An Account on Zen Buddhism and Contemporary Western Society

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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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