The Saga of Zen History and the Power of Legend

The Saga of Zen History and the Power of Legend PDF Author: John C Maraldo
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
This engaging book challenges both uncritical devotees and critical historians of Zen for the ways they have misplaced truths in the tradition known by that name. It first shows how current Chan/Zen scholarship itself is a practice that echoes the legendary verse about Zen as a "separate transmission outside the scriptures, not relying on written words," and then it develops the category of legend as an alternative to both history and myth, fact and fabrication. The author not only analyzes the different meanings of "transmission"; he also clarifies what historically was dependent upon the transmissions. He suggests new approaches to the study of Zen rituals and relics as well as Zen texts, while also recalling an essential sense of Zen that eludes texts. The Saga of Zen History is a paradigm-changing work, one that that makes critical scholarship more responsive to self-examination and one that is also accessible to general readers.

The Saga of Zen History and the Power of Legend

The Saga of Zen History and the Power of Legend PDF Author: John C Maraldo
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Get Book Here

Book Description
This engaging book challenges both uncritical devotees and critical historians of Zen for the ways they have misplaced truths in the tradition known by that name. It first shows how current Chan/Zen scholarship itself is a practice that echoes the legendary verse about Zen as a "separate transmission outside the scriptures, not relying on written words," and then it develops the category of legend as an alternative to both history and myth, fact and fabrication. The author not only analyzes the different meanings of "transmission"; he also clarifies what historically was dependent upon the transmissions. He suggests new approaches to the study of Zen rituals and relics as well as Zen texts, while also recalling an essential sense of Zen that eludes texts. The Saga of Zen History is a paradigm-changing work, one that that makes critical scholarship more responsive to self-examination and one that is also accessible to general readers.

Zen Pathways

Zen Pathways PDF Author: Bret W. Davis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197573681
Category : Zen Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Preface: Why Write or Read this Book? -- 1. What Really is Zen? Recovering the Beginner's Open Mind -- 2. Previewing the Path of Zen: Know Thyself, Forget Thyself, Open Thyself -- 3. Zen Meditation as a Practice of Clearing the Heart-Mind -- 4. How to Practice Zen Meditation: Attending to Place, Body, Breath, and Mind -- 5. The Buddha's First and Last Lesson: The Middle Way of Knowing What Suffices -- 6. The Buddha's Strong Medicine: Embracing Impermanence -- 7. The True Self is Egoless -- 8. We are One: Loving Others as Yourself -- 9. But We Are Not the Same: Taking Turns as the Center of the Universe -- 10. Who or What is the Buddha? -- 11. Mind is Buddha: So, if You Encounter the Buddha, Kill Him! -- 12. Dying to Live: Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Christianity -- 13. Zen as Trans-Mysticism: Everyday Even Mind is the Way -- 14. Engaged Zen: From Inner to Outer Peace -- 15. The Dharma of Karma: We Reap What We Sow -- 16. Zen and Morality: Following Rules to Where There Are No Rules -- 17. Being in the Zone of Zen: The Natural Freedom of No-Mind -- 18. Zen Lessons from Nature: Samu and the Giving Leaves -- 19. Zen and Art: Cultivating Naturalness -- 20. Zen and Language: The Middle Way Between Silence and Speech -- 21. Between Zen and Philosophy: Commuting with the Kyoto School -- 22. Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Practice: Just Sitting and Working with Kōans -- 23. Death and Rebirth--Or, Nirvana Here and Now -- 24. Reviewing the Path of Zen: The Ten Oxherding Pictures -- Endnotes -- Discussion Questions -- Index.

Principles of Zen Training for Educational Settings

Principles of Zen Training for Educational Settings PDF Author: Hugh Schuckman
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 104020354X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This book provides insights into new developments and persistent traditions in Zen teacher training and education through the use of historical archival research and original interviews with living Zen Masters. It argues that some contemporary Euro-American social values of gender equality, non-discrimination, rationality, ecumenicism and democracy permeate not only the organizational aspects of the Kwan Um School of Zen case study, but soteriological processes and goals of the training more widely. Each chapter showcases the ways important facets of Zen education—from meditation to curriculum development to school management — have absorbed Euro-American cultural and social ideals in both community and educational practices. Giving dedicated scholarly attention and conceptualising new adaptations in transnational Zen communities, it constitutes an important and timely addition to the literature and will appeal to researchers and scholars of religion and education, Asian pedagogies, contemporary Buddhism, transnational Zen, and Zen education.

Hans-Herbert Kögler’s Critical Hermeneutics

Hans-Herbert Kögler’s Critical Hermeneutics PDF Author: Kurt C. M. Mertel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350228656
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Providing a comprehensive engagement with the work of Hans-Herbert Kögler, this is the first volume to expand upon and critique his distinctive approach to critical theory: critical hermeneutics. In the current climate of crisis, the relevance and fruitfulness of Kögler's work has never been greater, as he fuses the philosophies of Michel Foucault, Hans Georg Gadamer, and his mentor, Jürgen Habermas, to respond to critical international issues surrounding politics, agency, and society. Working towards a truly non-ethno-centric and global conception of intercultural dialogue, an essential aspect of Kögler's critical hermeneutics is his account of selfhood as reflexive: socially situated, embodied, and linguistically articulated, permeated by power, but yet critical and creative. Leading international scholars, representing a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, build upon Kögler's approach in this volume and explore the methodological, theoretical, and applicative scope of critical hermeneutics beyond the Frankfurt School. In doing so, they address some of the most pressing issues facing global society today, from multilingual education to the urgent need for interreligious and intercultural understanding. Closing with a response from Kögler himself, Hans-Herbert Kögler's Critical Hermeneutics also offers an exclusive account of the philosopher's contemporary re-appraisal of the core tenets of critical hermeneutics.

