Can Zen co-exist with Christianity?
This is a paper I wrote while I was in university doing my B.A. in about 2005. Generally, I am not in favour of syncretism when it comes to religion. I DO think religions can learn from each other. but sometimes it can be a way of not diving deeper into your own tradition by getting side tracked with another tradition. It's like being in the desert and you start digging a hole. You can keep digging deeper in that hole and maybe there is water at the bottom if you dig deep enough. However, if you run around all over the desert digging little holes, instead of digging one deep hole, then it is unlikely you will find water.
What I'm trying to show in the paper below is that Zen is quite a different creature than what we usually mean by the word "religion", which makes it more possible to approach Zen as a Christian. This is not possible when a Christian approaches Islam for example, or Wicca, for example. There as certain inherent contradictions that require too much of a compromise and will therefor render one, or both, of the traditions too damaged.
I should say too, that Zen is a very specific branch of Buddhism, which can resist the world-view and meta-narrative of Buddhism. This makes it a very specific case to look at when looking at its compatibility with Christianity.
I hope you find it interesting.
Chris
The Cross and the Zafu: How Zen can coexist with Christianity
Zen Buddhism and Christianity have had an interesting
relationship that dates to at least the 16th century. Though this relationship has not always been
positive, a movement in recent years has tried to bring the two traditions
together. Although there has been opposition to this merge on both sides, there
are those that support it. Zen teachers often use Christian allusions to help
explain Zen ideas to Western audiences, and some Christians have adopted Zen meditation
practices. What is it about Zen that allows it to coexist, rather than compete,
with Christianity, as Islam does? Zen is often viewed as being non-creedal,
which may explain its ability to exist beside a creedal framework with
relatively little conflict. Zen is about experiencing reality and being
completely conscious in the context, focusing on pre-reflective experience,
before the mind divides reality into categories. When viewed in this fashion, Zen has no
opinion on revelation or cosmogony, which it sees as irrelevant to pure
experience.
The mission of Francis Xavier to the east in the 16th
century is most likely the first encounter between Zen Buddhism and
Christianity. The Buddhists, who knew that Xavier
had just come from
Modern day dialogue has continued with more emphasis on
mutuality, as expressed by people such as D.T. Suzuki and Peggy Kennett
(Jiyu-Kennett).[3]
Many others have partaken in the discourse and practice, such as A.M.A. Samy,
Thomas Merton, Abe Masao, Thich Nhat Hanh, John C.H. Wu, Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, [4]
Thomas Keating, John Main, and many others. Some have paralleled the lives and
teachings of Jesus and Buddha,[5]
while others have even suggested that Jesus has his roots in India, though most
in the movement would not go this far.[6]
Examples of the practical merging of the traditions are
plentiful. Thich Nhat Hanh has a picture of both Jesus and Buddha on his altar,
in front of which he lights incense;[7] Eido Shimono has proposed koans drawn from Christian sources;[8]
Albert Low uses Christian writings to explain Zen ideas.[9]
Zendos have been built in Christian
monasteries, such as in the Benedictine monastery of Williges Jager in
Thich Nhat Hanh has also made efforts to fuse the two
traditions by creating various alternative interpretations of Christian
scripture, and by showing Christians how to use meditative practices in their
own lives. Of the Eucharist he has said,
“[Jesus] knew that if his disciples would eat one piece of bread in
mindfulness, they would have real life”.[13]
His views on the Holy Spirit are that “all of us also have the seed of the Holy
Spirit in us, the capacity of healing, transforming, and loving. When we touch that
seed, we are able to touch God the Father and God the Son”.[14]
In many of his teachings on this topic Hanh often speaks as if he is a
Christian, which may seem odd for a Zen Master. He has also admitted to sharing
in the sacrament of the Eucharist.[15]
Rather than attacking Christianity as a rival tradition, Zen has sometimes embraced
it.
