The Koan Is Said to Pose to the Ze N Practitione R a Parado X Unsolvabl E by the Rational , Intellectualizing Mind
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Fall 1969 Wind Bell
PUBLICATION OF ZEN •CENTER Volume Vilt Nos. 1-2 Fall 1969 This fellow was a son of Nobusuke Goemon Ichenose of Takahama, the province of Wakasa. His nature was stupid and tough. When he was young, none of his relatives liked him. When he was twelve years old, he was or<Llined as a monk by Ekkei, Abbot of Myo-shin Monastery. Afterwards, he studied literature under Shungai of Kennin Monastery for three years, and gained nothing. Then he went to Mii-dera and studied Tendai philosophy under Tai-ho for. a summer, and gained nothing. After this, he went to Bizen and studied Zen under the old teacher Gisan for one year, and attained nothing. He then went to the East, to Kamakura, and studied under the Zen master Ko-sen in the Engaku Monastery for six years, and added nothing to the aforesaid nothingness. He was in charge of a little temple, Butsu-nichi, one of the temples in Engaku Cathedral, for one year and from there he went to Tokyo to attend Kei-o College for one year and a half, making himself the worst student there; and forgot the nothingness that he had gained. Then he created for himself new delusions, and came to Ceylon in the spring of 1887; and now, under the Ceylon monk, he is studying the Pali Language and Hinayana Buddhism. Such a wandering mendicant! He ought to <repay the twenty years of debts to those who fed him in the name of Buddhism. July 1888, Ceylon. Soyen Shaku c.--....- Ocean Wind Zendo THE KOSEN ANO HARADA LINEAOES IN AMF.RICAN 7.llN A surname in CAI':> andl(:attt a Uhatma heir• .l.incagea not aignilleant to Zen in Amttka arc not gi•cn. -
A Departure for Returning to Sabha: a Study of Koan Practice of Silence Jea Sophia Oh West Chester University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]
West Chester University Digital Commons @ West Chester University Philosophy College of Arts & Humanities 12-2017 A departure for returning to sabha: a study of koan practice of silence Jea Sophia Oh West Chester University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/phil_facpub Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons Recommended Citation Oh, J. S. (2017). A departure for returning to sabha: a study of koan practice of silence. International Journal of Dharma Studies, 5(12) http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40613-017-0059-7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts & Humanities at Digital Commons @ West Chester University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ West Chester University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Oh International Journal of Dharma Studies (2017) 5:12 International Journal of DOI 10.1186/s40613-017-0059-7 Dharma Studies RESEARCH Open Access A departure for returning to sabha: a study of koan practice of silence Jea Sophia Oh Correspondence: [email protected] West Chester University of Abstract Pennsylvania, 700 S High St. AND 108D, West Chester, PA 19383, USA This paper deals with koan practice of silence through analyzing the Korean Zen Buddhist film, Why Has Boddhidharma Left for the East? (Bae, Yong-Kyun, Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East? 1989). This paper follows Kibong's path along with the Buddha's journey of 1) departure, 2) journey in the middle way, and 3) returning with a particular focus on koan practice of silence as the transformative element of enlightenment. -
Hakuin on Kensho: the Four Ways of Knowing/Edited with Commentary by Albert Low.—1St Ed
ABOUT THE BOOK Kensho is the Zen experience of waking up to one’s own true nature—of understanding oneself to be not different from the Buddha-nature that pervades all existence. The Japanese Zen Master Hakuin (1689–1769) considered the experience to be essential. In his autobiography he says: “Anyone who would call himself a member of the Zen family must first achieve kensho- realization of the Buddha’s way. If a person who has not achieved kensho says he is a follower of Zen, he is an outrageous fraud. A swindler pure and simple.” Hakuin’s short text on kensho, “Four Ways of Knowing of an Awakened Person,” is a little-known Zen classic. The “four ways” he describes include the way of knowing of the Great Perfect Mirror, the way of knowing equality, the way of knowing by differentiation, and the way of the perfection of action. Rather than simply being methods for “checking” for enlightenment in oneself, these ways ultimately exemplify Zen practice. Albert Low has provided careful, line-by-line commentary for the text that illuminates its profound wisdom and makes it an inspiration for deeper spiritual practice. ALBERT LOW holds degrees in philosophy and psychology, and was for many years a management consultant, lecturing widely on organizational dynamics. He studied Zen under Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen, receiving transmission as a teacher in 1986. He is currently director and guiding teacher of the Montreal Zen Centre. He is the author of several books, including Zen and Creative Management and The Iron Cow of Zen. -
