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Article: What is the Zen master talking about? (analyzing basic Zen terms)
- Article from:
- ETC.: A Review of General Semantics
- Article date:
- June 22, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Institute of General Semantics. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I INTEND IN THE FOLLOWING to make sense of Zen non-sense. Fundamental Zen terms like "naturalness" and "emptiness" and "nothingness" are used in disregard of the COIK principle: Clear Only If Known. For example, Shunryu Suzuki, a Zen master, said, "It is absolutely necessary for everyone to believe in nothing." (Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice. New York and Tokyo: John Weatherhill, Inc., 1983. Page 117) What did he have in mind when he used the word "nothing"? He also said, "Originally we have Buddha nature." (P. 99) Again, what was he thinking of by saying that we all are born having Buddha nature? How would readers growing up in ...