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Carl Hooper: Koan Zen and Wittgenstein’s Only
Correct Method in Philosophy Koan Zen is a philosophical practice that bears a strong family resemblance to Wittgenstein’s approach to philosophy.Both koan Zen and Wittgenstein’s method set limits to the reach of philosophical discourse. Each rules metaphysical speculation out of bounds. Neither, however, represents a rejection of the metaphysical. Where Wittgenstein enjoins silence in the face of the unsayable, a silence that allows the metaphysical to show itself, koan Zen calls for concrete demonstrations of that which cannot be captured in rational discourse.
Asian Philosophy
Vol. 17, No. 3, November 2007, pp. 283–292
Henry Cruise: Early Buddhism: some recent misconceptions"The main point is that there is a case to be made that Early Buddhism was empirical, in the way that modern science might be said to be empirical. but not in the way in which "the Lord Buddha finds himself conscripted as a supporter of the British Philosophical tradition of empiricism'." from Philosophy East and West, Volume 33, no.2 April, 1983
Robert Ellis : How Buddhist Was Plato? Plato and his teacher Socrates laid the foundation for Western philosophy. Ellis explores Platonic thought in a Buddhist light: "Plato does seem to have betrayed the most basic principles of his teacher, but the tendencies, which gave rise to that betrayal, are already present in Socrates' view as it is reported in the Socratic dialogues. From a Buddhist viewpoint the weaknesses can be clearly seen as due to a failure to fully understand a non-dualist approach, which could have given greater consistency to the flashes of insight that, we find in both Socrates and Plato."
Ronald Epstein: The Transformation Of Consciousness Into Wisdom In The Chinese Consciousness-Only School According To The Cheng Wei-Shi Lun Epstein looks at the consciousness-only school of Buddhism and briefly delineates the stages of transformation, and how after transformation is complete and Buddhahood has been realized, tries to indicate how the immanent aspect of Buddhahood utilizes wisdom to function in the world.
Bernard Faure: Bodhidharma as Textual and Religious Paradigm Faure uses structural criticism to analyse Bodhidharma's life as a literary piece belonging to the genre of hagiography, rejecting obsolete concepts of historical individuality and all methodological extremes to reach a new, limited understanding of "Bodhidharma's coming from the West".
Asaf Federman: Literal Means and Hidden Meanings: a New Analysis of Skillful Means Federman explores what is meant by "skillful means". "Skillful means is therefore not a mere pedagogical device of matching the right simile to the right person. It is also not exactly the idea that the teachings should be abandoned after a person reaches a goal. It is rather a sophisticated explanatory tool that enables a new religious movement to claim that what has been widely accepted as true is actually not true, and that truth is, and has always been, something else.
" from Philosophy East & West Volume 59, Number 2 April 2009 125-141
Toby Avard Foshay: Denegation, Nonduality and Language in Derrida and Dogen Buddhism and post-modernism for those who love this kind of thing. from: Philosophy East and West.
Philip Goodchild : Speech And Silence In The Mumokan: And Examination of the Use of Language In Light of the Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze . This essay attempts to "extract interpretative methods and concepts from Deleuze's work in order to make use of them in observing exactly how language is used in the Mumonkan" — a language-based interpretation of koans. Interesting essay. Originally published in Philosophy East and West, Jan93, Vol. 43 Iss. 1
Peter D. Hershock : From Vulnerability to Virtuosity: Buddhist Reflections on Responding to Terrorism and Tragedy. How do Buddhists approach the terrorism abroad in our world? Hershock has some ideas. A good essay. see also David Loy
Person as Narration: the Dissolution of 'Self' and 'Other' in Ch'an Buddhism Hershock discusses how 'self' and 'other' are only "conventions within a story" as Buddhism recognises neither. The implications of this for 'karma' are explored and Hershock sees tun-wu not as "sudden enlightenment" but as "readiness to awaken." A very interesting and important point is raised here. from Philosophy East and West, Oct., 1994 v44 n4 p685
Linda Holt: From India to China: Transformations in Buddhist Philosophy Holt explores how the foreign religion of Indian Buddhism was adapted to Chinese philosophical ideals, culture and language. from: Qi: The Journal of Eastern Health & Fitness, 1995
Christopher Ives: Not Buying into Words and Letters: Zen, Ideology, and Prophetic Critique Judging from the active participation of Zen leaders and institutions in modern Japanese imperialism, one might conclude that by its very nature Zen succumbs easily to ideological co-optation. But is this true and can Zen do anything about it? Christopher Ives believes Zen can resist dominant ideologies. from Journal of Buddhist Ethics Vol 13, 2006
Yun-hun Jan: The mind as the buddha-nature: The concept of the Absolute in Ch'an Buddhism Jan looks at how the Mind has been defined in various Chan schools and how Tsung-mi sought to clear up the confusion between these various schools. from Philosophy East and West Volume 31, Number 4 October 1981
Hiroshi Kanno:
The Modern Significance of the Lotus Sūtra: Kanno explains parts of the Lotus Sūtra, especially some of the metaphorical language and stories. However, regardless of the title, Kanno does not really relate the Lotus Sūtra to modern times. The Journal of Oriental Studies Vol. 14 October, 2004
T. P. Kasulis: Truth and Zen : a very philosophical look. Kasulis looks at how Aristotle, Thomas, Hui Neng, Lin Chi and Dogen approached the issue of 'truth'. He finds that Zen and Western philosophy diverge "when they consider what the purpose of thinking is and what the basic relationship between man and world is." It's not so much that they think differently, rather they "disagree about what we should think about." from: Philosophy East and West Vol. 30. No. 4 1980