The Zen Koan; Its History and Use in Rinzai
NUNC COCNOSCO EX PARTE TRENT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/zenkoanitshistorOOOOmiur THE ZEN KOAN THE ZEN KOAN ITS HISTORY AND USE IN RINZAI ZEN ISSHU MIURA RUTH FULLER SASAKI With Reproductions of Ten Drawings by Hakuin Ekaku A HELEN AND KURT WOLFF BOOK HARCOURT, BRACE & WORLD, INC., NEW YORK V ArS) ' Copyright © 1965 by Ruth Fuller Sasaki All rights reserved First edition Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-19104 Printed in Japan CONTENTS f Foreword . PART ONE The History of the Koan in Rinzai (Un-chi) Zen by Ruth F. Sasaki I. The Koan in Chinese Zen. 3 II. The Koan in Japanese Zen. 17 PART TWO Koan Study in Rinzai Zen by Isshu Miura Roshi, translated from the Japanese by Ruth F. Sasaki I. The Four Vows. 35 II. Seeing into One’s Own Nature (i) . 37 vii 8S988 III. Seeing into One’s Own Nature (2) . 41 IV. The Hosshin and Kikan Koans. 46 V. The Gonsen Koans . 52 VI. The Nanto Koans. 57 VII. The Goi Koans. 62 VIII. The Commandments. 73 PART THREE Selections from A Zen Phrase Anthology translated by Ruth F. Sasaki. 79 Drawings by Hakuin Ekaku.123 Index.147 viii FOREWORD The First Zen Institute of America, founded in New York City in 1930 by the late Sasaki Sokei-an Roshi for the purpose of instructing American students of Zen in the traditional manner, celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary on February 15, 1955. To commemorate that event it invited Miura Isshu Roshi of the Koon-ji, a monastery belonging to the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen and situated not far from Tokyo, to come to New York and give a series of talks at the Institute on the subject of koan study, the study which is basic for monks and laymen in traditional, transmitted Rinzai Zen. -
Gateless Gate Has Become Common in English, Some Have Criticized This Translation As Unfaithful to the Original
Wú Mén Guān The Barrier That Has No Gate Original Collection in Chinese by Chán Master Wúmén Huìkāi (1183-1260) Questions and Additional Comments by Sŏn Master Sǔngan Compiled and Edited by Paul Dōch’ŏng Lynch, JDPSN Page ii Frontspiece “Wú Mén Guān” Facsimile of the Original Cover Page iii Page iv Wú Mén Guān The Barrier That Has No Gate Chán Master Wúmén Huìkāi (1183-1260) Questions and Additional Comments by Sŏn Master Sǔngan Compiled and Edited by Paul Dōch’ŏng Lynch, JDPSN Sixth Edition Before Thought Publications Huntington Beach, CA 2010 Page v BEFORE THOUGHT PUBLICATIONS HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92648 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYRIGHT © 2010 ENGLISH VERSION BY PAUL LYNCH, JDPSN NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, GRAPHIC, ELECTRONIC, OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, TAPING OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT THE PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY LULU INCORPORATION, MORRISVILLE, NC, USA COVER PRINTED ON LAMINATED 100# ULTRA GLOSS COVER STOCK, DIGITAL COLOR SILK - C2S, 90 BRIGHT BOOK CONTENT PRINTED ON 24/60# CREAM TEXT, 90 GSM PAPER, USING 12 PT. GARAMOND FONT Page vi Dedication What are we in this cosmos? This ineffable question has haunted us since Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree. I would like to gracefully thank the author, Chán Master Wúmén, for his grace and kindness by leaving us these wonderful teachings. I would also like to thank Chán Master Dàhuì for his ineptness in destroying all copies of this book; thankfully, Master Dàhuì missed a few so that now we can explore the teachings of his teacher. -
Subjectivity of 'Mu-Shin' (No-Mind-Ness): Zen Philosophy As
No.01503005, March 2015 Journal of Integrated Creative Studies Subjectivity of ‘Mu-shin’ (No-mind-ness): Zen Philosophy as interpreted by Toshihiko Izutsu Tadashi Nishihira1 1 Professor, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. In this paper, we consider whether there is any subjectivity in the state of ‘Mu-shin (No-mindness)’. Dr. Toshihiko Izutsu, a Japanese philosopher, has tried to answer this question with the example of a master musician absorbed in playing his harp. The master musician is so absorbed in playing and so completely one with the music itself, that he is no longer conscious of his fingers or of the instrument. But he is not ‘unconscious’, for he is conscious of himself as identified with the music. Izutsu explained that ‘Paradoxical as it may sound, he is so fully conscious of himself as identified with music that he is not ‘conscious’ of his act of playing in any ordinary sense of the word.’Izutsu called this particular phase of ‘awareness of self in full identification with music’ ‘Mu-shin teki Syutaisei (the subjectivity of Mu-shin)’.We may think of this particular phase as that which is prior to the subject-object bifurcation. However, Izutsu taught us that Zen-text has expressed this phase in four different ways, and it is these four types of ‘Mu-shin’ expression that we consider here. Keywords: Mushin (No-mind-ness), D.T.Suzuki, T.Izutsu, Zen Philosophy, Concureent nature 1 Subjectivity of ‘Mu-shin’ (No-mind-ness): Zen Philosophy as interpreted by Toshihiko Izutsu 1. -
