Final exam

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Recommended: Traditions and rituals of Buddhism

Answer five of these six prompts with a short paragraph of 100-120 words.

1. How do Eisai’s Rinzai Zen and Dōgen’s Sōtō Zen schools differ in terms of practice and teaching? How does the type of practice that each teacher emphasizes relate to his understanding of enlightenment?

There is a great difference between Eisai’s Rinzai Zen and Dōgen’s Sōtō Zen schools in terms of practice and teaching. The Dōgen’s Sōtō Zen schools focus on “the single practice of “just sitting”” (Mitchell and Jacoby 332). Dōgen believed that by simply sitting in a meditative posture one was connecting to their inner Buddha nature. Dōgen believed that the posture of meditation was a manifestation of Buddha nature, and if an individual stayed in that posture and was aware of said posture they would be awakened. Eisai on the other hand, focused more so on the awakening of the mind through the “[propagation] of the truth” (331). Dōgen focuses on the physical aspect of meditation while Eisai focuses on the mental meditation or awakening.

2. What element of Buddhism first entered Tibet and how might that have shaped the development of Vajrayāna?

There are two myths that focus on how Buddhism first entered Tibet. The first myth involves King Tri Songdetsen, Santaraksita, and Padmasambhava. These individuals helped establish the Samye temple. Through this myth the tetrarchy was born. The tetrarchy consists of the royal patron, the monk, and the adept. This tetrarchy can relate to Vajrayana because of the use of the vajra. The vajra is a very important element within Vajrayana practices and its structure is modeled off a king’s scepter; thus harkening back to the leader of the tetrarchy. The second myth consists of the debate between a Chinese Chan Buddhi...

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... and Japanese citizens could come to Buddhist temples in order to connect with those said ancestors. The idea of remembering one’s ancestors can also be seen in the O-bon festival. This festival includes a great deal of celebration for the remembrance of ancestors past. Before the immersion of Buddhism Japan had a strong society and sense of community, so it only makes sense that Buddhism merged with the preexisting culture rather than eradicating it. Unlike Japan, Tibet has a less unified community and culture. The community was only unified under the leadership of Songtsen Gampo. Due to a lack of cohesion within the previous community Buddhism had to pull in culture from the strong surrounding countries, India and China. Once Buddhism adapted Indian culture it not only gained power within Buddhism but also gave a great amount of cohesion to the country.

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