T. P. Kasulis: Zen as a Social Ethics of Responsiveness One reason traditional Chan or Zen did not develop a comprehensive social ethics is that it arose in an East Asian milieu with axiologies already firmly in place. Since these value orientations did not conflict with basic Buddhist principles, Chan/Zen used its praxes and theories of praxis to supplement and enhance, rather than criticize, those indigenous ethical orientations. When we consider the intercultural relevance of Zen ethics today, however, we must examine how its traditional ethical assumptions interface with its Western conversation partners. This paper analyzes special philosophical problems arising when one tries to carry Zen moral values without modification into Western contexts. from Journal of Buddhist Ethics
John P. Keenan: The Emptiness of Christ: A Mahayana Christology To overcome the conflicting nature between a divine Christ and a human Christ, Keenan turns to Mahayana philosophy where the concept of emptiness and dependent co-arising eliminates the duality. Many will find this an interesting essay. from Anglican Theological Review, Vol. 75 No. 1
Gereon Kopf:Critical Comments on Nishida's Use of Chinese Buddhism Knopf explores how Nishida uses Buddhism concepts in his philosophy and explores Nishida's hermeneutical method of application of Buddhist texts. from Journal of Chinese Philosophy 32:2 (June 2005) 313–329
Lewis R Lancaster : Discussion of Time in Mahayana Texts : the author discusses some aspects of how Mahayana scriptures perceived time. from: Philosophy East and West 24, no. 2, April 1974
Stephen W. Laycock: The Dialectics of Nothingness: A Reexamination of Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng . A highly abstract philosophical look at the two gathas of Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng. Laycock argues “that Shen-hsiu's position entails that of Hui-neng; and… that Hui-neng's position likewise entails that of Shen-hsiu. But more than simply this, … show[s] that the dialectical interinvolvement of the two contrasting insights has serious ramifications for contemporary occidental phenomenology.” from Journal of Chinese Philosophy Vol.24, 1997
David Loy: How to Reform a Serial Killer: The Buddhist Approach to Restorative Justice This article considers how Buddhist perspectives on crime and punishment support the contemporary movement toward restorative (in place of retributive) justice. Loy concludes with some reflections on why our present criminal justice systems serve the purposes of the state better than the needs of offenders and their victims. from Journal of Buddhist Ethics No. 7 (2000) pp. 145-168
Shiro Matsumoto: Critical Considerations on Zen Thought : an essay by Professor Matsumoto which discusses zen thought and the cessation of thinking and aatman/Buddha nature.
Stephen McCarthy: Why the Dalai Lama Should Read Aristotle McCarthy argues that the rhetoric of ‘Asian values' as opposed to the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights doesn't hold up. Buddhist values as expressed by the Dalai Lama match closely those values declared by Aristotle. from Journal of Buddhist Ethics 8 (2001): 42 - 60
Douglas K. Mikkelson: Aquinas and Dōgen on Poverty and the Religious Life Recent efforts to articulate Buddhist ethics have increasingly focused on “Western” ethical systems that possess a “family resemblance” sufficient to serve as a bridge. One promising avenue is the employment of Aristotelian-Thomistic thinking in seeking to understand certain manifestations of Buddhism. More specifically, we can explore how the thinking of Thomas Aquinas may serve to illuminate the moral vision of the Zen Master Dōgen on specific topics, such as that of “poverty and the religious life.”
from Journal of Buddhist Ethics
Robert J. Moore: Dereification in Zen Buddhism The goal of this article is to develop the concept of "dereification"
in religion and to explain certain aspects of
Zen Buddhism. To this end, Moore argues that conversion to Zen Buddhism is actually a
resocialization process characterized by the acquisition of dereifying
perception. While earlier accounts of dereification in religion have
remained at a very general theoretical level, Moore tries to give a
more empirical account of dereification by showing (1) that it corresponds
to a concept used by religious practitioners themselves, emptiness, (2)
that it is developed through particular religious practices, meditation,
and (3) that it is involved in actual forms of religious interaction, koan
training. from: Sociological Quarterly,
Vol. 36 No. 4 Fall95,
Pp.699-724
Charles Muller: Innate Enlightenment and No-thought: A Response to the Critical Buddhist Position on Zen Muller questions the "characterization of innate enlightenment thought " and how the term is used in Ch'an texts and argues that the concept of "no-thought" does not mean abscence of thought but that the concept means "non-attached thought". A paper delivered to the International Conference on Sŏn at Paekyang-sa, Kwangju, Korea, August 22, 1998
Shigenori Nagatomo: The Logic of the Diamond Sutra: A is not A, therefore it is A Nagatomo looks at the "logic of not" in the Diamond Sutra. Although the logic seems illogical, this is only because one tends to look at it from an Aristotelian dualistic view... "in order to properly understand it, one must effect a perspectival shift from the dualistic, egological stance to a non-dualistic, non-egological stance." from Asian Philosophy, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2000
Desheng Zong: Three Language-Related Methods In Early Chinese Chan Buddhism The primary concern of this essay is the history and philosophical significance of three language-related methods widely used in Chan practice during the golden age of Chinese Chan Buddhism, roughly from the eighth to the twelfth centuries. Zong looks at "the Bodhidharma Method", "the naming game" and "the four ways of Ju and Yi". An interesting essay about early Chan methodology. from Philosophy East and West 55.4 (Oct 2005): p584 (19)
