The subject of analysis I have chosen this week, are the ethical teachings that can be found within Zen Buddhism. Soyen Shaku was a Zen master and Buddhist monk from Japan. He wrote the book “Zen for Americans” from which we will review the teachings he discussed regarding spiritual enlightenment. The mixture of Buddhism and Taoism is what composes Zen Buddhism. Zen in its essence, involves a process of self-discovery. Meditation is a vital process of self-discovery and is also an essential process of both Zen Buddhist and Buddhist alike. Which is what is said allows the individual to reach a connection with the universe.
Shaku described a fundamental turmoil we can find within convergence of science and the unknown. “Spiritual enlightenment is indispensable in
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Continuing the theme of the spiritual enlightenment, focusing on making the correlation that all religions make, which is to have faith, does not require intellectual knowledge. Understanding the process of enlightenment is not something that is studied within books. Enlightenment is a spiritual process and therefore has a religious aspect, which links in the belief of the unknown.
“If we distinguish faith from knowledge, the latter can be understood as simply intellectual, while the former is intuition gained through the exercise of the Prajñâ” (Shaku). Distinguishing the difference between faith and the spirt vs. knowledge as separate institutions. Shaku is trying to make the distinction that to have intellectual knowledge such as a doctor, professor, or lawyer might possess, does not constitute a spiritual person or a religious individual. His process of attaining the spiritual enlightenment is a process call Prajñâ, which is a process in which one is able to achieve wisdom and is required for
Each of us has innate desire to understand the purpose of our existence. As Hermann Hesse illustrates in his novel Siddhartha, the journey to wisdom may be difficult. Organized religion helps many to find meaning in life but it does not substitute careful introspection. An important message of Siddhartha is that to achieve enlightenment one must unite the experiences of mind, body, and spirit.
Suzuki, D.T. An introduction to Zen Buddhism. Ed. Christmas Humphreys; fwd. C.G. Jung. London: Rider, 1983.
After the Han dynasty collapsed in 220 CE, China faced a period of political disunity, during that time Buddhism gained popularity with the Chinese people. Both foreign and Chinese monks were actively involved in establishing monasteries and lecturing on the Buddhist teachings. Many Chinese people accepted Buddhism and advocated its principles such as the philosophy and promise of afterlife over the Confucian ideals, but the truth was that Chinese people turned to Buddhism for its promises of eternal enlightenment during times of struggle. However, lots of people rejected the concept of Buddhism because it was a foreign influence, as well as a belief that it lowered the status of upper-class people. Nonetheless, many people converted to Buddhism because it allowed them to break out of the rigid hierarchy that Confucianism imposed, which is why it was common among the lower classes. Document 2, written by Zhi Dun, illustrates the reasons for the initial compatibility of Buddhism with the time period. Zhi is scholar who clearly admires Buddhism, who sees its value in correct observances in face of uncontrolled passion. Zhi Dun wrote how in times of upheaval, Buddhism presents a comforting worldview for Chinese scholars and aristocrats.
The third main spiritual path that can lead to enlightenment was established by the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi lived in Southern India during the first half of the 20th century. Because of the need to have guidance or a guru in many of the above spiritual paths, it is great that there is this spiritual path that can lead to enlightenment without the guidance of an enlightened teacher. The core of his teaching is that we can start asking the most fundamental question of a human being: who am I in my deepest identity? (Ramana 1902; Ramana 1995; Osborne 2000). We are not our bodies, minds, thoughts or emotions. Our soul is the witness of those things. However, we are not even our soul in the deepest sense, because our soul receives its power from an even deeper source. So, who then are we? This is the final question of all other questions we may face.
I have chosen the business profession topic of higher education administration. I am extremely familiar with this profession; as it is the job that I currently hold. There is a plethora of different activities and task that are dealt with on a daily basis within this profession. Some of these items consist of assisting both full and part time staff and faculty, maintaining order within budgets and finance, including all purchase orders and check requests, facilitating student awards, including scholarships, staffing and training within the department, as well as dealing with public policy and laws within the college. It is immensely obvious that this job would keep anyone busy. This alone is one of the reasons I love this profession so much. Each day brings something new, and important group of items to accomplish. Anyone who holds this job, would go into work everyday knowing that the tasks that they are about to perform, will create a difference to not only to the departments and its students, but will also make a difference within the entire college. This person alone has the responsibility of making ethical decisions every single day as well as watching out for others who may need help being pointed in the proper ethical direction based on their knowledge of the school’s ethics plans that have been put in place. If someone were unaware of the ethical standards in this profession, there is a lot of room for things to head in a corrupt direction rather quickly.
