Zen is not a religion of God. Nor a religion of faith. It is a religion of emptiness, a religion of absolute nothingness. However it is not nihilistic but dynamically positive. For Zen is based on self-awakening, awakening to the self. In this book, a sequel to Zen and Western Thought, the author tries to clarify the true meaning of Buddhist emptiness in comparison with Aristotelian notion of substance and Whiteheadron notion of process. He also emphasises that Buddhism completely defies and overcomes dualism, but it is not monistic, but rather nondualistic. What is Nondualism? This is one of the important themes of this book.
目次
Fundamentals of Zen 1 Zen and Buddhism 3 The Core of Zen: The Ordinary Mind is Tao 25 ‘Life and Death’ and ‘Good and Evil’ in Zen 34 Emptiness 42 God, Emptiness, and the True Self 54 The Concept of Self as Reflected in Zen Buddhist Literature 67 Education in Zen 76
Zen, Buddhism, and Western Thought 83 Substance, Process, and Emptiness: Aristotle, Whitehead, and Zen 85 The Problem of Death in East and West: Immortality, Eternal Life, Unbornness 111 Śūnyatā as Formless Form: Plato and Mahāyāna Buddhism 139 The Self in Jung and Zen 149
Current Issues in Buddhism 161 Time in Buddhism 163 On the Occasion of Buddha Day 1990: The Future Task of Buddhism 170 Transformation in Buddhism 176 Religious Tolerance and Human Rights: A Buddhist Perspective 197
Zen and Japanese Culture 219 Shinto and Buddhism: The Two Major Religions of Japan 221 Zen in Japan 232 The Japanese View of Truth 246
