Description
Zen and Japanese Culture is a classic that has influenced generations of readers and played a major role in shaping conceptions of Zen's influence on Japanese traditional arts. In simple and poetic language, Daisetz Suzuki describes Zen and its historical evolution. He connects Zen to the philosophy of the samurai, and subtly portrays the relationship between Zen and swordsmanship, haiku, tea ceremonies, and the Japanese love of nature. Suzuki uses anecdotes, poetry, and illustrations of silk screens, calligraphy, and architecture. The book features an introduction by Richard Jaffe that acquaints readers with Suzuki's life and career and analyzes the book's reception in light of contemporary criticism, especially by scholars of Japanese Buddhism. Zen and Japanese Culture is a valuable source for those wishing to understand Zen in the context of Japanese life and art, and remains one of the leading works on the subject.… (more)
Library's review
Zen is often difficult for westerners to grasp except superficially. Westerners tend to regard something as real only if it can be verbalized. Zen, as Skuzuki stresses, is above all a practical philosophy and way of life; it was not meant to stay on a page for academic
'Striclty speaking,' explains Suzuki, 'Zen has no philosophy of its own. Its teaching is concentrated on an intuitive experience, and the intellectual content of this experience can be supplied by a system of thought not necessarily Buddhistic.'
Therefore, rather than examine Zen abstractly, in Zen and Japanese Culture Suzuki explains it in the context of cultural matrix, with fruitful results. He examines Zen's relation to the art of swordsmanship, to the samuai's code of honor and conduct (bushido), to haiku poetry, to feeling for nature in visual art and architecture, and to the ceremony and art of tea. In this way, Zen and Japanese Culture goes a long way toward illuminating the mysteries and apparent paradoxes of Zen.
Zen is revealed more as a stance towards life than a set of propositions and rules-a stance involving a special relationship to life, death, one's body, and one's mind. Seeing Zen's effect on a whole culture helps us understand its real meaning in practical terms, and its power to inspire grace, dignity, and beauty.
Contents
Preface
List of Plates
Chronology
I What Is Zen?
II General Remarks on Japanese Art Culture
III Zen and the Study of Confucianism
IV Zen and the Samurai
V Zen and Swordsmanship I
VI Zen and Swordsmanship II
VII Zen and Haiku
VIII Zen and the Art of Tea I
IX Zen and the Art of Tea II
X Rikyu and Other Teamen
XI Love of Nature
Appendices
I Two Mondo from the 'Hekigan-shu'
II The Vimalakirti Sutra
III 'Yama-uba,' a No Play
IV The Swordsman and the Cat
V Chuang-tzu
Bibliography
Index