Nakamura Hajime - Chan and Mysticism in Later Times

8/8/2019 Nakamura Hajime - Chan and Mysticism in Later Times

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Japanese Jou rna l o f Re l ig ious S tud ie s 1214

CHTAN AND M YSTICISM IN LA TE R TIMESNAKAMURA Hajime

Th e p ra c t i ce of Ch lan was b rough t t o Ch ina by the Sou th 1ndianmonk Bodhidharma. He was the third pr ince of the King ofGand hakut i , s tud i ed under and ado pted th e t rad i t ion of Pra j fiGtZra ,a n d a t s i x t e e n y e a r s o f a g e to o k t h e s e a r o u t e t o C h in a , a r ri v in ga round 470 a t t h e Sou the rn bo rde r of t he Sung. He appea r s t o havejourneyed t o Wei befo re 516. According to the legend , upon be ingsummoned by Lian g Wu-ti, h e we nt t o Nanking, but , knowing th et ime was no t r i pe fo r p ropaga t ing h i s t each ing , he l e f t f o r thwi thand w ent t o th e Shao- lin temple on Mount Chlung wh ere heremained in med i ta t ion fac in g a wall for nine years . H e died inth e seco nd ye ar of Ta-t lung, i.e., 528; or , acco rd ing toano the r t heo ry , t he s econd yea r o f Ta - t l ung , i.e. 536. Hewas ca l l ed the Mas te r o f t he Un ive r sa l Dha rma and was r eve red a sth e fo und er of Ch Ta n in China. T he widely popular Daruma-dollsa r e b a se d o n t h e l e g en d t h a t , f a c i n g t h e w a l l in z a z e n , h e n e v e rneg lec t ed p rac t i ce .

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o t e t h a t o n e of t h e d e t er m i n in g f a c t o r s ofC h l a n i s t h e f a c t t h a t i t a p p e a r e d d u r i n g t h e b r e a k u p o f t h ece nt r a l iz ed , un i f ied s t a t e in China. Th e movement of th e Hunsf rom th e ce n t r a l pa r t o f t he Euras ian co n t inen t t ook advan tage ofth e co l l apse of cen t r a l i zed , un if ied s t a t e s i n bo th the Eas t and th eTra ns la te d by Jo hn P. Keenan. Second in a th ree-par t se r ies ofa r t i c l e s . Taken from Ch use i sh i s6 2: Sekai sh isosh i *EJg,g 2. TE-%,E,E% , [Medieva l Thought 2: Soc ial Int el le ctu al History], vol.21 . Tokyo : Shun jkha , 1976 ( r ep r in t ed 1981) .


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300 NAKAMURA: C h la nW est. Th e C hinese dyn as t i e s we re a f f l i c t e d by th e Huns. Ind ia wasinvaded by the Huva (Sanskri t for Huns) from the Northwest in them i d d l e o f t h e f i f t h c e n t u r y , a n d t h e G u p t a d y n a s t y w a s a t t a c k e din 455. After 480 eve n th e p rev ious ly g lo r ious Gu pta dynas tywaned and a round 500 the Huva King Toram Eva was en th roned inInd ia . Fo r th e nex t ha lf cen tu r y Hu?a c on t ro l con t inued in sec t ionsof India. A f te rw a r ds K ing H a r ~ n i t ed Nor the rn Ind ia , bu t th eun i f i ca t ion of a l l Ind ia was no t com p le ted be fo re th e Is lam icinvasion.

The in t rodu c t ion o f C h la n in t o C h ina by B odhidharm a tookp l a c e d u ri n g t h i s b r e a k u p of t h e e a r l y c e n t r a l i z e d In d ia n s t a t e sand i t sp re ad in th e confused po l i t i ca l s i tua t ion o f C h ina . W e m usta t t e m p t , t h e n , t o u n d e r st a nd t h e d i s ti n c t iv e f e a t u r e s of t h i s in i t ia le s t ab l i shm ent o f C h lan in l igh t o f th i s h i s to r i ca l con tex t .

In t h e f i r s t p la c e, w e n o t e t h a t , i n t h e s e n ew c i r c u m s t a n c e s noeconom ic a s s i s t ance f rom t h e nob i l ity o r dona t ions f rom th e landede s t a t e s c ou ld b e e x p e c t e d . O n e of t h e s p e c i f ic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ofth e B uddh ism of th e e ra of e s t ab l i shed , ce n t r a l i z ed governm entw a s t h e f a c t t h a t i t h ad r e c e i v e d a s s i s t a n c e b o th fro m t h e c o u r tan d from r ich merchants . But in an a g e of d isorder , new re l ig ion sh a d n o s u c h a s s u r e d s o c i a l f o u n d a t i o n . T h e l e g e n d a r y f a c t t h a tBodhidharma rece ived nothing f rom Emperor Wu of Liang i s heres ign i f i can t . A s t r ik ing f ea tu re o f th i s new re l ig ion i s i t s im age o fthe p i lg r im and the wandere r . There were no es t ab l i shed t em plesdur ing the t im e o f the f i r s t Pa t r i a rch B odh idharm a , the SecondPat r iarch Hui-kulo , or the th i rd Pat r ia rch Seng- ts lan (d . 604) .S e n g -t sl an l o dg e d a t su c h t e m p l e s as Lu-yuan, bu t a s an i t i n e ra n tpi lgrim he l ived by begging his food.

Secondly , th is p ilgr im l i fe-s ty le ren de red i t imposs ib le fo r onet o m a in ta in t he h igh s t a t io n o f a sp i r i tua l e l i t e . Even th ose whom ight h ave che r i shed such an inne r p r ide had t o l ive in c losecon tac t wi th the com m on peop le on whom they depended . A m u t u a lrappor t deve loped wi th the com m on peop le and am ong the C h ineseB u d dh is t s e c t s C h l a n c a m e t o t a k e o n t h e q u a l i t i e s o f t h e co mm onpeople.

Thirdly, having originated in India, Buddhism was a foreignre l ig ion t o the C h inese. If i t w ere t o becom e popu la r , i t had t o


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JAPAN ESE JOUR NAL O F RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 301b e c o m e i n c u l t u r a t e d . C h f a n c a m e t o b e i d e n t if i ed w i t h t h e C h i n e s epeop le and , ado p t ing ind igenous pa t t e rn s of th ink ing , becam e th emost s in i f ied of all t h e sects. Thus when in a l a t e r a g e t h eB u d d hi st s e c t s w e r e s u p re s s e d, C h f a n a l o n e r e m a in e d a p o p ul arr el ig io n , a n d i t h a s c o n t i n ue d u n t i l t h e p r e s e n t t o s p r e a d t h ro u g h-o u t a l l l e v e ls of t h e s o c ie t y .

F o u r t h l y , s i n c e t h e r e w a s n o p o l i t i c a l o r e c o n o m i c a s s i s t a n c ef o r th c o m i n g f ro m e i t h e r t h e n o b il it y o r t h e w e a l t h y m e r c h a n ts , t h eC h f a n a d h e r e n t s f ou nd i t d i f f i cu l t t o e s ta b l is h a n y s c h o l a s ti ctheology. Hui-yiian of Ch1ing-ying tem ple an d Ma ste r Chi- tsang ofth e San-lun schoo l com posed the i r s c ho las t i c t r ea t i s e s , b u t th eC ht an peop le h ave l e f t beh ind no th ing eve n re sem bling a book.They have bequea thed on ly poe t ry and aphor i sm , fo r they hadindeed "abandonedu and been " l ibe ra t ed f f f rom a l l p rev ious o rc o n t e m p o r a r y d o c t r i n a l s y s te m a t ic s . T h e y r e f e r r e d t o t h i s as "notmainta in ing learning" 7f;il tP , i.e. t h e non-establ ishm ent ofd o c t r i n a l s y s te m a t ic s . In l a t e r a g e s t h e r e w a s n o s c h o o l w h ic hl a c k e d t e x t u a l s o u r c e s m o r e th a n C h f a n . N e v er t h el e s s o n e m a y a s kwh e the r th i s "no t m a in ta in ing l ea rn ingn i s no t con t rad ic to ry , s ince ,n o t b e i n g c o m m i t t e d t o a n y p a r t i c u l a r d o g m a, C h f a n c o ul d g iv er ise to an unl imi ted amount of I t learning."

