Meditation; Zen Buddhism; Language; spiritual life; Religious aspects
摘要
Zen philosophy of language is discussed by exploring the concepts of live and dead words, involvement with meaning and involvement with words, and the three mysterious gates as they are employed in Pojo Chinul's huatou meditation. A comparison is made between the Zenuse of language and Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of visibility, Julia Kristeva's idea of the semiotic and the symbolic, and Kierkegaard's concept of anxiety, in an attempt to provide a paradigm to understand the Zen Buddhist vision.
The essay discusses the role of language in huatou meditation in the Zen Buddhist tradition. The first part of the essay explores Zen philosophy of language by considering the meaning of language in Zen in the context of the Buddhist doctrine of dependent co-arising (Skt. pratityasamutpada, Chin, yuanqi 緣起) and emptiness (Skt. sunyata). The discussion will focus on the huatou 話頭 method, as expounded in the Kanhwa kyoruiron 看話決疑論 (Treatise on resolving doubts about hwadu meditation; henceforth "Treatise on Huatou Meditation") (1215) by Pojo Chinul 普照知訥 (1158-1210), in recognition of the unique importance of the huatou system in Zen language and Korean Buddhism. What follow is an interpretation of huatou meditation in accordance with Western philosophical discourses, especially in connection with Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concepts of interrogation and visibility, Julia Kristeva's outline of the semiotic and the symbolic, and Soren Kierkegaard's idea of anxiety. The essay concludes with a discussion on the meaning of the Zen Buddhist spirit in our time.
