作為普遍宗教意識的「禪」―― 論鈴木大拙與西田幾多郎對「宗教」與「禪」的哲學闡釋=“Zen”(Chan) as a Universal Religious Consciousness: The Philosophical Interpretation of “Zen” and “Religion” by Suzuki and Nishida
This article provides an introduction to Kitaro Nishida and D. T. Suzuki’s interpretation of “Zen” (Chan 禅) and “Religion”. As Chan Master Sheng Yen has pointed out in his book Orthodox Chinese Buddhism 正信的佛教 that meditative absorption resides in all mystical experiences in religions around the world, is not necessarily related to the Chan school. The early Nishida and Suzuki likewise argue that as a non-discriminatory wisdom, Zen could be found in all cultures around the world. To the early Nishida and Suzuki, Zen is the highest embodiment of universal religious consciousness, therefore it could connect Buddhism to other religions, especially Christian mysticism. Suzuki holds that religious consciousness does not mean a superstition or a belief but a non-discriminatory wisdom (he prefers to use the word Reisei 靈性 to express religious consciousness or non-discriminatory wisdom), in which mind and substance seem that the two are really not two, but one, and that the one is, as it is, two. On the other hand, the early Nishida does not regard God as a transcendent creator outside the universe, but one single unifying power at the base of our minds and in the foundation of nature. Affected by modern continental philosophy, Nishida and Suzuki’s interpretation of Zen and Religion is more creative than traditional Buddhist teachings, this could be regarded as the reception and transformation of western philosophy in modern East Asian thought.
