Abstract
I interviewed Iris Murdoch on 29 November 1989, and she spoke about having gone to Japan twice in the 1970s. Furthermore, she has a long-standing interest in Zen Buddhism and meditation. She read many books on Zen Buddhism, and she was particularly impressed by Zen Training by Katsuki Sekida. She thinks that every school ought to have meditation classes for the pupils — but then she can foresee the protests from their parents against ‘Oriental influence’ caused by such meditation! She has heard that in Japan even housewives study meditation, as well as the sharp-minded businessmen who are responsible for the miraculous prosperity of the Japanese economy, and she very much supports the idea.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Sumie Okada
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Okada, S. (1999). Iris Murdoch: her interest in Zen Buddhism. In: Western Writers in Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230377738_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230377738_13
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-40504-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37773-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)