Abstract
Zen writers have recently started to highlight ethical elements in Zen practice and philosophy, but what has been the actual sociopolitical role of the tradition in Japanese history? What actual social stances have Zen practice and philosophy generated in the Japanese cultural context? Given that critics have pointed to the relationship between Zen and ruling powers as ethically problematical, discussion of Zen and ethics requires an answer to these questions. To determine the actual ethical stances ‘awakened’ Zen Buddhists have taken in the past, this chapter provides an overview of the history of Zen in Japan, focusing on ethical reflection1 by prominent Zen figures.
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Notes
M. Collcutt, Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981) p. 37.
H. Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History, Volume 2, Japan, tr. by J. W. Heisig and P. Knitter (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1990) p. 16.
M. Takahashi, The Essence of Dogen, tr. by Y. Nobuoka (Boston: Kegan Paul International, 1983) p. 24.
D. T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973) p. 66. It is interesting to note here that during this crisis Zen monasteries throughout Japan offered prayers and ceremonies to protect the country (Collcutt, Five Mountains p. 71).
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© 1992 Christopher Avery Ives
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Ives, C. (1992). Ethical and Political Stances in Japanese Zen History. In: Zen Awakening and Society. Library of Philosophy and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11494-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11494-8_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-11496-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-11494-8
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