Zen Buddhism and the Phenomenology of Mysticism

Zen Buddhist mysticism can be understood as a general category of mystical experience alongside those in Abrahamic faiths, but only through a revised phenomenological framework. Existing accounts by Anthony Steinbock and Angela Bello are inadequate as universal descriptions because Zen both coheres with and problematizes them. A new formula for speaking phenomenologically about mystical experience is needed to capture the phenomenon in all its manifestations.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In this paper, I use a comparative analysis of mysticism in Zen and the Abrahamic faiths to formulate a phenomenological account of mysticism “as such.” I argue that, while Zen Buddhism is distinct from other forms of mystical experience in important ways, it can still be fit into a general phenomenological category of mystical experience. First, I explicate the phenomenological accounts of mysticism provided by Anthony Steinbock and Angela Bello. Second, I offer an account of Zen mysticism which both coheres with and problematizes these accounts, arguing that Zen demonstrates the inadequacy of these accounts as descriptions of mysticism as a universal religious category. Lastly, I use this investigation to propose that Zen mysticism does generally cohere with the mystical experiences of other religions, but only if we devise a new formula for speaking phenomenologically about mystical experience as such which captures this phenomenon in all of its manifestations.