In order to explain emptiness one must understand the principle of living in the moment, “rather than postponing life to some moment in the future”, Zen is practiced through the present moment, and what one derives from those experiences (Koller, 282). Dogen states that an individual must “Put [ones] whole mind into the practice of the Way. [Remembering] that [one] [is] only alive today in [the] moment”, which emphasizes the concept of oneness between experience and intellect (Koller, 282). One should not hinge on the past, or blindly dwell in the future; this will ultimately cause suffering to arise. These are merely, “delusions” until one garners the understanding and, “realization”, or form to construct the proper platform for life according to Zen (Genjo-Koan, 41[83]). The only way to break free of a dualistic mind and understand the quintessential concept of Zen, emptiness, is by breaking free of attachment. Through the embodiment of emptiness, one can finally see into true reality and understand the oneness of the universe. Through realization of this wholeness, one can expel the profound level of suffering experienced in life, by ordinary people. According to Zen, these sufferings are terribly misconceived, only when one lets go completely will the, “the fullness of life” be seen, and the individual be brought out of this fake sense of reality.
In Dogen’s Genjo-Koan he states, “When the myriad dharma’s are each not of the self, there is no delusion and no realization, no Buddha’s and no ordinary being, no life and no death” (Genjo-koan, 83). Here one can see that the myriad dharma’s can be attributed to the vast number of delusions or attachments that one develops in life. These same dharmas produce some form of suffe...
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To live in a world without human connection, is to live an empty and meaningless life. Both Karen Armstrong, and Robert Thurman, highlight the necessity of human contact throughout their essays. In his text “Wisdom,” Robert Thurman shows us the path to discover the selflessness of what we believe is our true and actual self. He claims that no matter how hard one might try to find themselves, they will only find a rigid, fixated self. But when we finally accept our selflessness and turn away from our egos, we can become compassionate and experience the void, which he defines as a free and boundless self. Additionally, Karen Armstrong debates that the universe is driven by concepts such as “Being,” and “Brahman,” which both represent the ultimate
...if he and the world were just created from nothingness (Suzuki 67), this too is a change in how humans normally experience the world. Wherever Zen Buddhism fits in exactly between secular and spiritual is hard to tell, and like Suzuki said perhaps Zen is a religion before religion and the appreciation of our original nature as strange as it might sound to us is even described as “unusual” to Suzuki himself (124). It is clear however that Zen fits into Young’s framework and perhaps with a beginner’s mind one can make use of this and find for themselves the answers to at least part of the questions about their own life.
...avings that humans have. Once that is eliminated, pain will be eliminated as well. In Buddhism it is believed that the cause can be eliminated by following the noble eight fold path known as Nirvana. The eight fold path consists of the right of understanding, the right of thought, the right of speech, the right of action, the right ofg livelihood, the right of effort, the right of mindfulness and the right of concentration. The Dalai Lama in the four noble truths is very important because they are the core foundation of the Buddhist teachings. Without them, the truth cannot be experienced and Buddha Dharma cannot be practised. The introvertive type of mystical experience is experience through mediation and raja yoga by the world of multiplicity through to the mind and then to the ultimate reality of the four noble truths known as Nirvana Bodhi.
Suzuki, D.T. An introduction to Zen Buddhism. Ed. Christmas Humphreys; fwd. C.G. Jung. London: Rider, 1983.
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.
Zen is a Japanese word. So, it is natural that some people assume it is a Japanese belief, but actually the Japanese borrowed the word from Chinese Ch’an, which was influenced by Buddhism ideas. Of course, Buddhism came from India and Ch’an was adopted from the Sanskrit word dhyana, meaning
Buddhism continued its expansion into the 20th century and saw continual bursts of influence throughout the following decades. In 1993, the World’s Parliament of Religions chose to hold their ceremony in the same city, Chicago, a 100 years later (40). Since its early roots in America during the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, one estimate placed approximately three million Buddhist in America at the close of the 20th century (40).
Throughout the early years in many East Asian countries, there were many people who were looking for answers to this world’s, and otherworldly, questions. When Gotama became enlightened, and began preaching the practices of Buddhism, it came at such a time when the Han dynasty was collapsing, citizens were tired of Confucianism and looking for a new ideology that they could put there hearts and souls into. Over the years, Buddhism proved to be much more than just a religion; it became a way of life. But over time, the powerful orthodoxy transformed, and many different Buddhist sects emerged. One of the more popular sects, Ch’an, or Zen, Buddhism, has become one of the most influential religions in China and Japan, and is still flourishing today.
Western psychology is concerned with the investigation of understanding the negative aspects of human behavior, emotions and the mind, and to some extent, with changing them. The Buddhist approach to the investigation of the mind is unscientific, as defined by the science of Western Psychology. It is not concerned with laboratory conditions, control groups, or ‘objectivity’ in the sense of the experimenter being separate from and impartial to the subject (Nettle, 2005). In Buddhism, the person conducting the experiment and the subject are the same. Buddhists seek truth, as do scientists. Science, for the most part, sees the world as something external, which can be observed and understood as truth. Psychology involves understanding the human experience through the study of the mind and how perception governs behavior. Buddhism sees perception as internal and of one’s experience of the outside world as a fundamental part of understanding the truth within our self.
Originally from Japan, Soyen Shaku was the first Zen master to arrive in America. His followers urged him not to come to a nation that was so ill-mannered and uncultivated and that the Japanese were facing extreme discrimination. Shaku’s countrymen Hirai Ryuge Kinzo “offered pointed examples: the barring of a Japanese student from a university on the basis of his race; the exclusion of Japanese children from the San Francisco public schools; the processions of American citizens bearing placards saying ‘Japs Must Go!’” (Eck 185). After several decades, there was a Zen boom of the 1950s and that was how Buddhism affected western culture, especially in regards to entertainment. “‘Zen’ is “the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character "chan," which is in turn the Chinese translation from the Indian Sanskrit term "dhyana," which means meditation’” (Lin).
Zen Buddhism teaches of a concept called wu-nien, or “no-thought”. This of course is not a literal absence of thought, but it is rather a detachment from the thou...
Nash, Ronald H., (1999). Life‘s ultimate questions: an introduction to philosophy, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530.
"The Buddhist World: Lay Buddhist's Guide to the Monk's Rules." BuddhaNet - Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Eastern enlightenment religions have been gaining popularity throughout the western world for the past few decades, with many people attracted to a "different" way of experiencing religion. As with many other enlightenment religions, Buddhism requires disciples to understand concepts that are not readily explainable: one such concept is that of no-self. In this essay I shall discuss the no-self from a number of modern perspectives; however, as no-self is difficult to describe I shall focus on both the self and no-self. Beginning with psychological aspects, and neurophysiological research on transcendental meditation, I shall discuss the impact of modern brain science on our understanding of the self and transcendence. Next I will outline the relationship between quantum physics and non-locality, as this gives a western scientific explanation for no-self. Returning to the original source of Buddhism, I will briefly outline the discussion between Siddhartha and Vaccha regarding atman, then discuss the mind and no-self and their relationship to liberation. Finally I will summarize a few issues that the western mindset may face approaching this topic.