Many Christians in the contemplative/centering prayer
movement have been teaching with elements of Zen throughout. The dialogue with Zen
even seems to be at least partly responsible for the expansion and re-invigoration
of the contemplative prayer movement. Thich Nhat Hanh has even written an
introduction to Thomas Merton’s book on Contemplative Prayer.[16]
There are also those who go beyond using Zen to merely advise their Christian
contemplation, instead advocating a kind of Christian-Zen practice,[17]
which is being made available at some Zen retreat centers.[18]
Through this movement Christians are using Zen meditation to augment their
Christian spirituality. They believe that Zen “can be practiced by people of
any or no religion”.[19]
Father William Johnston was told by his Zen teacher that Zen was “divorced from
all categories and affiliations”.[20] In this way Zen is analogous to a sport. One can remain a Christian and still play
basketball. Everyone on the court could be of different religions and the game
could be played without contradiction.
Similarly, many people can sit in zazen
and focus on their breath without running into theological contradiction. Christian-Zen
retreats are also available at a few Zen retreat centers.
Some who compare Buddhism and Christianity compare them
as similar traditions, with similar teachings.
However, there are drastic differences with some Buddhist traditions
that hold strong cosmological views. Many forms of Buddhism, for example, are
non-theistic, and deny that the universe is the result of the creative powers
of an eternal God. Those who try too hard to present the traditions as ‘really
teaching the same thing’ usually bring confusion to both traditions. Zen,
however, seems to dodge this as it often challenges assumed beliefs in its own Buddhist
tradition.
Thomas Merton states that it is very difficult to
compare Christianity and Zen, which “would almost be like trying to compare
mathematics and tennis”.[21] He goes on to say that if one writes a book
on tennis that might be read by mathematicians, there would not really be any
reason to bring math into the conversation. This analogy is used to warn
against the comparison of Zen and Christianity on a doctrinal level. One should not try to warp Christian scripture
to try to make it fit a Zen framework; Zen should really be understood on its
own.
Alan Watts finds it odd that Christianity and Zen are even
classed together, as if they are the same kind of thing. He goes on to say that Zen is different from
Christianity because they have different functions. Zen is not about belief in
creeds; it is about abandoning them. It is concerned with experience. What is
important is to drink water and know for yourself that it is cold.[22]
The difference between Christianity and Zen, as Merton sees it, is that
Christianity is based on supernatural revelation, whereas Zen is about
consciousness, which seeks “to penetrate the natural ontological ground of
being.”[23] Kim Boykin states that Zen is not about
doctrines at all, and so cannot contradict or compete with Christian
propositions about objective realities. To her, Zen teachings are “expressions
of human experience.”[24]
Some have also questioned whether Zen can be considered
a ‘religion’ at all. The difficulty in
the enterprise of finding a definition of ‘religion’ is often caused by trying
to find a way to make Buddhism fit into the category. Some Zen practices have
obvious ‘religious’ elements to them, but some do not. For example, Thich Nhat Hanh belonged to a Zen
temple as a young man which also followed some
Suzuki’s Zen seems to be a popular philosophy among
western Zen practitioners in modern times. Viewing Zen as a philosophy and
practice, and not as a competing religion, is what allows Christians to
incorporate it. Even if Suzuki’s Zen is not typical, the fact that he can still
call himself a Zen practitioner without the typical acts we usually associate
with religion is reason enough to take a closer look. One could not imagine a Christian whose
Christianity is free from ritual, religious concepts, and devotionalism. One
might even be left wondering why this person would call themselves a
‘Christian’. However, one can see how
this is possible in Zen, for Suzuki.
When a monk asked Ummon what Buddha is, he responded by
saying “dried dung.”[27]
Even more troubling to the western religious mind is the teaching of Rinzai;
“whatever you encounter, slay it at once: on meeting a Buddha slay the Buddha”.[28]
A Christian could not imagine being ordered to slay Christ if he or she encountered
him. A famous painting by Liang K’ai illustrates Hui Neng tearing up a sutra
and experiencing enlightenment by doing so.[29]
Thich Nhat Hanh explains this by saying
that for a Buddhist “to be attached to a doctrine, even a Buddhist doctrine, is
to betray the Buddha.”[30]
Hanh explains the experience of reality by saying that
we cannot talk about that-which-cannot-be-talked-about, “but we can experience
it. We can experience the non-born, non-dying, non-beginning, non-ending
because it is reality itself. The way to
experience it is to abandon our habit of perceiving everything through concepts
and representations.”[31]
Hanh even defends belief in God by
saying that the Buddha was only against “notions of God that are mere mental
constructions that do not correspond to reality”[32]
He has gone on to express a Christian theological position stating that only
the “Son and Holy Spirit have direct access to God because they are free from
ideas and images of God.”[33]
This could be related to the experiences of Apophatic Christian mysticism, that
all words are inadequate representations to speak about God. Zen is about
abandoning all preconceived notions and experiencing reality as it is.