F i f t h l y , n o t b e i n g co m m i t te d t o d o c t r i n a l s y s t e m a t i c s , t h eC h f a n m a s t e r s s t r e s s e d t h e r o l e of s p o n ta n e o u s i n t u i t io n a n d c on -t em p la t ive aw areness in th e apprehens ion o f t ru th . Here in th eim por tance o f zazen was em phas ized . In the i r words , t ru th i st r an sm i t t ed ap a r t from any l anguage-fo rm ed doc t r ine ( 2% f i Z ! j& ),f o r w e a t t a i n e n l ig h t e n m e nt b y p e n e t r a t i n g d i r e c t l y i n t o t h eoriginal mind ( B?!ihti& ).

A f t e r t h e S u n g d y n a s t y C h ' a n t oo k o n i t s s p e c i f i c c h a r a c t e r -i s t ics . S ung Neo-Confucianis t w r i t ings exhibi t poin ts of d i f fe ren cefro m t h o s e t h a t p r e c e d e d , b u t in C h l a n c h a n g e s o c c u r r e d o n a neve n l a r ge r sca le . The B lue C l i f f R ec ord (P i-yen lu) wa s pu tto ge th er by Fu-kuo Kf o-ch ' in (d. 1135), The B ar rie r of Wu-men(Wu-men kan) by Wu-men Hui-kfai (d. 126 0), an d The R ec or d ofLe is ur el y Discussions (Tsung-yung lu) by Wang-sung Hsing-hsiu (d.1247) . Upon th e in t rodu c t ion o f th ese books in to Jap an , th i sC hin ese s ty l e of th ink ing m e t a ready a cc ep tan ce in th e new soci -


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302 NAKAMURA: C hlane t y of J a p a n . ( If t h e s t a g e s o f d e v e lo p m e n t h a d n o t b e e n p a r a l l e l,th i s new fo rm of Buddhism would no t h ave b ee n so qu ick lya c c e p t e d . )

We c a n a l s o n o t e t h a t t h e J a p a n e s e B ud d h is ts of t h e a lm o s tc o n t e mp o r a n e o u s Ka ma k u r a p e r i o d e n u n c i a t e d Bu d d h i s t t e a c h i n g i na s imilar ly non-scholas t ic vernacular . H6nen1s Ichimai kish6monw a s w r i t t e n i n 1 21 2. D o ge n b r ou g h t t h e S o t o s e c t of Z e n t o J a p a nin 1 2 2 7 a n d l e f t u s m an y w o r k s w r i t t e n in a s t ra igh t - fo rwardJ a p a n e s e s t y le . A t e x a c t l y t h e s a m e ti m e I nd ia n t e a c h e r s of s o m es c h o o l s we r e c o mp o s i n g b o o k s i n mo d e r n I n d i a n v e r n a c u l a r s a n dh a d c o ns c io u sl y a b a n d o n ed t h e c l a s s i c a l l a n g u a g e o f t h e o ld t e x t sin f a v o r of t h e s e l an g u a g es . A t a l mo s t t h e s a me ti me E c k h a r t wa se x p r e s s i n g r e l i g io u s t r u t h in a v e r n a c u l a r Ge r ma n . I n 1 2 1 1 i nK ore a Chi-nu1 o f Sil la e s ta b l is h e d K orea n C hl an ( J o ~ ~ e - ~ o n ~ ) . lHe wa s a lmo s t c o n t e mp o r a n e o u s wi t h D6 g e n in J a p a n , a n d t h es i mi l a r i ty of h i s t h o u g h t a n d p r a c t i c e wi t h t h a t o f D6 g en i s r e co g -n ized by scho la r s .

In C h l a n g r e a t i m p o r t a n c e i s p l ac e d o n t h e r e l a ti o n sh i pb e t w e e n d i s c i p l e a n d m a s t e r , j u s t as in e s o t e r ic Buddh ism, undert h e i n f lu e n c e o f t h e a b s o l u t e v a lu e p l a ce d o n t h e t e a c h e r (g u ru ) int h e T a n t r i c t e a c h i n g s w h ic h p u t h im in t h e p l a c e o f t h e B u d dh ah im s e lf , t h e t e a c h e r (ac a r y a ) w a s r e g a r d e d a s a T r a n s f o r ma t i o nBody of Buddha.

P a r a l l e l s t o t h e s e m o v e m e n ts a r e f o u n d in t h e m e d i e v a lGe r m a n a n d Du t c h my s t ic s , s u c h as M e i s t e r ~ c k h a r t ~1260?-1326),Jo ha nn es Tau le r (1300-1361) , an d J a n van R uysbro eck (1293-1381) .

F u r t h e r p a r a l l e l s c a n b e s e e n i n t h e a p p e a r a n c e of S ufismwh i c h t r a n s f o r m e d I sl a mi c c u lt u r e . S uf is m i s r e g a r d e d as hav inga p p e a r e d b e t w e e n t h e e i g h th a n d n i nt h c e n t u r ie s . I t s l i t e r a t u r eg r ad u a ll y g re w a f t e r t h e t e n t h c e n t u r y u n t i l i t s d o c t r i n e w a ss y s t e m a t i z e d a f t e r t h e e l e v en t h c e n tu r y.

W e s t e r n my s t i c s of t h e s a me p e ri o d w e r e n o t c o mp os in g s y st e m-a t i c w r it in g s, f o r t h e i r w o r k s w e r e f r e e a n d u n r e s t ri c t e d , a lm o s ti n d e p e n d e n t f r om t h e t r a d i t i o n a l t h e o lo g y . E c k h a r t h a d in d e e db e e n i n f l u e n c e d b y T h o ma s Aq u i n a s , b u t d r i v e n f r o m wi t h i n h eb r o k e t h r o u g h t h e l i mi t a t i o n s o f T ho ma s 1 s y s te m. Be c a u s e h es t r e s s e d t h e p u r e s p i r i tu a l i t y of d e v o u t f a i t h , E c k h a r t p r oc la im e d


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 12/4 3 03t h a t C h u r c h t e a c h i n g s w e r e m e a ni n gf u l on ly a s e x t e r n a l p ro v is io n a lsymbols.F re e and unres t r a ined specu la t ion on nno th ingnessn i s d i sce rn -ab le in th e Kabba lah, t h e m ys t i ca l o ra l t r ad i t ion o f Juda i sm , whichrem inds one o f the t each ings o ra l ly handed down in JapaneseTendai .

