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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > Zen Buddhism
At the heart of this book is one of the most ancient and profound
question philosophers, spiritual seekers, and curious individuals
have pondered since the beginning of history: "Who am I?". Advances
in modern science, and access to Zen tradition, have provided us
with broader and richer understanding of this topic. Over the
chapters the author, a psychologist and Zen master, investigates
how the brain fosters a sense of an independent self, situating his
research in the contexts of neuroscience, ecology, evolution,
psychology, and of the principles Eastern wisdom traditions. The
book explores a broad range of insights from brain science,
evolutionary biology, astronomy, clinical psychology, thoughts and
emotions, mental health disorders, and Zen Buddhism. This book will
appeal to psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers,
counsellors, and researchers of Eastern traditions. General readers
interested in the functioning of the brain will discover practical
ways to integrate fascinating new findings on an age-old question
into their everyday life.
Popular understanding of Zen Buddhism typically involves a
stereotyped image of isolated individuals in meditation,
contemplating nothingness. This book presents the "other side of
Zen," by examining the movement's explosive growth during the
Tokugawa period (1600-1867) in Japan and by shedding light on the
broader Japanese religious landscape during the era. Using
newly-discovered manuscripts, Duncan Ryuken Williams argues that
the success of Soto Zen was due neither to what is most often
associated with the sect, Zen meditation, nor to the teachings of
its medieval founder Dogen, but rather to the social benefits it
conveyed.
Zen Buddhism promised followers many tangible and attractive
rewards, including the bestowal of such perquisites as healing,
rain-making, and fire protection, as well as "funerary Zen" rites
that assured salvation in the next world. Zen temples also provided
for the orderly registration of the entire Japanese populace, as
ordered by the Tokugawa government, which led to stable parish
membership.
Williams investigates both the sect's distinctive religious and
ritual practices and its nonsectarian participation in broader
currents of Japanese life. While much previous work on the subject
has consisted of passages on great medieval Zen masters and their
thoughts strung together and then published as "the history of
Zen," Williams' work is based on care ul examination of archival
sources including temple logbooks, prayer and funerary manuals,
death registries, miracle tales of popular Buddhist deities, secret
initiation papers, villagers' diaries, and fund-raising donor
lists.
Zen Psychology"Dr. Benoit has reason to be confident that the
ancient Zen masters would have given him their imprimatur. He has
understood their secret and made it his own. He invites us most
searchingly to do the same."--London TimesMan cannot live fully
until he has considered the great questions of life. It is for this
reason that we turn to Western psychology and metaphysics for help
in solving our problems. The approach of psychology and
psychotherapy is based on "statistical normality," or the behavior
of the greatest number. In an effort to conform, we focus on our
problems rather than our possibilities, emulating a norm that falls
drastically short of our full capacity for development. Oriental
thought, and Zen thought in particular, seeks to activate the true
potential of men and women--to transform our lives, and thereby
enable us to shed our problems and sufferings.The Supreme Doctrine
applies the essence of Oriental wisdom to the pursuit of
self-knowledge and transcendence. The first step in a holistic
psychology is to begin examining the true "state of man," rather
than its aberrations. In so doing, we can give new direction and
purpose to our lives.The author does not advocate "conversion" to
the Eastern thought, but rather an integration of East and West,
wherein Western psychological thinking and reasoning can be
enriched and clarified by Oriental wisdom."DR. BENOIT has discussed
the 'supreme doctrine' of Zen Buddhism in the light of Western
psychological theory and Western psychiatric practice. This is a
book that should be read by everybody who aspires to know who he is
and what he can do to acquire self-knowledge."
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