20241004 Zen

October 4, 2024•476 words

Since the early '90s I have been dabbling in Zen without knowing much more about where it came from than India → China → Japan. This year it felt important to become familiar with the origins and eventual fusion into the form recognized and practiced in the West.

I have been exploring and collecting some relevant texts as they illuminate my path. This is the top page of my study framework. It is succinct according to my interest and connection to the material. It omits many key scholars/authors not because they are unimportant but because I did not [yet] connect with their texts/books in such a way that they currently fit in my personal core reference.

Note: Although I provide some direct links to book text, I encourage you to purchase the books in which you are interested if you can afford them.

"Taoism is, then, the original Chinese way of liberation which combined with Indian Mahayana Buddhism to produce Zen." —Alan Watts

Chinese Taoism:

https://listed.valdelane.net/55454/20241002-taoism

Indian Mahayana (Northern School) Buddhism:

https://listed.valdelane.net/55455/20241003-mahayana-buddhism

Chan, the Chinese school of Buddhism emphasizing direct experience:

https://listed.valdelane.net/55372/20240930-chan

A point of lucent fusion: "Trust in Mind (Hsin Shin Ming) … is probably the first Chinese Zen document (6th century) … a creation arising from the blending of Indian Buddhist, Chinese Taoist, and Chinese Chan doctrine." —Jan Chozen Bays

https://listed.valdelane.net/55373/20241001-trust-in-mind

As Chan matured it extended to the rest of East Asia, particularly Japan ("Zen"), Korea ("Seon"), and Vietnam ("Thiền").

"The Rinzai School of Zen was introduced into Japan in 1191 by the Japanese T’ien-t’ai monk Eisai (1141–1215), who established monasteries at Kyoto and Kamakura under imperial patronage. The Soto School was introduced in 1227 by the extraordinary genius Dogen (1200–1253), who established the great monastery of Eiheiji, refusing, however, to accept imperial favors." —Alan Watts

Zen initially extended to the West mainly from Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries via cultural exchange during the Meiji Restoration and by the work of Japanese scholar D.T. Suzuki.

Here are the Zen books I have most enjoyed so far:

This is the best introduction I've encountered. Concise, yet approachable; lucid and entertaining—both because of Watts' flair and because the ostensible contradictions in Zen are often hilarious (spoiler: there are no actual contradictions). A wealth to contemplate in a short volume (~200 pages before bibliography and index):

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts (1957)

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15bb4e83-03d1-4971-92ad-0be1ae304be8

Trying Not to Try by Edward Slingerland (2014)

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/31b19d62-8c5c-4f17-886f-a9d727422fb5

Dogen Zenji Goroku: Sayings of Zen Master Dogen by Thomas Cleary

https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/goroku.pdf or
https://web.archive.org/web/20220214101945/https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/goroku.pdf

Eihei Kōroku (Dōgen's Extensive Record) by Dōgen (1200-1253 CE), translated by Shohaku Okumura

https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/EiheiKoroku.pdf or
https://web.archive.org/web/20221211173905/https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/EiheiKoroku.pdf

Here is some of my own Zen writing:

"Zen In an Elevator" (2007)

https://listed.valdelane.net/55299/20071212-zen-in-an-elevator

"Let Go of Desire for Highly Specific Outcome" (2017)