In l a t e r t i m e s C h t a n w a s d iv i de d i n t o t h e f i ve h o us es a n d t h es e v e n s e c ts . In J a p a n t h e t h r e e s e c t s of R i n za i, S o t o , a n d O bak uZ e n w e r e e s t a b l is h e d , w h i le s u b s e c t s w i th s u b t l e d i f f e r e n c e s w e r eset up wi th in Tant r ic Buddhism. In rough terms, these d iv is ionspa ra l l e led th e Indian sp l i t be tw een a Vedic o r thodox sec t an ther igh t and a s e c t o n t h e l e f t w h ic h c a r r ie d o u t l a s c iv i o u s r i te s . B u teven wi th in th i s d iv i s ion , fu r the r subsec t s were e s t ab l i shed , thed i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n w h ic h a r e d if f ic u l t t o i d e n ti f y e v e n f o r t h especia l i s t . Such sec tar ianism did not occur , however , amongW es te rn m yst ic s. Eck har t was judged t o be a h e r e t i c o n l y a f t e r h eh ad p a ss e d a w a y . B e c a u s e t h e e x t e r n a l c o n t r o l o f t h e C a t h o l i cChurch was a powerful uni t ive force , there was no room for anyindependen t ac t iv i ty by the W es te rn m ys t i c th inke r s .D e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e i s a r em arkab le r e sem blanceb e t w e e n C h ' a n a n d T a n t r is m , t h e r e a r e i m p o r ta n t d i f f e re n c e s .Tan t r i c r e l ig ion p reached a path of devot ion ( bhak t i -m i rga ) . T h eg o d de s s K iifi, w h o w a s t h e c o n s o r t o f t h e g od ~ i v a , a s re g a r d eda s th e c re a t iv e sou rce of eve ry th ing . O the r goddesses , such a sTar ; an d Bha gavat i , w ere a lso worshipped in Tan t r i c Buddhism.B u t C h l a n p a y ed r e v e r e n c e t o no f e m a le c r e a t i v e p o w e r n or t o an yfo rc e of na ture . By con t ra s t , Western myst ics such as Hugh of St .Vic tor (12th ce ntu ry) s t r es se d both knowledge a nd love. He said :

God dwel ls in the human hear t in two ways: through knowledgean d throug h love. All who know God, love him, bu t no o ne canlove Him w i thout knowing ~ i m . 3

In a n y T a n t r i c t e x t f i v e th e m e s ha d t o b e t r e a t e d : (1) t h e c r e a ti o nof the wor ld , (2 ) the end o f the wor ld , (3) t he worsh ip o f the gods ,(4) t h e a t t a inm ent o f m ys t ic powers , and (5) union wi th the h ighes tr ea l i ty . B u t the se them es a r e never d iscussed in C h lan , fo r i t


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304 NAKAMURA: Chlannev er eng age s in such metap hys ica l ques t ion ing . In modern ph ilos-ophy , e spec ia l ly in Am er ican ph i losophy which i s th e vanguard o ft h e m a c h i n e c u l t u r e , m e t a p h y s i c a l s p e c u l a t i o n i s r e j e c t e d , w h i l epragmat ic and pos i t iv i s t unders tand ing i s sough t . S imi la r ly ,E u r o p e a n p h il os o ph y o f t h e p a s t a n d t h e Ve d a n t a p hi lo s op h y of t h eE a s t f e l t m e t ap h y s ic a l s p e c u l a t io n t o b e i n a p pr o p ri a te . O n t h i sp o i n t C h l a n i s f u ll y i n h ar mo n y wi t h t h e t h in k i n g of t h e mo d e r nm a c h i n e c u l t u re . I t sh o u ld a l s o b e n o t e d t h a t t h e p r a c t i c e ofp r a y e r f o r m u l as ( m a n tr a s ) is n o t r e c og n i z ed i n C h l a n a t a ll.

In c o n t r a s t t o l a t e r C h l a n w h i ch w a s f o n d o f e n i g m a t ic s ay -i ng s, t h e T a n t r i c s e c t s p r a c t i c e d t h e c h a n t i n g o f p r a y e r ( s e e d )f o r mu l a s , s u c h as am, Em, um, and 6 . T h r o u g h s u c h c h a n t i n g ,my s t i c s u p e r n a t u r a l p o we r s a r e o b t ai n e d. Of c o u r s e , t h i s p o p u la rb e l i e f h a d a l r e a d y b e e n i n t r o d u c e d i n I n di an Ma h E yZ na , i n t h e l a s tc h a p t e r o f The L o t u s S u t r a , f o r e x am p le . B u t t h e c h a n t i n g o fm e d i t a t iv e f o rm u l a s ( d h a r i i g ) a n d t h e r e l i a n c e u p o n t h e p o w e r o ft h e s e i n c a n t a t i o n s r o s e a n d f e l l t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e p o p u l ar i ty o ft h e E s o t e r i c t e a c h i n g .

S u c h m a g i c a l p r a c t i c e s a r e n o t r e c o g n iz e d i n C h l an . T h o s e w h oa r e fo n d of t h e T a n t r i c s t r e a m in mo d e r n In d ia n r e li g io n t a k e t h i sa s a w e a k p o in t , b u t C h l a n r e g a r d s i t a s no l o ss a t a ll. H e r e t h emy s t i c J e w i s h Ka b b a l a h i s c l o s e r t o In d ia n T a n t ri s m.

F r o m o u r p r e s e n t d a y p e r s p e c t i v e , T a n t r i s m h a s p o i n t s t h a td e m a nd o u r a t te n t i o n . I t d id n o t a p p r o v e c a s t e d i s t i n c ti o n s a n d int h i s i s c l o s e t o t h e C h l a n o r d e r in w e lc o m in g a l l p e o p l e f ro mw h a t e v e r 0 r i ~ i n . 4 T h e r e w e r e e v e n m e d i ev a l E a s t e r n e r s w h o ad vo -c a t e d t h e e q u a l i t y of w o m e n, b u t a s a g e n e r a l r u l e t h e d i sc ri m in a -t i v e t r e a t m e n t o f w om e n w a s a n a c c e p t e d f a c t . I n t h e W e s t t o ow o m en w e r e t r e a t e d w i t h d is da in . D i sc ri m in a ti ve t r e a t m e n t w a sn o t p e r m i t t e d i n T a n t ri s m e i t h e r : "Wh e t he r ma n o r wo me n, t h e yc o n s t i t u t e t h e s ame , i d e n t i c a l h uma n kind ." T h i s i s i d e n t i c a l w i t ht h e p o s it io n of DZ g en i n J a p a n wh o s e v e r e l y c r i t i c i z e d t h e sy s te m-a t i c p ro h ib i t io n s a g a i n s t wom en in ~ a ~ a n . ~ga in Tan t r i sm fo rbadeth e custom of t h e imm olat ion o f widows (sat?) o n t h e f u n e r a l p y r eo f t h e i r h u s b an d s. T h e r e wa s n o s u c h cu st om i n J a p a n , b u t t h es u i c i d e o f r e t a i n e r s u p o n t h e d e a t h o f t h e i r l o r d di d o c c u r. T h i sc u st om wa s c r i t i c i z e d by S u z u k i S h Z sa n a n d i t wa s n o t f o ll o we d by


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 305the Zen monks.6 But t he prohibition of suicide came more fromstatesmen than from Buddhists, a fact which shows that JapaneseZen was not a main source for social revolution.

The non-doctrinal stance of Chlan can also be seen in the factth at Ch'an teaching is extremely artist ic, emotive, and concrete.Indian philosophical poems, even in their Chinese translations, areclearly logical in content and even in the Ch'an sect the contentof t he poet ry in the old medita tion manuals (e.g. The PlatformSutra of the Sixth Patriarch) is quite logical. However the com-positions of the meditation manuals written during this period aima t an artis tic, emotive, and concrete presentation rather than atlogical consistency. This is probably due to the fact that thesepoets took full advantage of the a rti st ic qualities of the Chineseideographs.

As instances of meditation manuals demonstrating this newtendency we can mention The Blue Cliff Manual, The Bar ri er ofWu-men, and The Record of Leisurely Conversations. Just as thefinal meaning of Ch'an is transmitted secretly to the disciple onlyin the master's room, so th e Tan tri c formula must not be trans-mitted t o those who have yet to be initiated in to tantra. Thus,despite the fact that Chlan was a popular movement rebellingagainst fixed, doctrinal traditions, because of its esoteric nature,in la te r times i t gradually came to tak e on an aristoc rati c flavor.It was the same with Tantrism. "The Vedas, the $Gstras, thePurGnas are like a common women, but this mystical $aha scienceis like a high-born women."7 Thus i t could not be employed byfrivolous persons.

