Zen And Pure Land Buddhism

Pure Land Buddhism offers a way to enlightenment for people who can’t handle the subtleties of meditation, endure long rituals, or just live especially good lives. The essential practice in Pure Land Buddhism is the chanting of the name Amitabha Buddha with total concentration, trusting that one will reborn in Pure Land, where it is much easier for a being to work towards enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism is particularly popular in China and Japan.

However, it is far from being the only links that one can make between Zen and Pure Land Buddhism. Indeed, most features of the path and the characteristics of enlightenment in Zen have a similar counterpart in Pure Land Buddhism. First of all, and perhaps most flagrantly, conventional teachings are also eschewed in favor of less conventional means in Pure Land Buddhism. Just like Zen, in order to attain spiritual realizations (in Pure Land’s case, shinjin), mind training is necessary. The practice prescribed is extremely similar to Zen. Instead of a “live word”, Pure Land practitioners constantly repeat a phrase (this practice is called nembutsu) for months, years or even decades. Eventually, the repetition becomes automatic, going as far as doing “nembutsu while yawning” (Li, Apr 4., 2016). Just like Zen’s kensho, it is at this point that the Pure Land practitioner can reach shinjin. In Pure Land Buddhism, the realizations also transcend simple logic and reason: “it is not merely belief as intellectual assent, but strong, inner conviction” (Bloom 1999, 230). Because realizations transcend conventional thinking, conventional knowledge is also seen as detrimental in Pure Land Buddhism: “Recognition of our ignorance is connected with our becoming truthful. Since we can become united with each other in truthfulness, ‘genuine trust’ or spiritual oneness is actually truthfulness” (Maida 1989, 32). Also like Zen, spiritual realizations are sudden and not gradual: “Shinran’s teaching is absolute Other Power and transcending or immediate (ocho)” (Bloom 1999, 231). Finally, the traditional monastic practices and rules are also disregarded in favor of a lay life. This is due to another inversion from Shinran. Traditionally, Pure Land Buddhism was regarded as the easy and inferior way for people who couldn’t engage in more serious and demanding practice. However, Shinran, because

Zen Buddhism did not vocally voice that they did not want to associate their religion with

The aspiration of all sentient beings is to reach enlightenment; to realize their Buddha-nature and ascend to Buddhahood. The path and method to reach enlightenment, however, differs depending on the perspective from which one views Buddhism. Dogen, in his teachings on Zen Buddhism, promotes the practice of zazen to reach enlightenment. Shinran and the Pure Land sect are devoted to Amida Buddha, who they believe will bring them to the Pure Land, and enlightenment. The ways espoused by Dogen and Shinran are similar in some aspects, but differing enough in others to warrant the separate sects of Buddhism in Japan. For the purposes of this examination, the two sects can be summarized by how they look at reaching enlightenment: Zen Buddhism focuses inwardly, while Pure Land focuses outwardly. By examining their own words on how one is to reach enlightenment, the similarities and differences in their methods can be seen, allowing a better understanding of the teachings of their respective sects.

A Japanese philosopher we have studies extensively is Dogen. He is a 13th century Japanese’s Buddhist priest who founded the Sōtō School of Zen in Japan. Dogen focused on the importance of the sitting meditation of zazen as a method of achieving Zen and enlightenment though not thinking/ thinking beyond. Dogen’s ideas differed to that of the Sixth Patriarch in The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. This Buddhist script that was composed in China during the 8th to 13th century focused on teachings and stories of śīla (conduct), dhyāna (meditation) and prajñā (wisdom). The interesting points of discussion between these two different approaches to Zen teaching are the Buddha nature, method of attaining enlightenment, self and other,

Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.

Daoism aimed for unity with the Way and Zen Buddhism strived for enlightenment, but both of these goals required one to surpass ties to the individual self. Daoism advocated freedom from bonds of Di, which required turning your back on the true state of affairs and forgetting what you were born with (Zhuang Zi, PAGE). In order to do so, one had to empty their mind as an inner cultivation method to make a lodging place for the Way. Zen is defined as the Buddha mind, which “designates at once the ultimate reality or “emptiness” of all things and the enlightened state, or knowledge of that reality, characteristic of a Buddha” (A Discussion of the Seated Zen, 148). Emptiness was a recurring theme in both of these religions, which demonstrated that although they supported various means of cultivating the individual mind, they ultimately strived towards a common

In relation to this belief is the practice of prayer that Muslims place importance on, but the Buddhists disregard, and rather believe in meditation or the cleansing of mind.

Pure Lands Buddhism is highly influenced by the doctrines and practices in Tendai, especially the Lotus Sutra. However, Pure Lands Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan because of the shift from the Heian period to the Kamakura period. The “uncertainty of life” and the belief that mappō was occurring allowed the shift to Pure Lands Buddhism to become popular (Earhart 130). I believe that this shift occurred because of the inclusive nature of Pure Lands Buddhism. The main belief that “Amida has compassion for and wants to save all human beings” allowed Buddhists to focus more on reaching salvation by going to the Pure Lands (Earhart 131). Pure Lands Buddhism allowed monks to ignore the decline of the Buddha’s law, or mappō, that was supposedly

Zen, also known as Ch’an Buddhism in China, is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that was established in China about 1500 years ago. Zen is a form of religious practice of mainly concentrating the mind to a single point in which then results in self-realization and/or enlightenment. Zen philosophy is interpreted that all humans are capable of reaching enlightenment, which is generally blocked by ignorance. The idea emphasizes enlightened masters over forms of scriptures, and is the least “academic” of all the Buddhist schools.

Zen Buddhism emphasizes much like the Shinto tradition the act of cleansing, accept that it focuses on meditation as a way to purify the mind. This interpretation of purification as seen within the Buddhist teachings, is the attempt to clear the mind of contaminated beliefs, concepts, and materials, which can be harmful to someone seeking enlightenment. This can be understood by Dogen who wrote within the Bendowa that the, “The person seated in zazen without fail casts off body and mind, severs all the heretofore disordered and defiled thoughts and views emanating from his discriminating consciousness, conforms totally with the genuine Buddha Dharma,” (Dogen 2002, p. 12). Within this section of the text, Dogen uses a metaphysical approach to

Later on, the Japanese adapted another religion, Buddhism. Like Shinto, Buddhism is also a polytheistic religion. Moreover, because Shinto does not explain the afterlife while Buddhism does, these two religions co-existed in Japanese culture. Many people adapt to both religions' belief system at the same time. Zen Buddhism became widely adapted by the samurais later on during the Warrior Period. Zen Buddhism focuses on the discipline of individuals, one of the many reasons why samurais are seen as very refined warriors. They are often portrayed as being able to sense an enemy's attacks before they actually happen. This is an exaggeration of a samurai's ability to concentrate and focus on a goal. The samurais often use a Zen Buddhism technique called "Za Zen" to help clear their mind. A practical religion, Zen Buddhism helps to enhance self-discipline and improve one's self-concentration. One of the teachings of Zen Buddhism is "Bushin," meaning the clarification of the mind. A cleared mind allows the samurais to concentrate better on the task at hand and respond faster to enemies' attacks, make Zen Buddhism a very attractive religion to these warriors. Martial arts in Japan today also stress the importance of concentration. However, Bushin no longer applies to solely concentration in combat, but to all forms of concentration. For example, practicing martial arts is said to effective for improving one's performance at work due to better concentration

Zen (Ch. Chan) is a general term for a Mahayana school Buddhism, which emerged during Tang dynasty China (618-907). Ever since it had crystallized as an independent school of thought, we witness in Zen a tension between the need to belong to the Buddhist tradition and the urge to revolt against it. On the one hand, Zen masters had considered themselves, and still do, as direct heirs and followers of the historical Buddha, and on the other hand order their disciples to abandon the Buddhist teaching. Thou, somewhat radical, Linji Yixuan (d. 866) famous saying: “If you meet a Buddha kill him” (逢佛殺佛) is a typical example of this approach.

The forefather of Madhyamika Buddhism was Nagarjuna. T.P. Kasulis writes in his book, Zen Action, Zen Person that Nagarjuna was a predecessor to the development of Zen Buddhism. Nagarjuna is regarded though as a patriarch of the Zen tradition. He was the affecting principle to demonstrate logically the "emptiness", or rather sunyata of philosophical distinctions. Kasulis also explores Nagarjuna's "Logic of Emptiness."

Michael Kampan O' Reilly states in Art Beyond the West that Zen Buddhism teaches one can find