Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis

Appendix 2. Reflections on the Relation between Early Buddhism and Zen

Appendix 2 Reflections on the Relation between Early Buddhism and Zen We have traced the development of Buddhist thought in the five major schools of Indian Buddhism-the three Sthaviravada or Hinayana schools (Theravada, Sarvastivada, and Sautrantika) and the two Mahayana schools (Madhyamika and Yogacara). With the introduction and gradual evolution of Buddhist thought in the Far Eastern countries, especiallyChina andJapan, several schools emerged, each ofwhich may in one way or other be related to one or both ofthe Mahayana schools. Two of the most popular of these schools which have survived to this day in the Far East are Zen and Jodo. Zen (Chinese, Ch'an) is generally described as a Chinese adaptation of Madhyamika-Yogacara syncretism. Jodo (Chinese, Ching-tu) is based on Indian Buddhist texts like SukhiivatlvyUha and Amitayurdhyiina which represent the popular side ofMahayana Buddhism. The form of Buddhism that has become most popular in the West, especially in America, is Zen. Moreover, unlikeJodo, Zen has a definite philosophical basis and has influenced the philosophical, religious, and aesthetic life of the Chinese and Japanese to such an extent that a text on Buddhist philosophy would appear incomplete without a discussion of at least some aspects of it. This appendix is not intended as an exposition of the basic tenets of Zen. On the contrary, it is an attempt to evaluate the relationship of Zen to early Buddhism, included here especially because my analysis of early Buddhism differs greatly from those given by many scholars who have written on Zen Buddhism and the Buddha. Two ofthe scholars whose writings on Zen Buddhism have been received with much respect in the West are D. T. Suzuki and Heinrich Dumoulin. While granting that their analyses of Zen teachings are authoritative and comprehensive, the relationship they infer between early Buddhism and Zen appears unacceptable. These two scholars present slightly different views regarding the connection between early Buddhism and Zen. While Dumoulin favors the view that the basic teaching of the Buddha-the theory of an Absolute, an Ultimate Reality-runs through the entire fabric of Buddhist philosophy including Zen, Suzuki adopts the classical Mahayana theory (expressed by the simile of the Lotus) that the Mahayana doctrines are found in germinal form in the words ofthe Buddha and that it took a few centuries for them to unfold, and that the so-called Hinayana schools failed to understand the full implications of the Buddha's teachings. Referring to the conception ofnirvana in the "ancient collection of hymns," Dumoulin says: Nirvana is regarded as consummate salvation, supreme blessedness, the haven of peace and isle of deliverance. Could such figures be veils without substance, enshrouding nothingness? Or do they not rather conceal a positive core? Attention was called to this contradiction in the teachings of the Buddha, and he was asked whether the Perfected One would or would not exist beyond death. Buddha declined to answer this question, apparently because it is theoretical in nature and its solution is irrelevant to the one thing required, namely, the achievement of salvation. He was therefore accused of philosophical agnosticism. It is possible, however, that the Buddha did not wish to express himself regarding life in the beyond, since our conceptual language is not adequate to that purpose. Regarding the "other shore," the immortal sphere removed from death, nothing can be expressed with certainty in human words. That realm is accessible only in mystic ascent.! Having presented this account of early Buddhism, Dumoulin goes on to connect the threads as follows: Nagarjuna, probably in the second century A.D., built up his philosophy of the MiddleWay (madhyamika) in the Siitras of TranscendentalWisdom, which have as their apex intuitive enlightenment. Revered as a Bodhisattva throughout all Mahayana Buddhism, Nagarjuna is reckoned among the patriarchs by both mystical schools, the Tantrist Shingon and Zen, and is regarded as the most important link in the long chain of witnesses since Shakyamuni. The chief elements in 164 APPENDIX 2 the doctrine of Transcendental Wisdom-negativism, paradox, religious experience in the intuitive cognition, the comprehension of things in their thusness-all flowed from the Prajiiaparamita Sutras through Nagarjuna into Zen, embedding themselves deeply in its substance.2 This linking up of the Prajiiaparamitas, Madhyamika, and Zen with the Buddha himself was done, no doubt, by the Zen masters themselves. Such attributions are based on the belief that the basic teachings of the Buddha remained unchanged until the time of...