Here we can consider again t he meaning of t he koan. A parti-cular master and a particular disciple communicate in a determinedsetting. Communication of the koan's meaning does not take placethrough o ther people or in any other place. Being based on thi sutterly individual foundation, it is not spoken publicly at all. Thusstriking home in the individual, it is more concrete and experi-ential than doctrinal, and its enunciation is largely artistic.

To sum up, both Eastern and Western mysticism have under-gone a long process of development bearing the marks of theirdistinct historical settings. But they preserve a universal truth


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306 NAKAMURA: Chfanthat runs th rough the th ink ing of large numbers o f people and ispre sen ted symbol ical ly in var ious par t icu lar fo rmulat ions . Tran-s c e n d i n g h i s t o r i c a l p e r i o d s a n d t e m p o r a l l i m i t a t i o n s , t h a t t r u t hc a r r i e s f o r w a r d a v i t a l mean ing fo r u s and fo r peop le in o the rcu l tu res .

PERSONAL DIRECT AWARENESSDuring the Middle Ages many myst ics appeared in the West whot a l k e d a b o u t a d i re c t awa reness o f th e abso lu te . Among th eBudd hists of India and China, among th e Neo-Confucianists of SungCh ina and Mei j i Japan o the r mys t i cs spoke in s imi la r t e rms o f then e e d t o r e l y up on d i r e c t a w a r e n e s s . H e r e w e s h a l l t r e a t t h i s t h e m eas i t i s fo u nd in C h l a n a n d t h e n r e l a t e i t t o o t h e r s y s t e m s ofthought.

Ch fan Buddhism ce n t e r s upon th e p ra c t i c e of s i t t ing in med i ta -t ion . I t s m o t to i s " Ju s t keep t o your sea t!lf Med i t a t ion i s a l soemphasized in Western mystic ism. F or ins tan ce , S t . Bernard an d h isfo l lowers sought re l ig ious t ru th no t in reason ing , bu t in personalexper ience and med i t a t ion . Sa in t Theresa sa id :

Me d i ta t ion i s the f i r s t s t e p in a t t a in in g v ir tue . I t i s impor tan tf o r a l l C h r i s t i a n s t o b e g in p r a c t i c i n g i t.*

he famous C hT an maxim, "po in t ing d i rec t ly t o th e mind of manv1( E%AJL. ) w a s w r i t t e n t o s t r e s s t h e n ec e s si ty of a n a c t u a l ,pe r sona l r ea l i za t ion o f the fac t tha t f rom b i r th we all h a v e t h eBuddha mind. Th e real i ty of th at Buddha na tu re must be personallyexper ienced . T he p rac t i t ioner r e l i e s upon t he gu idance o f h i smas te r , bu t en l igh tenmen t a r i se s w i th in th e rea lm of th e e t e rna l .I t i s the ac t ion o f the abso lu te and no t someth ing we do ou rse lves .Anoth er Zen maxim s ta te s , "Direct ly look ing in to one 's ownna tu re" ( %@ ), fo r look ing in to th is Buddha mind is the rea l iza-t ion o f Buddhahood . One mus t exper ience the fac t tha t one i soneself Buddha.


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 307A very c lo se pa ra l l e l from W es te rn m ys ti ci sm of th e sam e

per iod i s found in Angelus Si les ius , Johannes Scheff ler , (1624-1677)who a lso advocated %ieeing in to one ' s na ture . "Even if C hr i s t were t o be born in B e th lehem a thousand t im es ,If he be not reborn within you, your soul wil l be in despair .The c ross on Golgo tha wi l l no t save you .Only t h e c ro ss wi th in your own m ind can pe r fe c t you .9

Th e Theo log ia Germ anica ( ca . 1425) iden t i f i e s " tha t which I am,"%y very se l f , " TTI,v Tme,TTTmine,TTs t h e s o u r c e o f o u r e s t r a n g e -m e n t fro m r e a l i t y a n d i t c o n ti n u a ll y s t r e s s e s t h e n e c e s s i t y of b e i n glib er at ed from T Tb lindn ess nd i llusion."1 "Self-willw i s re pe ate dlyforbidden in th is book, reminding one of the Buddhis t doct r ine ofn o-s elf. ( O n e c a n n o t d en y t h a t , c o m p a r e d t o t h e J a p a n e s e , t h ef o c u s on s e lf w a s s t r o n g e r in t h e W e s t, y e t e v e n t h e r e m y s t ic stau gh t no-se lf.) This teac hin g of T Tl ib era t io n rom bl indness andi llus ionn o f th e Theolog ia Germ anica co r respo nds t o C h T an Ts"break ing th e l acqu er t r ayn and t o D 6genTs "abandonm ent o f bodyan d mind.TT11 Fu r the rmo re , acc ord ing t o th e Theologia G erman ica asp i r i tua l pe r son i s m oved by an T tunder s t and ingu nd TTloven he re inno "1," o r 9nin eU remains . This cor respon ds to th e cou rse ofth e MahEyEna pa th of wisdom (pra j ii li ) and compass ion (k ar q l i ) .

B u t t h i s d i r e c t a w a r e n e s s i s n o t a c h a n c e o c c u r r e n c e o r ahaphaza rd even t . The t ru th o f en l igh tenm ent m us t be com m uni -ca te d f rom mind t o mind, f rom person t o person. "There i s aspec ia l t r ansm iss ion apa r t f rom wha t has been wr i t t en downTT 4%f l g 1 J 6 ) . I t doe s no t r e ly upon doc t r ina l sys t em at i za t ions o f t h es c r i p t u r e s , f o r t r u t h i s t r a n s m i t t e d o t h e rw i s e . T h e r e f o r e , in o r d e rt o r e a c h t h e g o a l of C h t a n , o n e m u s t f i r s t r e c e i v e g u i d an c e from at r u e m a s te r . C h T a n p l a c e s i t s f a i t h in t h e p r e s e n c e of o u r o r ig i n a lB uddha na tu re and , under the gu idance o f a m a s t e r , i n c u l c a t e s a si t s t r a i n i n g m e t h o d t h e p r a c t i c e of s i t t i n g in m e d i t a t i o n a n d fo cu s-i n g up on t h e m a n i f e s t a t i o n of t h e B u d dh as a n d t h e P a t r i a r c h swi th in us. W i th such an in t e n t on e has to co nc en t ra t e m ore uponf e l t e x p e r i e n c e t h a n u p o n t h e w o r d s o f s c r i p t u r e . T a k i n g a m a s t e ri s no t l is t er ling t o som e se c r e t , m ys t ic ja rgon. R a th e r i t is a dec i-


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308 N A K A M U R A : C h l a ns ion resu l t ing from c o n ta c t wi th f e l t exper ience . (From th i s per-s p e c t i v e , a n y d e x t e r o u s m a n i p ul a ti o n of C h r a n s a y in g s t h a t h a s n omean ing f o r t h e common peop le i s en t i r e ly un re l a t ed t o t h e or ig i-na l sp i r i t of Ch 'an .) In th e Wes t P lo t inus expressed t h e same idea :

Having abandon ed c ont ro vers y , we app ea l t o v is ion. We ca l l topeop le w ho a r e r eady fo r u s t o show them th e pa th . O urt eac h ing i s a gu ide t o t h a t path. Such in s igh t mus t be ach i evedpersona l ly by eac h of thos e who hav e made such a commit-ment.12

Those w ho have gone fo r th on t h i s pa th (Ta thZ iga t a as t h eW ayfa re r ) s e rve a s t h e mode l f o r t hose w ho seek t h e w ay . Pe r -s o n al , d i r e c t a w a r e n e s s i s d y na m ic a n d t e n d s t o w a rd p r o g re s s a lo n gt h a t p ath .