HOW to GET ZEN ENLIGIITENMENT - on MASTER ISHIGURO's FIVE-DAYS' INTENSIVE COURSE for ITS Atfainment
Psydtolollia. 1959. Z. 107-1 E. HOW TO GET ZEN ENLIGIITENMENT - ON MASTER ISHIGURO'S FIVE-DAYS' INTENSIVE COURSE FOR ITS ATfAINMENT- KO]l SATO Kyoto Univmity Westerners have mostly approached Zen Buddhism through the writings of Dr. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. Suzuki's contribution in this respect is incomparably great. He is not only the highest Zen philosopher, but also the best example of Zen personality. When Dr. Cla rence H. Graham of Columbia University stayed in Kyoto as a lecturer of the AmeriCan Studies Seminar in the summer of 1952, the writer introduced him to Dr. Suzuki, who was also lecturing at Columbia and who happened to come to Kyoto with Karen Homey. They talked together about one hour, and after that Graham said to me that "he (Suzuki) is one of the most charming persons I ever met." Then the writer said to him, "that is Zen person ality." Suzuki is now in his ninetieth year and still active, continuing his study and writing. When the writer met him in New York in 1956, he asked the writer to get for him Trigant Burrow's book "Science and Mall's BcJwvior" and Franz Alexander's book "Fundamcntals of Psychoanalysis." When the writer met him in December last year, he was physically and mentally in very good condition. He is so-to-say the Zen 'personality' itself. But Dc. Suzuki is not a Zen master who trains disciples in monasteries.* Here arises some limitation in the understanding of Zen among Westerners who have approached Zen through his books. Many of them have read Suzuki's writings, and understood the Zen way of thinking quite well, some of them like Dc. -
A Beginner's Guide to Meditation
ABOUT THE BOOK As countless meditators have learned firsthand, meditation practice can positively transform the way we see and experience our lives. This practical, accessible guide to the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation introduces you to the practice, explains how it is approached in the main schools of Buddhism, and offers advice and inspiration from Buddhism’s most renowned and effective meditation teachers, including Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Sharon Salzberg, Norman Fischer, Ajahn Chah, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Sylvia Boorstein, Noah Levine, Judy Lief, and many others. Topics include how to build excitement and energy to start a meditation routine and keep it going, setting up a meditation space, working with and through boredom, what to look for when seeking others to meditate with, how to know when it’s time to try doing a formal meditation retreat, how to bring the practice “off the cushion” with walking meditation and other practices, and much more. ROD MEADE SPERRY is an editor and writer for the Shambhala Sun magazine. Sign up to receive news and special offers from Shambhala Publications. Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/eshambhala. A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO Meditation Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers Edited by Rod Meade Sperry and the Editors of the Shambhala Sun SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2014 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com © 2014 by Shambhala Sun Cover art: André Slob Cover design: Liza Matthews All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. -
Number 3 2011 Korean Buddhist Art
NUMBER 3 2011 KOREAN BUDDHIST ART KOREAN ART SOCIETY JOURNAL NUMBER 3 2011 Korean Buddhist Art Publisher and Editor: Robert Turley, President of the Korean Art Society and Korean Art and Antiques CONTENTS About the Authors…………………………………………..………………...…..……...3-6 Publisher’s Greeting…...…………………………….…….………………..……....….....7 The Museum of Korean Buddhist Art by Robert Turley…………………..…..…..8-10 Twenty Selections from the Museum of Korean Buddhist Art by Dae Sung Kwon, Do Kyun Kwon, and Hyung Don Kwon………………….….11-37 Korean Buddhism in the Far East by Henrik Sorensen……………………..…….38-53 Korean Buddhism in East Asian Context by Robert Buswell……………………54-61 Buddhist Art in Korea by Youngsook Pak…………………………………..……...62-66 Image, Iconography and Belief in Early Korean Buddhism by Jonathan Best.67-87 Early Korean Buddhist Sculpture by Lena Kim…………………………………....88-94 The Taenghwa Tradition in Korean Buddhism by Henrik Sorensen…………..95-115 The Sound of Ecstasy and Nectar of Enlightenment by Lauren Deutsch…..116-122 The Korean Buddhist Rite of the Dead: Yeongsan-jae by Theresa Ki-ja Kim123-143 Dado: The Korean Way of Tea by Lauren Deutsch……………………………...144-149 Korean Art Society Events…………………………………………………………..150-154 Korean Art Society Press……………………………………………………………155-162 Bibliography of Korean Buddhism by Kenneth R. Robinson…...…………….163-199 Join the Korean Art Society……………...………….…….……………………...……...200 About the Authors 1 About the Authors All text and photographs contained herein are the property of the individual authors and any duplication without permission of the authors is a violation of applicable laws. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS. Please click on the links in the bios below to order each author’s publications or to learn more about their activities. -
