Journey in Search of the Way is an autobiographical text written by Satomi Myodo which cataloged her spiritual journey through many different religious traditions. Ultimately, she settled on Zen Buddhism, and in this tradition, she was able to reach a form of enlightenment, kensho; however, Zen gives Satomi-san more than just spiritual freedom. Zen Buddhism allows Satomi-san a lens in which to view her past experiences in which to make sense of her past, a social structure in which she can thrive and practice her new found religion, and a distinct path for her to follow, all of which did not exist prior to her introduction to Zen Buddhism.
The Zen Buddhist tradition provides Satomi-san with a different framework and lens from which she can view her past experiences, and through this lens she can begin to make sense of her past actions in terms of kensho and Zen. This is
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Her spiritual practice up until achieving kensho had been a compilation of different religious traditions in a rather haphazard way to find the Way. She stumbled from tradition to tradition as she never found lasting happiness or peace in any of the traditions that she practiced up until Zen Buddhism. Her miko tradition did not give her peace of mind in the Way, but instead raised more questions about her state of mind, the “gloom” she felt “despite the mysteries, despite the miracles, despite all [her] social service activities” (65), Satomi-san always felt that she was not enlightened, not on the path. This internal questioning had been commonplace for Satomi-san up until she discovered her Zen Buddhism. Zen allowed her to see her experiences from a new viewpoint, a viewpoint that made relative sense of her past, and in turn allowed Satomi-san to align her past and present with her future, allowing her to walk on the Path in a clear concerted manner toward satori, deeper
Zen themes may be familiar to a student of religion, since they arise from Buddhism. The Buddha, Sidhartha Gautama, is said to have achieved his four noble truths about the nature of existence through meditation.
When the experiences of mind, body, and spirit are united inner direction is found and meaning is given to life. Herman Hesse documents specifically the Buddhist inner journey but this path is applicable to all faiths. He implies that we must all acknowledge the unity of everything and understand how we belong to it. Our inner journey is very personal but our goals to achieve complete love and compassion are one and the same.
Buddhism is considered as one of the leading religions throughout the world today. In order for a Buddhist to follow the religion, there are certain set of guidelines that one has to follow to gain a better life, but most people have other factors that they have to face along this path. The story, “The Journey of One Buddhist Nun” by Sid Brown, is an account of a Thai woman, Maechi Wabi, who entered a spiritual life along with life struggles and outside influences. According to Brown, Wabi faced many challenges along the way to liberation and two challenges she faced most are the gender and socioeconomic issues which she overcame during her spiritual journey.
receive it or truly understand it, we must learn in it our own path. “The Journey to The West"
Samanas believe that enlightenment can be reached only through asceticism, rejection of the body and physical desire. While traveling ...
A field guide to getting lost’ is a book written by author Rebecca where she talks about life and all of the events large and small that can change how a person views the world. Through the words on the page the reader gains an idea of how Solnit thinks about the world and how her past has shaped her. Solnit is a wanderer who is always curious about what lies beyond the next horizon. The theme of wandering, and of the eternal quest runs throughout the first story and Solnit makes it clear that curiosity is the main factor that has shaped her outlook on life. Journeys of discovery are important in helping humanity discover themselves and it is this self discovery that Solnit focuses on in her stories.
Clearing one’s mind can result into every moment being an experience of enlightenment. The readings of The Tao Te Ching, Buddhists scriptures and Siddhartha all deal with different aspects of Buddhists and Taoist belief, but they also have certain points the connects one another. The goal of Buddhists and Taoists is to see things as they are and to reach Nirvana or be one with the Tao. In order to be able to accept things as they are means understanding that the world we live in are full of illusions therefore we should detach ourselves to the things in this world. Finally, one should realize that the path the enlightenment cannot be taught by others but can be found in the inner self of an individual.
In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, a classic novel about enlightenment, the main character, Siddhartha, goes on a lifelong journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Siddhartha encounters many who try to teach him enlightenment, undoubtedly the most important being the Buddha himself. Although Siddhartha rejects the Buddha's teachings, saying that wisdom cannot be taught, we can see, nevertheless, that along his journey for understanding Siddhartha encounters the Four Noble Truths that are a central theme in Buddhism: suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the middle path.
Zen Buddhism teaches a concept called wu-nien, or “no-thought”. This, of course, is not a literal absence of thought, but rather a detachment from the thoughts of one’s own mind.... ... middle of paper ... ... During the relatively peaceful Tokugawa period, the samurai were not as occupied with waging war as they had been in the past, and as such they had begun devoting their time to other things.
The popularity of Buddhism in America became most pronounce in the period after World War II. It is interesting to note that the United States had just concluded the most devastating war in human history, with the first use of the atomic bomb on the Empire of Japan, yet the Japanese of style Buddhism took hold in America more than other school after the war. It could be said that the main figure head of Japanese, or more precisely, Zen Buddhism, in America was the author and intellectual Dr. D.T. Suzuki. In terms of the American expression of Buddhism, Suzuki had more influence over the interpretation of Zen philosophy than any other writer of the time.
Buddhist follow, along with karma, follow an idea called the eightfold path. These 8 steps are: right understanding, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. These steps are another process Buddhist take to get to their revelations to enlightenment. It is the last of the very first of Buddha’s teachings, The Four Noble Truths. These truths are the basic guidelines of what Buddha wants to teach. They work in tandem with each other to explain the suffering of life, what causes it, and what one must do to eliminate
Fourteenth century Japan was a time of peace for many people. Buddhism had just become a major part of Japanese culture due to the Shogun Yoshimitsu. He became ruler in 1367 at the sapling age of ten (Waley 21). Yoshimitsu needed to distinguish himself from his ancestors and he did this by being devoted to Buddhism, specifically the Zen Sect (21). “Zen Buddhism and the life and teaching of Shinran are popularly identified as typical Japanese Buddhism.” (Takeda 27) However Buddhism, in Japan, is different and unique from Buddhism in other countries because it is considered the “funeral religion” (27). This is mainly influenced by ancient Japanese beliefs of the onryo.
Readers have been fascinated with Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha for decades. Written in 1951, Hesse’s most famous novel provides the reader with a work of literature that, “presents a remarkable exploration of the deepest philosophical and spiritual dimensions of human existence” (Bennett n.p). Siddhartha takes place in India while the Buddha has first began his teachings. The book follows the life of a man by the name of Siddhartha, on his journey to reach enlightenment. The main theme in Siddhartha is reaching enlightenment without the guidance of a teacher or mentor. Siddhartha believes that he must learn from himself, and the guidance of another teacher will only distort his goals of reaching enlightenment. Siddhartha says that he must, “learn from myself, be a pupil of myself: I shall get to know, myself, the mystery of Siddhartha” (Hesse 36). On Siddhartha’s journey to reach Nirvana, the highest level of peace in the Buddhist culture, he undergoes three stages all of which are critical in helping Siddhartha find peace within himself.
Zen practice also has a revealing theory about the nature of the self, namely that it ...
The Eightfold Path labels all of the rights of monks and helps guide them to peace within themselves. The Eightfold Path guides monks and nuns towards Nirvana through eight simple principles. The first principle, the Right of Understanding, explains the significance of understanding situations the way they occur instead of understanding things from one’s personal experiences. “Right thought involves our intentions. The spirit in which we approach everything” (Sach). These two rights form into its own category ...