O ne exam ple of such p rog re s s i s t h e V ie tnamese Empero r , w ho,a s some V ie tnamese s cho la r s r e l a t e , w hen t he M ongol ian a rmyinvaded Vie tnam, ex er te d himsel f t o se l f -d i sc ip l ine by fo l lowingth e t e ach ing o f t he monks w ho p rocl a imed th a t "Buddha does no tdw el l in th e m ounta ins , bu t in your mind," thu s se rv ing t h e Vie t-nam na t ion wi th a l l h i s mind and body .13 (A Vie tnamese vers ion ofH6j6 Tokimune (1251-1284), who res i s ted t h e Monguls under s imi la rc i rcumstances ) .

Iconoc lasm ar os e na tura l ly in con junc t ion wi th th i s emphas is onac tu a l exper ience . Th e Ch lan monk Tan-hs ia t l ien- jan co l le c te dmany im ages of t h e Buddha, b roke them in to p ieces , th rew themin to a f i re , an d burned them up.14 He w as a lw ays s ay ing t h ingsl ike " th e ro l l s o f th e s r ip tu res do make good to i le t paper." FromIslam t o t h e S ikh f a i t h , t h e r e j ec t i on o f images i s p robab ly t o beunde r s tood in con t r a s t t o some p rev ious mind- se t t h a t vene ra t edtho se images. Em peror Le o I11 of th e E as te rn Rom an Empirer e s i s t ed t h e I s lamic i nvas ions , ye t in t h e yea r 716 h e fo rbade t h eworsh ip of sac red image s an d ord ere d them des t royed . His g roundsf o r d o i n g t h i s w e r e t h a t o n e s h o u l d e m p h a s i z e t h e s p i r i t u a l n a t u r eo f C h r i s t i a n f a i t h t h ro u g h t h e a w a r e n e s s t h a t h um an r e p r e s e n t a -t ions were od ious .


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 309I conoc las m app ea r e d i n J a pa n in a d i f f e r e n t fo rm. A l t hough

t he y d i d no t oppos e t h e ind i genous re l ig i on o f Sh i n t o , med i eva lSh i n t o t h i nke r s ( I s e Sh i n t o ) d i d r e s i s t t he ex i s t i ng un i ve r s a l r e l i -g i ons w i t h t he i r va r i ous h i gh l y deve l oped r i t ua l s ys t ems , e s pec i a l l yS h i ng o n E s o te r ic is m . T h e s e m e d i e v a l S h i n t o i s t s a d v o c a t e d t h a t" t h a t w h i c h p l e a s e s t h e g o d s i s n o t m a t e r i a l o ff e ri n g s. T h e t r u eo f f e r i n gs a r e v i r t ue an d s ince ri ty . " Pu r i t y o f mind was pa r t i cu l a r l ys t r e s s e d .

Y e t s u c h m o v e m e n t s f o r t h e r e j e c t i o n o f i m a g e s w e r e n o tl a s ti n g . In t h e W e st t h e C a t h o l i c C h u r c h , w h i ch m ig h t h a v e b e e ne x p e c t e d t o r e j e c t i m a g es , e n t h u s i a st ic a l l y v e n e r a t e d t h e s a c r e di mage o f M ary . T he Z en i n t r odu ced by DiSgen i n t o J ap an w as as im p l e a f f a i r , b u t w i t h t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e r e li g io u s o r d e r s ,n u m e r o u s i m a g e s w e r e set up . W hen s a ?k a r a e s t ab l i s hed h i sm o n a s te r y a t s ;i h g er i, t h e r e w a s o n ly a s i n g le i m a g e u s ed a s a ne m ble m ( on ly t h e i r i c a k r a ) , b u t u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e V aij ay a -n a g a d y n a s t y t h e g r e a t m o n a s t e r i e s w e r e c o n s t r u c t e d a n d m an yi m a g e s c a m e t o b e v e n e r a t e d .

THE TRANSMISSION OF MYSTIC AWARENESSWe mus t r a i s e t h e que s t i on o f whe t he r t h e mys ti ci sm o f l a t e rt i m e s d i f f e r e d f r o m t h i s e a r l y ( e i t h e r a n c i e n t o r m e d i e v a l ) m y s t i -c is m . W e wi l l t r e a t t h i s qu es t i on as t h e tr ans mi ss i on o f m ys t i ce x p e r i e n c e in s p e c i f i c l in e a g es .

C h f a n c la im s a s p e c i a l l in e a g e w h e r e in t h e t r u e s p i r i t of C h f a nwa s t r a ns m i t t ed f r om M ahGkZiSyapa , t h e g r ea t d i s c i p l e of s i i kya -m uni. When ~ Z i k ~ a m u n in V u l t u r e P e a k t w i r l e d a n d h e ld u p af lo w e r , t h e e n t i r e a s se m b l y r e m a i n e d s i l e n t a n d n o bo d y w a s f o u ndt o r e s pond t o t h e Buddha 's ac t i on e xc ep t M ahGkGSyapa , who,under s t and i ng i t s mean i ng , s impl y s miled . T her eupo n s ak ya m un is a i d , I f o n l y h e h a s re c e i v e d t h e t r u t h o f t h e t r e a s u r y of t h e e y e o fT r u e R e a l i t y , t h e w o n dr ou s m in d of c e s s a ti o n , t h e a b s e n c e ofi m a g e t h a t i s t h e t r u e i m a ge , t h e s u b t le , m a r v el ou s d o c t r i n e , t h eu n w r i t t e n t e x t , t h e s p e c ia l t ra n sm i ss io n a p a r t fro m t e a c h i r 1 ~ . ~ ~ 1 5Thi s accoun t i s no t f ound i n I nd i an Buddh i s m, bu t i s a pa r ab l e


12/19

310 NAKAMURA: C hf ano f t e n r e c o u n t e d i n C h l a n t e m p l e s a f t e r t h e S u n g d y n a s t y a s t h eb a s i s f o r t h e f o un d in g of t h e Ch l a n s e c t . I t i s a deve lopment o fmedieval thought .16

" Th e u n w r i tt e n t e x t a nd t h e s e cr e t t r a n s m i ~ s i o n ~ ~e c a m e t h eCh lan hal lmark. Tib etan Lamaism a lso professed th is posit ion .17Wes te rn mys t ic s too never r epud ia ted the t r ansmiss ion o f miss ionf ro m J e s u s Ch r i s t t o p e te r .18 S i n c e t h e Go s p el wa s me a n t f o r a l lp e o p l e , i t a l o n e wa s r e c o g n i z e d as hav ing a sp ec i a l l ineage . Hereth e r e is a s t r ik ing resemblance wi th med ieva l Ind ian Tan t r i sm, fo rin Ta ntr ism , w hich is Indian myst ic ism, o n e lay s emphasis on th es e c r e t t e a c h i n g a n d c e r e mo n y r e l a t e d b y s 'i va , t h e p ri n c ip a l g od o fth e wor ld , t o h i s consor t (DurgE o r KEG). Th is r e sembles th e C h la na c c o u n t of Ma hZ kE Sy ap a r e c e i v i n g t h e t r u t h in s e c r e t whe n h esmi led sub t ly at Si ikyamuni f s twi r l ing o f th e f lower .