What Is a Koan
WHAT IS A KOAN AND WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT? Jeff Shore Koan practice is a catalyst to awaken as Gautama Buddha did. Early Chan (Chinese Zen) encounters and statements are precursors of koans. Eventually these impromptu encounters and statements led to the practice of focusing on the koan as one’s own deepest question. The point is to directly awaken no-self, or being without self. This was done through rousing the basic religious problem known as great doubt. This doubt calls into question the very nature of one’s being, and that of all others. Over time, koan cases and commentaries developed to explore and express awakening from a dream world or nightmare of isolation and opposition. Particularly in Japan, koan curricula developed to foster awakening and to refine it in all aspects of life. Scholars have examined koan practice in light of its history, texts, social and political contexts, and sectarian conflicts. The aim here is to clarify what koans are and how they are used in authentic practice. The koan tradition arose out of encounters between teachers and disciples in Tang Dynasty (618-907) China. The koans now used in monastic training and in lay groups worldwide grew out of this tradition. Admirers tend to consider koan practice a unique and peerless spiritual treasure. Critics see koan practice as little more than a hollow shell. There are good reasons for both views. By inviting readers to directly open up to their own great doubt, this paper provides a sense of what koan practice is from the inside. -
The Koan : Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism
Introduction Koan Tradition: Self-Narrative an d Contemporary Perspective s STEVEN HEINE AND DALE S. WRIGHT Aims The term koa n (C . kung-an, literall y "public cases" ) refer s t o enigmati c an d often shockin g spiritual expressions based o n dialogica l encounters between masters and disciples that were used as pedagogical tools for religious training in th e Ze n (C . Ch'an) Buddhist tradition . Thi s innovative practic e i s one of the best-known and most distinctive elements of Zen Buddhism. Originating in T'ang/Sung China, the use of koans spread t o Vietnam, Korea, an d Japa n and now attracts international attention. What is unique about the koan is the way i n whic h i t i s thought t o embod y th e enlightenmen t experienc e o f th e Buddha an d Ze n masters through a n unbroken lin e of succession. Th e koan was conceived as both the tool by which enlightenment is brought abou t an d an expression of the enlightened mind itself. Koans ar e generally appreciate d today as pithy, epigrammatic, elusiv e utterances that see m to hav e a psycho- therapeutic effec t i n liberatin g practitioner s fro m bondag e t o ignorance , a s well a s fo r th e wa y they ar e containe d i n th e complex , multilevele d literary form o f koan collectio n commentaries . Perhap s n o dimensio n o f Asian reli - gions has attracted s o much interest and attention i n the West, from psycho - logical interpretations and comparative mystical theology to appropriations i n beat poetry and deconstractive literary criticism. -
Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience*
BUDDHIST MODERNISM AND THE RHETORIC OF MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE* ROBERT H. SHARF What we can 't say we can't say and we can't whistle either. Frank Ramsey Summary The category "experience" has played a cardinal role in modern studies of Bud- dhism. Few scholars seem to question the notion that Buddhist monastic practice, particularly meditation, is intended first and foremost to inculcate specific religious or "mystical" experiences in the minds of practitioners. Accordingly, a wide variety of Buddhist technical terms pertaining to the "stages on the path" are subject to a phenomenological hermeneutic-they are interpreted as if they designated discrete "states of consciousness" experienced by historical individuals in the course of their meditative practice. This paper argues that the role of experience in the history of Buddhism has been greatly exaggerated in contemporary scholarship. Both historical and ethnographic evidence suggests that the privileging of experience may well be traced to certain twentieth-century Asian reform movements, notably those that urge a "return" to zazen or vipassana meditation, and these reforms were pro- foundly influenced by religious developments in the West. Even in the case of those contemporary Buddhist schools that do unambiguously exalt meditative experience, ethnographic data belies the notion that the rhetoric of meditative states functions ostensively. While some adepts may indeed experience "altered states" in the course of their training, critical analysis shows that such states do not constitute the reference points for the elaborate Buddhist discourse pertaining to the "path." Rather, such discourse turns out to function ideologically and performatively-wielded more often than not in the interests of legitimation and institutional authority.