Key Concepts in World Philosophies

Key Concepts in World Philosophies PDF Author: Sarah Flavel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350168130
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Crossing continents and running across centuries, Key Concepts in World Philosophies brings together the 45 core ideas associated with major Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, African, Ancient Greek, Indigenous and modern European philosophers. The universal theme of self-cultivation and transformation connects each concept. Each one seeks to change our understanding the world or the life we are living. From Chinese xin and karma in Buddhist traditions to okwu in African philosophy, equity in Islamic thought and the good life in Aztec philosophy, an international team of philosophers cover a diverse set of ideas and theories originating from thinkers such as Confucius, Buddha, Dogen, Nezahualcoyotl, Nietzsche and Zhuangzi. Organised around the major themes of knowledge, metaphysics and aesthetics, each short chapter provides an introductory overview supported by a glossary. This is a one-of-a-kind toolkit that allows you to read philosophical texts from all over the world and learn how their ideas can be applied to your own life.

Decolonising the Study of Religion

Decolonising the Study of Religion PDF Author: Jørn Borup
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003817629
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Decolonising the Study of Religion analyses historical and contemporary discussions in the study of religion and Buddhism and critically investigates representations, possibilities, and challenges of a decolonial approach, addressing the important question: who owns Buddhism? The monograph offers a case-based perspective with which to examine the general study of religion, where new challenges require reflection and prospects for new directions. It focuses on Buddhism, one religion which has been studied in the West for centuries. Building on postcolonial theories and supplemented with a critical analysis of identity and postsecular engagement, the book offers new possibilities and challenges to the study of religion. It critically investigates decolonisation in the study of religion, subscribing to a third way between ‘objectivist’ and ‘subjectivist’ positions. Analysing the postcolonial and decolonial critique of the study of religion, with a particular focus on Buddhist studies in the West and in Japan, this book will be of interest to researchers in the field of Religious Studies, Buddhism, Japanese religions, anthropology, Asian Studies and those interested in religion and decolonisation.

Zen Buddhism : a History

Zen Buddhism : a History PDF Author: Heinrich Dumoulin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Zen Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Kyoto in Davos. Intercultural Readings of the Cassirer-Heidegger Debate

Kyoto in Davos. Intercultural Readings of the Cassirer-Heidegger Debate PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004680179
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 561

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Book Description
What does it mean to be human? We invite the reader to discuss this most fundamental issue in philosophy and to do so in an intercultural framework. The question of the human was the starting point for a legendary discussion between two German philosophers who met in Davos in 1929. We return to this historical event and re-imagine the debate between Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer from a global perspective. Generating twenty papers from elaborate discussions, our authors contribute to the thought experiment by inviting the Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō from Kyoto and other Japanese thinkers into the debate to overcome the challenge of Eurocentrism inherent to these historic days in Davos.

The Other Side of Zen

The Other Side of Zen PDF Author: Duncan Ryūken Williams
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400832594
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Popular understanding of Zen Buddhism typically involves a stereotyped image of isolated individuals in meditation, contemplating nothingness. This book presents the "other side of Zen," by examining the movement's explosive growth during the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) in Japan and by shedding light on the broader Japanese religious landscape during the era. Using newly-discovered manuscripts, Duncan Ryuken Williams argues that the success of Soto Zen was due neither to what is most often associated with the sect, Zen meditation, nor to the teachings of its medieval founder Dogen, but rather to the social benefits it conveyed. Zen Buddhism promised followers many tangible and attractive rewards, including the bestowal of such perquisites as healing, rain-making, and fire protection, as well as "funerary Zen" rites that assured salvation in the next world. Zen temples also provided for the orderly registration of the entire Japanese populace, as ordered by the Tokugawa government, which led to stable parish membership. Williams investigates both the sect's distinctive religious and ritual practices and its nonsectarian participation in broader currents of Japanese life. While much previous work on the subject has consisted of passages on great medieval Zen masters and their thoughts strung together and then published as "the history of Zen," Williams' work is based on care ul examination of archival sources including temple logbooks, prayer and funerary manuals, death registries, miracle tales of popular Buddhist deities, secret initiation papers, villagers' diaries, and fund-raising donor lists.

Visions of Power

Visions of Power PDF Author: Bernard Faure
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691219567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
Bernard Faure's previous works are well known as guides to some of the more elusive aspects of the Chinese tradition of Chan Buddhism and its outgrowth, Japanese Zen. Continuing his efforts to look at Chan/Zen with a full array of postmodernist critical techniques, Faure now probes the imaginaire, or mental universe, of the Buddhist Soto Zen master Keizan Jokin (1268-1325). Although Faure's new book may be read at one level as an intellectual biography, Keizan is portrayed here less as an original thinker than as a representative of his culture and an example of the paradoxes of the Soto school. The Chan/Zen doctrine that he avowed was allegedly reasonable and demythologizing, but he lived in a psychological world that was just as imbued with the marvelous as was that of his contemporary Dante Alighieri. Drawing on his own dreams to demonstrate that he possessed the magical authority that he felt to reside also in icons and relics, Keizan strove to use these "visions of power" to buttress his influence as a patriarch. To reveal the historical, institutional, ritual, and visionary elements in Keizan's life and thought and to compare these to Soto doctrine, Faure draws on largely neglected texts, particularly the Record of Tokoku (a chronicle that begins with Keizan's account of the origins of the first of the monasteries that he established) and the kirigami, or secret initiation documents.