T h e v a ri o us T a n t r i c t e x t s w e r e r e g a r d ed as p r e s e n t i n g t h et e a c h i n g a n d r i t u a l f o r t h i s e v i l a g e ( k a l i y u g a ) a n d t h u s t h e y we r et o b e c a r r i e d o u t u n t i l t h e e n d of t h i s Kali- ag e. Bu t, t h e mo s taugus t , I f the h ighes t t r ansmiss ionN of Tan t r i sm i s sa id t o hav ei s sued f rom th e f i f th mouth o f th e god S iva . As such , i t canno t bet r a n s mi t t e d i n a n y p a r t i c u l a r s c r i p t u r e a n d i s s e c r e t a n d u n c h a r a c -t e ri z ab l e. lg " Th e V ed as, t h e d ~ s t r a s , n d t h e P u r Ep a s a r e l i k e acommon woman (i.e. the y ca n be seen by anyone) , bu t th i s mys t ica l~ a i v a c i en ce i s l ike a h igh-born woman ( sec luded and sec re t ) . l f20

By con t ras t , W es te rn mys t ic s o f th e same per iod d id no tcompose the i r own sc r ip tu res , a f a c t d u e p ro b ab ly t o t h e o v er -wh el min g a u t h o r i t y of t h e Ch u r ch . Bu t t h e r e wa s a t e n d e n c y t od e v i a t e f ro m e c c l e s i a s t i c a l o r th o d ox y . F o r e x a mp l e, E c k h a r ti n h e r i t e d t h e t h o u g h t o f T ho mas , b u t h e we n t f a r b ey o n d h ist e a c h e r . He wa s u n ti r in g in h i s a t t e m p t s t o p u t i n t o wo rd s t h ed e e p a n d s t r o n g f e e l in g s wh i ch s p r u n g fr om h i s p i ou s h e a r t , a n d ,d r i v e n b y h i s i n n e r n a t u r e , h e b r o k e a wa y f r o m s y s t e ma t i z e d n o r msa n d r e g a r d e d t h e d og m a s o f t h e C h u r c h as provisional symbols.21S u c h a n a t t i t u d e a ls o c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e e a r l y C h 'a n m o nk s inChina.

Ga i n i n g i n s ig h t i n t o o n e 's n a t u r e a n d r e l y in g u p o n a p a r t i c u l a rt r a d i t i o n a r e c l e a r l y c o n t r a d i c t o r y . In v ie w o f t h e u n i v e rs a l it y o fd i r e c t a w a r e n e s s , i t c a n h a r d l y b e t r u e t h a t o n l y w h a t h a s b e e n


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JAPA NES E JOURN AL O F RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 311handed down in t r ad i t ion i s app l icab le t o th e human p red icamen t .H um an n a t u r e e n c o m p as s es t h e s e t w o c o n t r a d i c t o r y a s p e c t s oft r a d i t i o n a n d d i r e c t a w a r e ne s s.

B u t t h e t e n d en c y t o r e v e r e t r a d i t i o n i s no t s e e n in t h e e a r l ym y st ic s. I t b e c o m e s a p p a r e n t o nl y s e v e r a l c e n t u r i e s a f t e r t h ecommon era , a f a c t t o be unders tood in l igh t o f soc ia l cond it ions.In co n t ra s t to ea r ly mys t ic ism, a r ev erenc e fo r one 's own part i -cu lar t ra dit ion appeared-even among my stics themselves--incon junc t ion w i th the fo rma t ion of f euda l i s t i c soc ia l pa t t e rn s . Bu tth is tendency wi l l p robab ly d isappear shor t ly wi th the fo rmat ion ofmodern socie ty .

IS IT POSSIBLE TO INFLUENCE ONE'S NEIGHBOR?O n e of t h e c r i t ic i s m s l e v e l e d a t m y s ti c s i s t h a t t h e y i g n or e d i f fe r -en ces in th e phenomena l world . The sensed wor ld comes t o ber e g a r d e d a s i l lu s or y a n d t h e s c i e n t i f i c s p i r i t i s s n u f fe d o u t a m on gmen. Th e f i r s t s t i r r ings of sc ien ce in the anc ie n t wor ld did no ta t t a in fu l l cogn iz ance of i t s po ten t i a l an d on ly human qua l i t i e swe re cons ide red wor thy o f s tudy . Thus th e de s i re to unders t andt h e o r e t i c a l l y t h e n a t u r a l w o rl d a n d t o r e vo l u ti o n iz e t h e s t r u c t u r e sof the human world was ex t ingu ished . Th is cr i t ic ism probab lyappl ies t o P la ton ism, Ind ian Adv ai ta monism, a nd t o Chinese andJ a p a n e s e Z e n .

Al though the wor ld re l ig ions we re y et in p rocess o f fo rmat ion ,t h e r e w e r e m y s t i c s w h o w e r e a l t o g e t h e r u n c o n c e r n e d a b o u t t h esuffer ings o f o thers . Viewing the corpses o f those k i l led in bat t leKrishna says :

I am saddened be cause you a r e no t sad. Bu t you speak t hewords o f wisdom. Th e Sa ge i s no t sad ov er those who have los tthe i r l ive s o r over th ose who a re s t i l l al ive .22

A l ike opinion is expressed by Plotinus:


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312 NAKAMURA: C h fa nC a r n a g e , d e a t h i n a l l i t s sh a p e s, t h e d e s t r u c t i o n a n d l o o ti n g o fc it ie s, -- in o u r p e r s p e c t i v e a l l t h e s e a r e n o t h in g m o r e t h a n t h emov eme n t s i n a p lay . T hey a r e all b u t e l e m e n t s in o n e d r a m a ,t h e p u t t i n g o n a n d t a k i n g o ff of c o s tu m e s , t h e s t a g e a c t i n go u t o f s o r ro w s a n d l a m e n t a t io n s . We a c t o u t a l l t h e s e t h i n g su po n t h e s t a g e s w e o u r s e l v e s c o n s t r u c t. T h e t e a r s a n d a n gu is hin t h e c h a n g e s of h um an l i f e o n e a r t h a r e n o t t h e s o ul ; t h e ya r e n o t h in g m o r e t h a n t h e e x t e r i o r s h a d ow s of t h e t r u e m e n ofth i s age .23

T h e r e is n o sy m p a t h y s h ow n h e r e f o r s u f f e r i n g a n d t o r m e n t e dp e o p l e a n d w e c a n s e e t h e li m i t a t i o n s o f m y st ic is m in t h e p r a c t i c a ls ha r i n g o f l i f e w i t h o t he r s .

Th i s co l d a t t i t u d e of P l o t i nus i s c l ea r l y pa r a l l e l ed by t h a t o ft h e Sa rpkhya ph il os opher s. Acc or d i ng t o t h e i r t h eo r y , pu r e s p i r i t( p u r q a , t h e s p i ri tu a l s e l f) is c om p l e te l y u n f e t t e r e d t o t h e w o rld ."Ther e i s no t h i ng bound. Th er e i s no t h i ng l i be r a t ed . T he r e isno t h i ng t h a t t ransmi gra te s .1124 J u s t as a d a n c i n g g i r l r e t i r e s f r o mh e r d a n c e a f t e r s h e h a s sh o w n h e r fo rm t o t h e au d i en c e , s o in t h es a m e w a y t h e o r i g i n a l s o u r c e ( p r a k f t i ) r e t u r n s t o i t s p u r e sim p lic -i t y ( p u r q a ) a f t e r i t m a n i f e s ts it se l f. 2 5 T h a t p u r e s i m pl ic it y i s ad e t a c h e d ( u p e k ~ k a ) n l o o k e r (dra9;r).26 I t r e m a i n s a lo o f fro m t h es u f f e r i n gs of t h i s wor ld an d i s s ee n on ly in qu ie t ude .27 T heV ed a n ta sc h o o l o f ~ d v a i t a ~ *e r m s a per s on o f s uch r ea l i za t i on" on e w h o is l ib e r a te d w h ile l iv in gn ( f i ~ a n r n u k t a ) . ~ ~