Many people seek success in their lives, whether it’s wealth, a good education, or a family of their own. Zen Buddhism leads to a different kind of success than that. It brings success in the form of happiness, morality, self-actualization, and lack of stress: most of which one will not take away from Taoism. With origins in China, Zen Buddhism focuses on discipline and meditation as a portal to spontaneity and freedom. Many describe it as a blend of Mahayana Buddhism (originally from India) and Taoism (another philosophy from China). Ultimately, Zen Buddhism is the philosophy that will lead to a successful life because of its principles of showing others unconditional love and compassion as well as letting go of surrounding negativity.
Rationalists would claim that knowledge comes from reason or ideas, while empiricists would answer that knowledge is derived from the senses or impressions. The difference between these two philosophical schools of thought, with respect to the distinction between ideas and impressions, can be examined in order to determine how these schools determine the source of knowledge. The distinguishing factor that determines the perspective on the foundation of knowledge is the concept of the divine.
When reading, “An Open Letter to Students: On Having Faith and Thinking for Yourself”, C. Terry Warner (1971) expounds concerning the conflict between knowledge and faith in our lives. In doing so Warner asserts how people assume if they have knowledge then they cannot have faith. The reason for this separation is the misconception humans have concerning knowledge. According to Warner, the misconception humans have towards knowledge is, we are centered in the assumption that knowledge exists as a collection of facts which can all fit together nicely into a puzzle, or as Warner states, a large picture of human reality. Warner connects the misconception of knowledge with faith which he identifies as spiritual beliefs one holds even though these beliefs can be disproved and shaken by facts of knowledge. Warner brings forth the idea in which faith is not searched for in hopes of gaining secular knowledge, but in hopes of acquiring divine security. He affirms these misconceptions on secular knowledge and faith and provides reasons why humans believe they can have only one or the other.
Batchelor, Stephen. Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. New York: Riverhead Books, 1997.
Zen or Japanese Buddhism is one of the quintessential eastern spiritually intertwined religions that changed the perspective on reality and ultimately life. One of the main historical thinkers responsible for the manifestation of Zen is Dogen Zenju. He established the importance of meditation, as the principle vehicle for mindfulness. Furthermore, Dogen established that, “the Buddhist practice is simply the meditational practice of realizing enlightenment”, or also referred to as zazen (Koller, 278). This practice provides an individual with the knowhow to release all aversion in the world, which leads to suffering. Dogen ‘s most famous work the Shobogenzo, was explained by his writings in the Genjo-Koan which aids in the uncovering of his main philosophical teachings of Zen. Zen Buddhism has lived through the time and today is prominent globally. The ideals that originated early in Japan through the teachings of Dogen would have great effect on the contemporary individual, because it provides a new philosophical lens through which to view the world’s processes. Through the storied history, unique philosophy, Zen Buddhism has established itself as a quintessential religion that has immensely valuable globally.
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
Zen practice also has a revealing theory about the nature of the self, namely that it ...
The essence of Zen is to see into the nature of one’s being. Due to the egotistical nature of humans, achieving this is not as simple as it seems. Humans also constantly go into new situations or events with predispositions and concepts that cloud the mind and prevent it from being open. The mind is also generally imbued with thoughts of the self. All day, humans are constantly talking to themselves, thinking about how a certain situation will affect them or what they need to do next in order to benefit themselves. Instead, Zen teaches to strip away this egotistical bondage with the self in order to see the raw nature of one’s being‒it is in this that one consummates a true open mind. This then relates to many Christian traditions, including Jesus’ core teaching of giving up everything and following him. Humans must give up their egos in order to follow the teachings of Christ and find their true natures.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
Today, faith is the cornerstone of all major religious knowledge claims because there is no definitive way of...