Wisdom, Suffering, and Practice

Abstract

With a focus historically on religious ‘goods’ in the context of monastic life, Zen Buddhists have not developed systems of social ethics. Although Zen life does contain significant ethical components, Japanese Zen Buddhists have often deferred to Confucianism or conventional Japanese ethics. Usually failing to reflect critically and exhaustively on the ethical components of Zen life in the context of the larger Buddhist tradition, Zen Buddhists in Japan have exhibited a wide range of political stances and behaviours, some of which appear to diverge from basic Buddhist values. For example, as outlined in Chapter 3, certain Japanese monks whose monastic life was guided by precepts and regulations led social lives characterised by close collaboration with the political status quo, which often involved violence and oppression and was headed by warriors most Buddhists would be hard pressed to equate with bodhisattvas.¹