Zen Buddhist Perspectives on Religious Naturalism
Stephanie Kaza
February 1, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9781315228907-18 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that Dogen's Zen teaching of nonduality, centered on direct awakening through sustained zazen and expressed in the 1240 Mountains and Waters Sutra, provides a valuable cross-philosophical resource for religious naturalism because Western ethical thought is largely built on dualistic categories. Proposes that Dogen's understanding of nature and morality can inform human choices regarding the environment. |
Abstract
The worlds of religious naturalism and Zen Buddhism are wide-ranging geographies, offering diverse journeys to wisdom and insight. This chapter explores the insights of Zen Buddhism relevant to religious naturalism, particularly as developed in recent Western scholarship focused on thirteenth-century Japanese Zen philosopher Eihei Dogen. Dogen&s;s form of Zen stressed direct awakening through single-minded practice, often requiring many long hours of zazen meditation in silent retreat. Sansui-Kyo , or the Mountains and Waters Sutra, was written in 1240, during a very active period of teaching and writing for Dogen. At the core of Dogen&s;s teaching is a consistent pointing to nonduality as the awakened view of reality. This teaching of nonduality is particularly relevant in exploratory cross-philosophical dialogue, as so much of Western ethical thinking is predicated on dualistic categories. The chapter considers nature and morality in Dogen&s;s Zen in relation to religious naturalism, as these understandings might inform human choices regarding the environment.
Comparable studies
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| 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 |