T he ph ilosop her ~ u r e ~ v a r a 3 0f t h i s sc h o o l o f f e r e d a s a ne x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e c o n t i n u e d b od il y e x i s t e n c e of o n e w h o h a s b e e nl i b e r a t e d a c o n t i n u a n c e t h a t a c a u s e l e a v e s b eh in d as i t s r e s u l t .( T o t u r n a p o t t e r ' s w h e e l o n e m u s t a pp ly f o r c e , b u t t h e n t h e w h e e lc o n t i n u e s t o tu rn .) S u r eS v a ra e x p l a i n s t h a t j u s t a s t h e f e a r o c c a -s i oned upon s ee i ng a s n a k e d i s s ip a t e s o n ly g ra d u a ll y a f t e r t h es n a k e h a s b e e n r e m o v ed , s o a s a con t i nu i ng r e s u l t o f mi s t akeni llu si on t h e bo dy d o e s e x i s t f o r a w h il e e v e n a f t e r t h a t i ll us io n h a sbeen e l i rn ina ted .31

In s u c h a l i b e r a t e d s t a t e , s u b se q u e n tl y p er fo r m e d a c t i o n s a r en o l o n g e r c o n n e c t e d w i th t h e m y s t ic h im s elf . A n d, w i t h t h ep a s s a g e o f t i m e , p a s t a c t i o n s a r e e r a d i c a t e d . S u c h a p e r so n w e l l


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 12/4unde r s t an ds t h a t w orldly t h ings obst i na te ly de s i r ed a r e dece i t f u land , upon reach ing the po in t o f e l imina t ing pas t ac t ions en t i re ly ,he no l onge r expe r i ences t he w orld a s be fo re . Y e t h is l i be r a t edsoul , l iv ing as a pa r t o f t he wor ld in th e wor ld , main ta ins th e bodya n d c o n t i n u e s t o l iv e.

A no the r ex t r em e example i s t h a t o f f e r ed by some of t heCh inese C h lan monks w ho, no ma t t e r how d ep raved th ey became ,would fo llow no ru les. Fur therm ore , th e le f t wing of th e WangYang-ming school deve loped from th e be l ie f th a t o ne t ranscendedboth good an d ev il. A cons iderab le number of th e fo l low ers o fWang Yang-ming fe l l in t o "wild be ast Chlan. ll In th e 15 70s many ofh is fo l lowers rea l ly thou ght th a t se lf - indulgence in sex and wineco ns t i tu ted t h e " t rue s t pa th o f f reedomT1 nown among men.32 Suchtendenc i e s a r e a l so found in Ind ian Tan t r ism .

Thus th e que s t ion urges i t se l f upon our cons idera t ion : i s th epres enc e of en l igh tened persons meaning less t o o the rs? Inresp ond ing t o thi s que st ion, MahEyGna Buddhism gen eral ly inter-p r e t e d t h e con ten t o f en l i gh t enmen t by d iv iding i t i n to a "funda-me nta l wisdomw and a nsu bseq uen t ly a t ta in ed wisdom.1f When on ea t ta in s fundam enta l en l igh tenment , t h a t of i t se l f i s sues in phe-nomenal ac t iv i ty . I t i s th i s phenomenal ac t iv i ty tha t i s t e rmedf fs ub se qu en tl y a t ta i n e d w i ~ d o m , ~ h ich i s t he ca r ry ing ou t ofcompass iona te p rac t ices .

I t i s f requ ent ly asked by non-bel ievers how Ch lan groundsmora li ty . Th e Ch lan monks t hemse lves do no t t r e a t t h i s quest i on ,probably because they assume tha t en l igh tened persons wi l l spon-t aneous ly pe r fo rm good ac t i o ns w i thou t t he need f o r any l i s t i ng o fspecif ical ly good act ions . The Tibetan myst ic poet Mi- la-ras-pa(1040-1123) said: "For t h e wise man mo ral i ty is a by-product ofe n l i g h t e n m e n t r a t h e r t h a n a d ir ec t objective ." This is a posi t iont h a t , in c o n t r a s t t o E c k h a r t f s w il l, r e c o g n i z e s t h e s u p e ri o ri ty o freason . But ev en in Eckh ar t i t i s ra t iona l th ink ing (Vern iin f tigke i t)t h a t occup ie s t h e ce n t r a l pos it ion i n t h e soul. Be fo re one can l ove ,knowledge must exis t .33

I t should be no t iced tha t such a g rounding of mora l i ty i sposs ib le on ly on th e bas ic assumpt ion tha t human be ings a r e goodand pu re in t he i r e s se n t i a l na tu r e . Th e fo rma t ion o f mora l va lue s


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314 NAKAMURA: C h T anis poss ib le on ly because wi th in our human na ture there i s a bas i cpr inc ip le o f goodness an d pur ity . C hl an Buddhism exp ress es th i s as:" A ll s en t i e n t be ings a r e o r ig ina ll y Buddha." Eck ha r t t e ach es t h a tth e bas ic na tu re o f t he s p i r i t i s cove red by !!the edges of t herobes o f goodness , l l thus sugges t ing the no t ion of essen t ia l good-ness (p er se i ta s boni). Medieva l in te l lec tua l i sm d iscoursed on th era t iona l i ty o f goodness .34 Compass ion then i s mani fes ted con-c r e t e ly w i th in p r ac t i c e . Sa in t The re sa s ays :

Th e highest proof of one 's pro gres s (prajf i i ip i ramit i i ) i s shownin t h a t o ne cons ide r s onese lf l a s t of a l l , c a r r i e s t h a t o u t inp r a c t i c e , a n d in all o n e 's a c t i o n s s e e k s t h e h a p pi ne s s a n dw e l f a r e (h it a- su lka ) of o the rs . Th i s i s t h e mos t au th en t i c t e s t .( T he S a n s k r i t w o rd s in b r a c k e t s h a v e b e e n i n s e r t e d t o su g g e s tparal le ls with Buddhis t thought .)

The Buddha na tu r e (buddhadha tu ) , t h e e s sen t i a l goodness (pe r se i t a sboni) possessed by human b eings spon tane ous ly issues in th e possi-b i l i ty of good ac t ions . Su ch i s th e th ink ing of bo th E as te rn andWeste rn mys t ics .

NOTES1. Nukar iya Kai ten ,&?#&%X , C h o s e n z e n k y o s h i B%B&!&! [AHistory of Son in Korea]. Tokyo: Sh un jis ha , 1930, pp. 181-194.2; F o r a compar i son of Ec kh ar t and Buddhism s e e th e now da tedbook by K arl Euge n Neumann, Die inn ere V erw and tsch af t

buddh i s t i s che r und ch r i s t l i che r Leh ren , 1891 . Eckha r t c an beunde r s tood in some sense a s an an t i -doc t r ina l t h inke r ( some-t im es qu i t e c lose t o MahZyEna Buddhism) in m edieva l Wes te rnin t e l l e c tua l h i s to ry . H e has no t been much s tud i ed in J apan .We c a n m e n ti on o n ly t h e f o l lo w i ng J a p a n e s e t r a n s l a t io n s a n ds tud ies . a ) Aiba ra Nobusaku $lEfZf'F , Ekkuharuto "Karni nonagusame no she" 7 9 t- P# a@& a)BJ [Eckhar t t s Bookof Divine Consolation] . Chikuma Shob6, 1949 (re pr int ed in1952) . Bes ides the f i r s t pa r t which presen ts The Book ofDiv ine Conso la t ion in four chap te rs , a second par t exp la ins


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JAPA NE SE JOURN AL O F RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 315t h a t t e a c h i n g i n e i g h t c h a p t e r s , a n d a t h i rd pa r t p r e sen t s h i st r ad i t i on in tw o cha p te r s on Ec kh a r t t s l i f e a nd t imes. b )Takada Takesh i r i i 6% 81 8 & 8 , Maisuteru Ekkuharuto no"Q uaestion es Parisiense stt no honyaku oyob i ni kenkyii "4I - 7 I b 0 t lQuaes t iones Par i s ienses t t 0 7.Y K $8?k