Kasulis further describes Zen as defying categories as
an experience of ‘without-thinking’, referring to the experience before
conceptions are placed onto it. It is seeing reality with no lens filters.
Without-thinking makes no objectification, and “supplies the raw material out
of which the later reflective, thinking act develops.”[34] This is the basis for all human
experience. Practicing Zen is more about
noticing something humans already do, rather than developing a new alien
experience. Any sort of claim, or
vocalization interrupts this process. Placing a description on the process even
disrupts it. Naming anything, in a way,
falsifies it.
Without-thinking is the foundation of thinking and
not-thinking. To make a postulation
about God (thinking) is to produce a false statement. The words can never be the thing. In a similar way, to claim that there is no
God (not-thinking) is producing another false statement about reality. The
negation is not a completely accurate representation of reality either. It is a claim that is not truly expressing
the ground of experience in without-thinking because without-thinking cannot be
vocalized in its fullness.[35]
The doctrines of Christianity exist in the realm of
thinking and not-thinking, and so is a different kind of creature than Zen, for
Zen is the foundation of experience out of which thinking springs. It is for this reason that Merton has said
that Christian revelation (supernatural Kerygma) and Zen (metaphysical
intuition of the ground of being) “are far from being incompatible. One may be
said to prepare the way for the other.”[36] Although postulating is not experiencing
without-thinking, and any expression is always limited, “articulation is by no
means wrong; in fact, it is an
accomplishment of our species as it effects the creative adjustment of the
world to our needs, and our needs to the world.”[37]
Following from these ideas, Christians are then free to
practice Zen. They are able to
experience in mindfulness without having to give up their belief. They merely have to let reality be, and
experience it. They do not have to drop
God because if God is real, they do not need to grasp onto the idea, they
merely need to let God be, and experience it.
Experiencing reality is not about the cosmological truth of origins. Zen
has nothing to say about revelation of scripture, it is about being. Zen gets
back “to the pure unarticulated and unexplained ground of direct experience”.[38] Feeling the sunshine on one’s face does not
have to say anything about God, or the sun.
That may come later when trying to explain
the sunshine, but it does not need to come into the experience; “Zen explains nothing. It just sees.”[39]
In truth, one first needs to know what the experience is before beginning to
explain it. Perhaps in this way much of popular
Christianity could be accused of putting the cart before the horse.
Thomas Merton believes that Christians and Buddhists can
practice Zen equally well, “if by Zen we mean precisely the quest for direct
and pure experience on a metaphysical level, liberated from verbal formulas and
linguistic preconceptions.”[40]
He also believes that Christianity and Zen can compliment each other. Similarly, Kasulis has described Zen as
“advocating a mode of relating [egoless responsiveness grounded in
nonobjectifying without-thinking] rather than a set of doctrines.”[41]
Could not this ‘mode’ exist in a Christian atmosphere? Like Merton, Kasulis
believes that “Zazen as a personal practice can also supplement other forms of
religious activity.”[42]
Following from these ideas that Zen is an experience of
reality, we can see the logic of those who advocate the harmonizing of
Christianity and Zen. A Christian
advocate of this merge can still hold revelation as the Word of God, while
still realizing the written words’ limitations in expressing reality. Furthermore, this Christian may believe that
the non-dualistic experience Zen provides may help him to understand the Word
in a new and deeper way. The Word is
merely a finger pointing to the moon. In
Christianity, to focus on the word as an end in itself, might even be called
idolatry.
Bibliography
Batchelor, Stephen. The Awakening of the West. Berkeley, Paralax Press, 1994.
Boykin, Kim. Zen for Christians.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers.
