness”. Dead Man is a Heideggerian Exploration of the Being whose Beckettian character resonates with neurotic anxiety and childhood trauma. The ancient mythology in Ghost Dog concludes the discussion of the Other with mechanisms of condensation and projection, and ...

The political questions that disturb us in challenging times were, and continue to be, disconcerting and full of dis-ease, and if dis-ease is not tempered with understanding and steady practice and necessary lightheartedness at appropriate times, it can bring about illness in us. We know that conflict and anger are a poison, and dwelling in anger is not helpful, or useful, or wise.

It is probably fair to say that most people want to be happy. Indeed, the 1776 US Declaration of Independence refers to happiness as an ‘unalienable right’. However, given the rising prevalence of mental illness, and given the amount of general unrest, conflict, and suffering in society, it’s also fair to say that, on the whole, human beings aren’t very good at cultivating happiness. In today’s post, we draw upon insights from the classical and research literature, and from our own practice and study of wellbeing, to examine the subject of how to nurture lasting happiness.

In looking towards future contexts of design where the processes and consequences of making are becoming increasingly scrutinised, I explore how we, as designers, can develop mindfulness towards what we ‘make’ together with others. I draw upon various key scholars in design, feminist STS, philosophy and cognitive science that take a pragmatic orientation to a deeper, ethical investigation of being and change. In doing so, I consider mindfulness as an approach and practice to designing that enables awareness of others, sensitivity towards contexts and reflection of one’s actions. This approach to mindfulness is inflected with Zen Buddhism, drawing upon my cultural background. I question how we conceive, enact and embody designing with other people, seeing design as a process of transformation of ourselves when making socio-material relations and the making of futures.

Keynote presentation at DEFSA Conference, Midrand Graduate Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2nd September 2015.

Mindfulness is a burgeoning field of study and practice within mental health care and medicine. Yet ethical codes, and the philosophy of the therapist-client relationship, differ greatly between disciplines, and even more between those disciplines and mindfulness-based approaches. The potential for ethical dilemmas is therefore significant.

The book breaks new ground by taking a focused look at an ethics derived from contemporary clinical mindfulness practice itself. What does a secular ethics of mindfulness look like? Who is competent to work therapeutically with mindfulness, and how does one delimit areas and levels of competence? How do clinicians ethically understand the therapist-client relationship from the therapeutic position of mindfulness? And how do clinicians respond when the necessary restraints of their professional role and ethics code come into conflict with the mindfulness-based relationship and therapeutic position?

This book makes a vital contribution to the understanding of ethics as the cornerstone of mindfulness-based practice, and will be of interest to all those involved in delivering mindfulness-based interventions, including psychologists, counselors, spiritual directors, occupational therapists, physicians, nurses, and educators.

This paper engages the Analects from multiple perspectives. The Deleuzean read reveals its function as a cogwheel in the feudal social machine serving the purpose of overcoding. The Flusserian read brings into relief a meta-program that works to perpetuate the feudal social order, and a functionalism that has been revived in the post-historical era. From an interological perspective, Confucian ritual formalizes and normalizes interality. In terms of rhetorical and performance studies, the Analects has the gentleman as its second persona, inculcates a role aesthetics, and models a sense of decorum. From a Daoist viewpoint, the Analects contains an autobiography that documents Confucius's personal development as a spiritual adventurer and his becoming-Daoist later in life. From a Chan perspective, Confucius was a virtuosic performer of upaya, and the Analects feels like a precursor of the mondo or question-and-answer books that flourished in the Chan community in later historical periods. Moreover, a Chan-minded heterodox hermeneutics regarding the Analects has taken shape over time. The paper ends by pointing to Ouyi's Chan-spirited reinterpretation of the Analects as an exciting project to take on. Although the Buddha expounded the Dharma in a single voice, each of all living beings attained understanding according to its kind.-JIANG Qian 江 谦 (translated by Richard John Lynn) A Taoist hat, Confucian shoes, and a Buddhist robe combine the three houses into one. (Hori, 2003, p. 555) Three men gathered around a vat of vinegar. Each dipped a digit in and then touched it to his tongue. To Confucius, the taste was sour; to Gautama Buddha, the taste was bitter; to Laozi, the taste was sweet. All three different; all three one. This exploration approaches the Analects of Confucius with a nomadic sensibility. "Nomadic" invokes multiple strands of philosophical currents, including the treatise on nomadology developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus, the species of nomad thought Deleuze perceives in Friedrich Nietzsche, the kind of nomadism Vilém Flusser associates with post-history in The Freedom of the Migrant, the emerging philosophical paradigm that has coalesced around the term "interology," and Daoism and Chan Buddhism, which have had a long history of co-evolution, rivalry, complementarity,

Improvisation, according to Stephen Asma, is a primordial form of human cognition. In this essay Asma explores the embodied cognition of improvisation, using examples from music. He recounts his experience playing music with master improvisers like Bo Diddley.

ТОЛЬКО ОЗНАКОМИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФРАГМЕНТ, электронная версия не распространяется.

Сэм ван Шайк. Тибетский дзэн. Открывая утерянную традицию. Истории, рассказанные манускриптами Дуньхуана / Пер. с англ. А. Г. Ливанского, под общ. ред. Б. К. Двинянинова. — СПб. : Издательство «Академия исследований культуры», 2021. — 248 с. : ил. — (Серия «Измерения опыта»). ISBN 978-5-94396-226-4

Вплоть до начала XII в. практически не оставалось следов существования тибетской традиции китайского чань-буддизма или дзэн. После обнаружения запечатанной пещеры в Дуньхуане, наполненной манускриптами на различных языках, начиная с первого тысячелетия н. э., наше понимание раннего дзэн претерпело существенные изменения. В этой книге переведена часть наиболее ранних рукописей тибетского дзэн, сохранившихся в Дуньхуане. Переводы освещают различные аспекты традиции дзэн, включая краткие введения, в которых обсуждаются не только роли ритуала, диспута, линии преемственности и медитации в ранней традиции дзэн, но также разъясняют, каким образом эти тексты были включены в живую практику.

