Previewing the Path of Zen
Zen Pathways January 20, 2022 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197573686.003.0002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that Zen is best understood as an "investigation into the self," akin to other traditions' emphasis on self-understanding, and that Zen meditation, described via Zhuangzi's "sitting and forgetting," works by alleviating the distorting perceptual and conceptual filtering the authors call "karmic editing." The chapter closes with Dōgen's teaching that studying the self leads to forgetting the self and being enlightened by the myriad things. |
Abstract
This chapter introduces Zen as an “investigation into the self.” It relates this to the emphasis on self-understanding and self-realization in other philosophical and religious traditions, especially to Socrates’s understanding of the maxim “Know thyself.” It explains why meditation is central to Zen’s method of investigating the self, and specifically how Zen meditation alleviates the distorting effects of “karmic editing,” our accustomed perceptual and conceptual filtering of reality. Zen meditation is introduced in terms of what the Daoist sage Zhuangzi calls “sitting and forgetting.” The chapter concludes with a reflection on Zen master Dōgen’s famous yet enigmatic teaching: “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the myriad things of the world.”
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |