The Inexhaustible Lamp of Faith: Faith and Awakening in the Japanese Rinzai Tradition
In the modern period, Zen has often been depicted as a faithless form of spirituality that favors discarding authority and encourages existential doubt. The primary objective of this article is to challenge this assumption by highlighting the importance of faith in the Zen tradition. To achieve this...
| Published in: | Japanese journal of religious studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Nanzan Institute
[2015]
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| In: |
Japanese journal of religious studies
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Tōrei 1721-1792, Shūmon mujintōron
/ Japan
/ Rinzai
/ Faith
/ Scepticism
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AG Religious life; material religion BL Buddhism KBM Asia NBK Soteriology |
| Further subjects: | B
Sufficient conditions
B Wisdom B Zen Buddhism B Enlightenment B Religious Studies B Mind B Faith B Necessary conditions B Bodhisattva |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In the modern period, Zen has often been depicted as a faithless form of spirituality that favors discarding authority and encourages existential doubt. The primary objective of this article is to challenge this assumption by highlighting the importance of faith in the Zen tradition. To achieve this goal, I focused on Shumon mujintō ron, a major text of the Rinzai tradition, written by the eminent Japanese master Tōrei Enji (1721-1792). After establishing "faith" as an analytic category for studying Zen, I adopted the philosophical framework of necessary and sufficient conditions in order to elucidate the relationship between faith and awakening, as well as the interdependency of faith and doubt in Zen training. By examining the role of faith in the text, I shed new light on the role of faith in the Zen tradition, particularly in Rinzai training. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
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