The essay discusses Leo Tolstoy’s short novel “Father Sergius” in the context of Zen Buddhist radical iconography. The motive of the severed finger represents a certain, and quite well-known Zen kōan which could have potentially influenced the Russian author. The essay meticulously narrates the story of the “Gutei’s Finger” kōan out of several collections (describing the Jùzhī Yīzhǐ’s mythological event first and foremost based on the “Mumonkan” – “The Gateless Gate”), and compares it with Tolstoy’s sjuzhet and its possible historical and imaginative contexts.
Keywords: Tolstoy, Father Sergius, Gutei Isshi, Mumonkan, finger-severance, koans.

As a nature parable, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD involves players in a dreamlike gameworld in which their unconscious desires for an ecological sustainable Utopia and a romantic imagery of nature are evoked, exposed to distress, and eventually saturated. By sending players on the journey of a hero to restore order in a polluted but majestic world, the game evokes a bewildering variety of affects in them. These oscillate between positive and negative ones—such as curiosity and fear, excitement and distress, startle and anger, pleasure and terror—and are outlined by the game’s structural peculiarities (its implied player) in different ways, depending on the region of the gameworld. The players’ affective responses then culminate in the tumultuous emotion of astonishment and in the aesthetic response of the sublime. The experience of play—in the interaction between (eco)game, player, and world (culture)—is thus a regenerative one on an affective and subsequent aesthetic level. It resensitises players to the beauty of the natural world, while granting them a different point of view on ecosystems and ecological issues that plague their contemporary surroundings.

Philosophy East/West showcases new scholarship in the philosophy of education and contemplative studies, paying particular attention to the intersection of mindfulness, evidence-based science, and wisdom traditions. These readings shed light on the contemplative turn in contemporary education and its potentials, difficulties and implications for educational theory and practice.

The chapters in this edited volume move beyond simplistic explanations of “East” and “West” to explore the complexity and diversity of various wisdom traditions. The book includes:

• Explorations of mindfulness in contemporary education as it intersects with science and wisdom traditions.
• Investigations of Buddhist, Taoist, and Vedantic traditions as they shed light on contemporary educational theory and practice.
• Interpretations of contemplative education in light of philosophers such as Heidegger, Levinas and Foucault.

Bhante Dr. Chandima interviews Professor Peter Harvey about the working of karma and the power of volition (cetanā). He was the first Professor specifically of "Buddhist Studies" in the UK. Peter Harvey, who gained his doctorate in Buddhist Studies at Lancaster University, under Ninian Smart, is Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK.

Prof. Harvey's research focuses on early Buddhist thought and practices, and Buddhist ethics. Until recently, he edited Buddhist Studies Review, Journal of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies, having founded the Association in 1995 with Ian Harris, and from 2002 to 2011 ran an online MA Buddhist Studies program. He is the author of An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History, and Practices (University of Cambridge Press, 1990, 2nd edn. 2013), The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness, and Nirvana in Early Buddhism (Curzon Press, 1995), and An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values, and Practices (University of Cambridge Press, 2000). He has edited an anthology of Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna texts, Common Buddhist Text: Guidance and Insight from the Buddha, published for free distribution by Mahachulalongkorn-rajavidyalaya University in Thailand. He is a member of the Samatha Trust and teaches a free online course on Samatha meditation. Retired, he now lives near York, UK. You can learn more about his scholarly writings at https://sunderland.academia.edu/PeterHarvey

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/WFeO7sKFht8

Original Post: https://patisota.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-working-of-karma-power-of-volition-chandima-gangodawila-prof-peter-harvey.html

The work of Toshio Hosokawa (born 1955 in Hiroshima) exemplifies a connection between silence and the sphere of the sacred which is characteristic of Far East cultures. The goal of this paper is to determine the role of silence in the work of Hosokawa in the light of Japanese tradition, with particular reference to Zen Buddhism. The article discusses chosen aspects of the composer’s oeuvre already mentioned in the research, but present also in theoretical and aesthetic texts, interviews and commentaries provided by the composer himself. These elements are, inter alia, traditional Japanese music (gagaku, shōmyō, shakuhachi music), calligraphy, dō arts, ma principle, breath, and the nonlinear model of time or the concept of emptiness.

Abstract: Far Eastern calligraphy has always been regarded by the Occident as an “esoteric” issue, laden with a peculiar “mysticism, ” which presents spiritual and philosophical aspects too outlandish to truly comprehend. That is probably the reason why calligraphy was amongst the last artistic “disciplines ” to gain access to the international world of the arts. This study focuses on Japanese calligraphy as a visual and verbal image, conducting a hermeneutic investigation into the nature and function of this type of image, into the value and significance of this way of representing the sacred in accordance with Japanese spirituality. Undertaking an unusual exploration, this research draws together the symbolism of calligraphic art and that of Byzantine icons, looking for similarities and differences between them, seeing them as intuitive gateways to the mysteries of the universe, to revelations of an ontologically superior nature.

This digital version of the original publication is distributed according to the Creative Commons " Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 " license agreement and the provisions stated on the website at http://www.numatacenter.com/. This PDF file may be printed and distributed according to the terms of use established on the website. The file itself is distributed with certain security provisions in place that disallow modification. However, if any Buddhist group or scholar of Buddhism has legitimate reason to modify and/or adapt the contents of any such file (such as for inclusion of the contents in a publically available online database of Buddhist sources), please contact us for permission and unrestricted files. dBET PDF Version