[T rans l a ti on and S tudy o f M e i s t e r E ckh a r t l s " Q uaest ionesParis iensest l ] . Par ts 1 and 2 in Diishisha University 's Bungakunenp6 *l t ;F*% 2, 195 2, pp. 2-23 an d 3, pp. 52-66. P a r t 3 inDiishisha University 's Jinbungaku A*% , 29, 1 95 7, pp. 37-55.C) Takemura Kiyoshi , Ekkuharuto oyobi doitsu shinpi-shugi = Y P / \ P t-Gr@&.eQ%&SEckhar t and German Myst i -cism]. Tokyo: Shinseidii , Ju n e 1931. Inclu de s a t r ans la t ion ofThe Book o f Divine C onso lation. d) Hashimoto Fumio @**A ,Dorukuhairnu "Maisuteru Ekkuharutott , F .= IvP / \4 A r ~ 4F P x.7 3/\11/bd [Du rckhe imls "M eis ter Ec kh ar tl. Nov. 1943.Th i s w ork con ta in s a t r ans l a t i on o f A Response in Questions tothe Papal Charges, pp. 190-199. e ) Nish itani Keiji %G@% ,Karni t o ze tt a i mu .eQ& %%!!% [God and Absolute Nothingness].

Tokyo: Kiibundii. Augu st 19 48 (th ird ed., 1950). C on tain s manyquota t ions f rom Eckhar t . f ) Kadowaki Kakich i PqE&i!?,T6zaishinpi taikei to gendai: Zen to Ekkuharuto no baai ~ i ! ? $~& B i l c % & : # k = r ? ' / \ ~ v b @ @ & [ E a s t e r n a n d W e s t e r n M y s t i c a lExpe r i ence and th e P re sen t A ge: The C as e of Zen an d Eck -hart]. Sophia 2211, 1973.De Arca Noe momli, 1:2 in P L CLXXVI, 621; Encyclopedia ofReligion and Ethics 6:264b.W al t e r Ruben , Indisches Mittelalter, p.112. I t was a bas icp r inc ip le o f t h e Zen s e c t t o w e lcome people f rom all origins,bu t in f a c t d i sc r imina tion w as p r ac t ic ed . A cco rd ing t o a l e t t e r

I r ece ived f rom P ro fe s so r Sakauch i Ta t suo @Fl?%& h e r e w a sde f ac to d i s cr imina tion in t h r ee spec i f i c a r ea s . F i r s t , t emp le sw hic h t r i e d t o a t t r a c t as pa t rons t he f amous and h ighc l a s sw ar r io r s d id r e s t r i c t t ho se w ho migh t en t e r . Th e d i sab l ed andthose su f f e r ing f rom con tag ious d i s ea se s w e re exc luded andth e appe a ran ce and phys i ca l hea l t h o f a sp i r an t s w e re c lo se lyscru t in ized . S econd , th er e was d isc r imina t ion in regard t oadm i t t ing monks to fu l l p rofess ion . If pow erfu l pa t ro ns found i td i s t a s t e f u l f o r a m e m be r of t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s t o b ec o m epro fe s sed as a ful l monk, they excluded him from that rank. ( Inth i s t he Pu re Land s ec t d i f f e r s . ) Th i rd , t he r e w as d i s c r imi -nat io n in bur ia l regulat ions . In th e book of rule s used by the


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316 NAKA MURA: ChlanHead Priest there was a heading llRules of Burial for Outcasts(eta)." (For example, one finds the phrase, "The codifiedregulations fo r members of th e So to s ec t have been discussed,studied, and recorded secretly,ll in the publication of theShijfukuji Temple in 6 , Saji Village, Yazu District, TottoriPrefecture.) After Meiji it was expected that the equality ofthe four classes would be implemented, but in some places oldabuses could not be correct ed in so brief a time.Shobogenzo, Raihaitokuzui. In Nihon shis6 taikei B *,g,EA%,12:322.Hogoshii g&% . See Nakamura Hajime, Kinsei nihon no hihan-teki seishin hv B$0 #k$!J&%@ [The Critical Spirit in RecentJapan], 133.Monier-Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism, p. 191 , a s quotedin Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 12: 93a.St. Theresa, Way of Perfect ion. London: Thomas Baker, 1935,p. 91.Helmuth von Glasenapp, Buddhismus und Gottesidee, S. 98.10. Theologia Germanica, translated from the German by SusannaWinkworth, London: Macmillan, 1924. Also New York:Pantheon, 1949 and London: Gollancz, 1950.11. ShCb6genz6, Zuimonki, 4:8. Se e Nihon koten bungaku tai ke i El*&B*FA% , 81:389. Also se e ShCbogenz6, Genjokoan, p.36 sq. and Gyoji, p. 217.

12. Enneads, 6:9.4.13. Nguyen-dang-thuc, Asian Culture and Vietnamese Humanism.Saigon: Vietnamese Association for Asian Cultural Relations,1965, p. 47.14.' Keitokudentoroku, cha pt er 40. T. 51, p. 310c.

15. Wu-men kuan. T. 48, p. 293c.16. The precise phrase %Sl!Bi@@@%"when [the Buddha]twirled the flower with a glint in his eye, CKaSyapa broke intoa subt le smile," i s found in the Jen-t'ien yeh-mu A XBL! I; T.48, p. 325. Incidently, the Ta-fan t'ien-wang wen fo-chueh-i-chfing k % X E M & ~ @ @which is mentioned as having beenseen by Wang-an Shih, is not included in the present Tripitaka,but it does appear as a pseudoepigraphon in the San chiaoCatalogue.17. See Bunka *k , 29/2, Showa 40, August, p. 12.

18. ~ t i e n n e Gilson, The Mystical Doctrine of Saint Bernard.London and New York, 1940.


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JAPANESE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1214 31719. A. S . Geden, in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics 12:192.20. Monier-Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism, p. 191.21. Windelband, A History of Philosophy, p. 334.22. Bhagavadg?ti, 62.23. Enneads, 3:2.15. Plot inus, The Six Enneads, t rans la ted byStephen McKenna and B. S. Page in Great Books of theWestern World, 17, Chicago , Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952, p.90.24. Sarykhya-g?ti, 62.25. Sackhya-giti, 59.26. Saqkhya-giti, 66.27. Sar?khya-giti, 66.28. Gerald Ja me s Larson, Class ical Sirykhya. Delhi: Motilal Banar-sidass, 1969, pp. 279-280.29. Although Fichte and $a?kara ar e far dif fer ent in time, place,and culture, their theories are remarkably similar. When wediscuss these ideas, we have t o refer t o th ese two philos-ophers. See Leta Jane Lewis, "Fich te and ~ a ~ k a r a , "hilosophyEast and West, 1214, Jan. 1963, pp. 301-309.30. Naiskarmyasiddhi, ed., by M. Hiriyanna, p. 199. (R. C. Pandeya,

lndi'an Philosophical Annual, 1969, p. 6.)31. In the s t a te of liberation individual exis tence returns t onothingness and is destroyed. It is extinguished into theabsolute. As Bradley says, it is "merged, blended, fused,absorbed, run toge the r, dissolved, and lost." (Ram Prat apSingh, Philosophy East and West, 1611-2, Jan.-April, 1966, p.26.)32. Wing-tsit Chang, Philosophy East and West, 1213, Oct., 1962,p. 207.33. Windelband, Lehrbuch d e r Geschichte d e r Philosophie, p. 278.34. Windelband, A History of Philosophy, p. 332.

Nakamura Hajime - Chan and Mysticism in Later Times

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