Hanh, Thich Nhat, and Daniel
Berrigan. The Raft is Not the Shore.
Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002.
Johnston, William. Christian Zen.
Kasulis, T.P.. Zen Action, Zen Person.
Keating, Thomas. Open Mind, Open Heart.
Kraft, Kenneth, ed.. Zen: Tradition and Transition.
Main, John. Word into Silence.
Merton, Thomas. Zen and the Birds of Appetite.
Merton, Thomas. Contemplative Prayer.
Reps, Paul and Nyogen Senzaki. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.
Van de Wetering, Janwillem. The Empty Mirror.
Appendix
The Sixth
Patriarch Tearing Up a Sutra, by Liang K’ai. Hanging Scroll, ink on paper, 73 x 31.7
cm. (Mitsui Bunko Foundation,
[1] Stephen Batchelor, The
Awakening of the West. (Berkeley: Paralax Press, 1994). 167
[2] Batchelor, 169
[3] Batchelor, 131-136.
Thomas Merton. Zen and the Birds
of Appetite. (Boston: Shambala, 1993), 42.
D.T. Suzuki, Mysticism: Christian
and Buddhist. (
[4]Batchelor, 205, 211, 353.
Merton, 33.
[5]Batchelor, 27, 257.
Ray Riegart, “East Meets West: The Uncanny Parallels in
the Lives Of Buddha and Jesus. Part
1,” Bible Review
Marcus Borg. “East Meets
West: The Uncanny Parallels in the Lives Of Buddha and Jesus. Part 2,” Bible Review
[6] Batchelor, 263.
Elizabeth
Clair Prophet, The Lost Years of
Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East. (Summit University Press, 1988).
[7] Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ. (New York:
Riverhead Books, 1995), 6.
[8] Eido T. Shimono, “Zen Koans” in Zen:
Tradition and Transition, ed. Kenneth Kraft. (New York: Grove Press, 1988),
84- 87.
[9] Albert Low, “Master Hakuin’s Gateway to Freedom” in Zen: Tradition and Transition, ed.
Kenneth Kraft. (New York: Grove Press, 1988), 98.
[10] Batchelor, 219.
[11] Janwillem van de Wetering, The
Empty Mirror (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1973), 53.
[12] Van de Wetering, 54.
[13] Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step, (New York: Bantam
Books, 1992), 22.
[14] Thich Nhat Hanh. Living
Buddha, Living Christ, (New York: Riverhead Books, 1995), 15.
[15] Thich Nhat Hanh, The Raft is
Not the Shore, (
[16] Thomas Merton, Contemplative
Prayer, (New York: Doubleday, 1996).
[17] William Johnston, Christian
Zen:
Kim Boykin, Zen for Christians,
(
[18] <http://www.highzen.com/christian.html>
<http://www.zcoc.org/chstzen.htm>
< http://www.mkzc.org/zenmind.html>
[19] Boykin, 1-2
[20]
[21] Thomas Merton. Zen and the
Birds of Appetite. (Boston: Shambala, 1993), 33.
[22] Alan Watts, Zen and the
[23] Merton, 45.
[24] Boykin, 88.
[25] Thich Nhat Hanh, Living
Buddha, Living Christ, (New York: Riverhead Books, 1995), 127.
[26] Merton, 34.
[27] Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, ed.
Paul Reps (Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1998), 135.
[28] Eido T. Shimono, “Zen Koans” in Zen:
Tradition and Transition, ed. Kenneth Kraft. (New York: Grove Press, 1988),
85.
[29] See Appendix.
[30] Thich Nhat Hanh, The Raft is
Not the Shore, (
[31] Thich Nhat Hanh, Living
Buddha, Living Christ, (New York: Riverhead Books, 1995), 139.
[32] Hanh, 151.
[33] Hanh, 161.
[34] T.P. Kasulis, Zen Action, Zen
Person. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985), 76.
[35] Kasulis, 71-77.
[36] Merton, 47.
[37] Kasulis, 154.
[38] Merton, 36.
[39] Merton, 54.
[40] Merton, 44.
[41] Kasulis, 133, 141.
[42] Kasulis, 146.
[43]
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