Suzuki (1957:30) suggests that Oriental art depicts spirit, while Western art depicts form. Many scholars have ventured general comparisons of Eastern and Western Art. Of course there is more to Zen than this, but these few ideas should suffice as background for the following discussion of Zen and the Arts. This raises the delicate question or moral responsibility, but it should be noted that the Zen adept strives to fulfill the "Four Great Vows" in which it is stated: "I vow to save all sentient beings." Compassion is also part of Zen. That is, from the universal point of view there is no right and wrong: these are values superimposed by society-the universe makes no distinctions or categories. The Zen master merely says: act and don't worry about it what you do may be right or wrong, neither is bad. When dealing with men rather than nature, the Taoist would counsel that, after recognizing the inherent power of yielding, one may also use strength if the particular situation warrants it. The Taoist would say: act like water, through yielding is strength. The history of Western society and its technology has been the story of man's long struggle to control nature. Opposites share Buddha-nature, differ in their individual essences or spirits.Īccording to both Zen and Taoism, the attempted control of nature by man is at once absurd and useless. Iteness only is bliss." The universe is an indeterminate, constantly changing state of iteness. There is no bliss in anything infinite or finite. As Blyth says (1960a:27): "the -ite is bliss. ( Fung 1952:II,402-403).īuddha-nature lies in the fact of being, not outside it. is no different from that of ordinary men, for "the ordinary mind is the Tao," and the sage's mind is the ordinary mind. To pass from delusion to enlightenment means to leave one's mortal humanity behind and enter sagehood. Suzuki has said: "Before Zen men are men and mountains are mountains during Zen study things become confused after enlightenment men are men and mountains are mountains, only one's feet are a little off the ground." Other scholars hold that there is nothing at all: we have always been enlightened, and will forever be deluded Zen enlightenment consists only in this realization. Some Zen scholars have been more adamant on this point than others. We realize that there is nothing to realize. There is nothing to gain from enlightenment. One need not seek to learn something new, just realize what is already present.īuddha-nature is not metaphysical, not something apart from ourselves. Enlightenment is possible for everyone: the illiterate can achieve the same experience as the learned scholar. Scriptures are useless, ritual leads nowhere. The historical Buddha is no greater or less than the lowest sentient being-all share in Buddha-nature. "See into your own mind" and you will find the Buddha-nature that has been there all along. The effect is to force the student back into his own mind, rather than to foster a dependence on teachers.Įnlightenment consists in realizing that Buddha-nature exists in everything and everyone. This is not Taoistic quietism (wu-wei) but action where words will not do. Whereas Lao-tzu poetically says "The Tao that can be named is not the real (eternal) Tao," the Zen Master takes this for granted if questioned on the subject his answer will most likely be a non sequitur, or he might scream "kwatz!" or strike the disciple. The enlightened Taoist sage is considered to have gained some special knowledge, coupled with arcane skills, and thus becomes somehow removed from the world, but the Zen Master gains nothing other than the realization that there is nothing to gain, and is thus more than ever in the world. Both hold, moreover, that an intuitive understanding of the first principle is possible, and this is called enlightenment. The basic premise that the highest truth, or first principle, or Tao, is not expressible in words or conceivable through logical thought is common to both Taoism and Zen. It is important to remember, in this connection, that we are speaking of the so-called "philosophical" Taoism and Zen, as opposed to the later "degenerate Taoism" and "institutionalized Zen" of more recent times. ZEN IN CHINA shared much with the Taoism of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, so much that it is difficult to determine how much of Zen has Buddhist origins, how much Taoist.
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