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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2014
What is an authentic Zen attitude toward the Buddhist sutras? Popular misunderstandings of Zen perceive that Zen denies any value to the written word. Grounding itself on a lengthy discussion of the fundamental human problem (dualistic perception) and its resolution (satori) in Zen, this article argues that understanding the Buddhist sutras as merely useless or as instruments in the attainment of satori involves an inauthentic Zen attitude toward those sutras. The Buddhist sutras are, however, a nondualistically dual “Self-Expression of the Buddha-Nature.” This approach is in accord with the Middle Way of the Buddha and an authentic Zen attitude toward the Buddhist sutras.
The phrase “contemporary Zen” in the title of this article refers primarily to the sources used in developing the argument. I do not imply a rigid distinction between contemporary and classical Zen, nor do I imply an evolutionary development of Zen beginning with the Buddha and passing through the Zen patriarchs and masters to present day Zen Buddhists. Rather, the phrase “contemporary Zen” refers to the contemporary Zen writers, Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, D. T. Suzuki and Richard DeMartino. Of these three men, Suzuki is most well known. It is he who, in his writings and talks, almost single-handedly initiated the flow of Zen into the West. Dr. Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, born in Japan in 1889, is almost unknown in the West. A disciple of Kitaro Nishida, Hisamatsu is perhaps one of the foremost spokesmen of the Kyoto “school of Zen.” Richard DeMartino, under whom I studied, was a student of both Suzuki and Hisamatsu. Insofar as these men are connected with the Rinzai school of Zen, the Zen expressed in this essay is, for the most part, representative of Rinzai Zen rather than So to Zen. (It is my opinion that, at root, these two schools of Zen are not radically different.) However, I take full responsibility for the argument of this article and for the use or misuse of the writings of the authors quoted.
In the title and throughout this article I will refer to the Buddhist sacred writings as the sutras. I will use this term because the common western term “scriptures” carries with it many connotations that would be misleading to a reader unfamiliar with Buddhism. A sutra is a fundamental unit of the Buddhist sacred writings. Etymologically, sutra has as its root meaning “to sew,” and it is used to mean a “thread.”
2 See DeMartino, Richard, “The Zen Understanding of Man” (unpublished doctoral dissertation submitted to Temple University, Philadelphia, April 1, 1969), p. 8.Google Scholar My reflections concerning the fundamental human problem as perceived by Zen are substantially derived from DeMartino's influence, both in his writing and viva-voce.
3 Ibid., p. 11.
4 Ibid., p. 57.
5 Ibid., pp. 57-58.
6 Ibid., p. 58.
7 Ibid., p. 26.
8 Suzuki, D. T., Fromm, Erich, DeMartino, Richard, Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis (New York: Grove Press, 1960), pp. 66–67.Google Scholar
9 DeMartino, , “The Zen Understanding of Man,” p. 34.Google Scholar
10 Suzuki, D. T., Essays in Zen Buddhism: First Series (New York: Grove Press, 1949), pp. 128–129.Google Scholar
11 Suzuki, D. T., Essays in Zen Buddhism: Second Series (New York: Samuel Weiser, 1953), pp. 303–304.Google Scholar
12 Ibid., p. 24.
13 Hisamatsu, Shin'ichi, “The Characteristics of Oriental Nothingness,” Philosophical Studies of Japan 2 (1960), p. 89.Google Scholar
14 Hisamatsu, Shin'ichi, Zen and the Fine Arts, tr. Tokiwa, Gishin (Palo Alto, California: Kodansha, 1971), p. 45.Google Scholar
15 Ibid., p. 46.
16 Ibid., p. 50.
17 Ibid., p. 51.
18 Ibid., p. 41.
19 Hanh, Thich Nhat, Zen Keys (New York: Anchor Books, 1974), pp. 40–41.Google Scholar
20 Suzuki, D. T., Manual of Zen Buddhism (New York: Grove Press, 1960), p. 13.Google Scholar
21 Ibid., p. 41.
22 Hanh, , Zen Keys, p. 47.Google Scholar
23 Ibid., pp. 47-48.
24 Hisamatsu, Shin'ichi, “Zen: Its Meaning for Modern Civilization,” The Eastern Buddhist (New Series) 1 (September, 1965), p. 22.Google Scholar
25 Yu, Lu K'uan (Lulk, Charles), Ch'an and Zen Teaching (Berkeley: Shambala, 1971), p. 70.Google Scholar
26 In this paragraph, the thought of John C. H. Wu is presented as I have distilled it from pages 75-90 in this excellent introduction to Zen, , The Golden Age of Zen (Taiwan: The National War College, 1967).Google Scholar
27 DeMartino, , “The Zen Understanding of Man,” p. 178.Google Scholar
28 Suzuki, D. T., Zen and Japanese Culture (Princeton, NJ, 1970), p. 356.Google Scholar
29 Ibid., p. 358.
30 Hisamatsu, , “Zen: Its Meaning for Modern Civilization,” p. 23.Google Scholar
31 Ibid., pp. 25-26.