Psychology, Ontology and Zen Soteriology

Hsueh–Li Cheng

doi:10.1017/S0034412500018461

Psychology, Ontology and Zen Soteriology

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008

Hsueh–Li Cheng

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Hsueh–Li Cheng: Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Hilo

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During the past few decades, Zen (Ch'an) Buddhism has been the most popular Buddhist school in the West and many scholars have expounded the essence of Zen. One of the most well–known expositions is D. T. Suzuki's psychological interpretation. Wu–nien in Zen is identified by him with the unconscious, and satori is seen as the psychological leaping of the unconscious. Other scholars contend that Zen has its ontological roots and should be understood ontologically rather than psychologically. Zen Buddhists are said to be pilgrims of the absolute, and Zen is seen as a search for pure being.

Type: Articles
Information: Religious Studies , Volume 22 , Issue 3-4 , September 1986 , pp. 459 - 472

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500018461 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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^{page 460 note 1} Suzuki, D. T., Zen Buddhism (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1956), p. 160.Google Scholar

^{page 460 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 460 note 3} Ibid. p. 179.

^{page 460 note 4} Ibid. p. 167.

^{page 460 note 5} Ibid. pp. 242–3.

^{page 460 note 6} Ibid. p. 188.

^{page 461 note 1} Ibid. p. 191.

^{page 461 note 2} Ibid. pp. 190 and 193.

^{page 461 note 3} Ibid. p. 243.

^{page 461 note 4} Ibid.

^{page 461 note 5} Ibid. pp. 199–200.

^{page 461 note 6} Ibid. p. 197.

^{page 461 note 7} Ibid. p. 200.

^{page 461 note 8} Ibid.

^{page 462 note 1} Jung, C. G., foreward to An Introduction to Zen Buddhism by D. T. Suzuki (New York: Grove Press, 1964), p. 9.Google Scholar

^{page 462 note 2} Ibid. p. 15.

^{page 462 note 3} Benoit, H., La Doctrine suprême, Êtudes psychologiques selon la Pensée Zen, (Paris: 1952), p. 134.Google Scholar English translation: The Supreme Doctrine: Psychological Studies in Zen Thought, with a foreword by Aldous Huxley (New York: 1959), pp. 72–8.

^{page 462 note 4} Suzuki, D. T., Zen Buddhism, p. xviii.Google Scholar

^{page 462 note 5} Sutra Spoken by the Sixth Patriarch on the High Seat of the Treasure of the Law (also called The Sutra of Hui–neng or the Platform Sutra) (Hong Kong: H. K. Buddhist Distributor Press, 1952), p. 12.

^{page 462 note 6} Ibid. p. 13.

^{page 463 note 1} Ibid. p. 16.

^{page 463 note 2} Ibid. p. 19.

^{page 463 note 3} Ibid. p. 9.

^{page 463 note 4} Ibid. p. 35.

^{page 463 note 5} Ibid. p. 36.

^{page 463 note 6} See Jones, Elvin W., ‘Buddhist Theories of Existents: The Systems of Two Truths’, in Mahāydna Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice, edited by Kiyota, Minoru (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1978).Google Scholar

^{page 464 note 1} The Ta-ch'eng chih-kuan fa-men, chap. 2; Chan, Wing-it, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 399.Google Scholar

^{page 464 note 2} Hui-neng, Ibid. p. 35.

^{page 464 note 3} Ibid. pp. 10 and 13.

^{page 464 note 4} Ibid. p. 36.

^{page 464 note 5} Ibid. pp. 21 and 44–5.

^{page 465 note 1} Otto, Rudolf, Zen, die lebendige Buddhismus in Japan by Ohasama-Faust (Gotha, 1925), p. ix.Google Scholar

^{page 465 note 2} Dumoulin, Heinrich, A History of Zen Buddhism (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963), p. 270.Google Scholar

^{page 465 note 3} Ibid. p. 271.

^{page 465 note 4} Ibid.

^{page 465 note 5} Dumoulin, Heinrich, Zen Enlightenment (New York: Weatherhill, 1979), pp. 50–1.Google Scholar

^{page 466 note 1} Ibid. p. 50.

^{page 466 note 2} Dumoulin, Heinrich, A History of Zen Buddhism p. 287.Google Scholar

^{page 466 note 3} See Smith, Huston, ‘Philosophical Temperaments Ontologically Perceived’, delivered at Inter-national Research Conference for Asian and Comparative Philosophy in Honolulu, Hawaii, Summer 1984.Google Scholar

^{page 468 note 1} Nāgārjuna, , Middle Treatise, XXVII and XXVIII.Google Scholar See also Cheng, Hsueh-li, Empty Logic (New York: Philosophical Library, 1984), pp. 74–5.Google Scholar

^{page 468 note 2} Middle Treatise, xv.Google Scholar See also Hsueh-li Cheng, Ibid. pp. 76–7.

^{page 468 note 3} Chung-yuan, Chang, Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism (New York: Vintage, 1971), p. 140.Google Scholar

^{page 469 note 1} For the detailed discussion of this, see Cheng, Hsueh-li, ‘Zen and San-lun Mādhyamika Thought: Exploring the Theoretical Foundation of Zen Teachings and Practices’, Religious Studies, XV (09, 1979), 343–63.Google Scholar See also Cheng, Hsueh-li, Empty Logic, pp. 55–70.Google Scholar

^{page 469 note 2} Hui-cheng-lun, 25.Google Scholar

^{page 469 note 3} Middle Treatise, xxv: 24.Google Scholar

^{page 469 note 4} Seng-chao, , Chao–lun, p. 152c.Google Scholar

^{page 470 note 1} Twelve Gate Treatise, IV: I.Google Scholar

^{page 470 note 2} Chi-tsang, , The Profound Meaning of Three Treatises (San-lun-hsuan-i, Taishō 1852), p. Ia.Google Scholar

^{page 470 note 3} Middle Treatise, XII: 8.Google Scholar

^{page 470 note 4} Ibid. p. 91c. See also Chi–tsang's, The Meaning of the Twofold Truth (Erh-ti-i, Taishō 1854), pp. 79C, 80a, 99b, and 107a.Google Scholar

^{page 470 note 5} Pi yen-lu, p. 208.Google Scholar

^{page 471 note 1} Ibid. p. 205a.

^{page 471 note 2} Ibid. pp. 196 and 222.

^{page 471 note 3} Ibid. p. 193.

^{page 471 note 4} Ibid. pp. 155a, 173a and 208b.

^{page 471 note 5} Ibid. p. 208.

^{page 471 note 6} Ibid. p. 164.

^{page 471 note 7} Chang Chung-yuan, Ibid. p. 165.

^{page 472 note 1} Suzuki, D. T., Zen Buddhism, p. 207.Google Scholar

^{page 472 note 2} Suzuki, D. T., Essays in Zen Buddhism, III (London: 1953), p. 280.Google Scholar

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