Description

Zen Skin, Zen Marrow examines the conflict between two competing perspectives on Zen Buddhism. Two warring camps have collided on several major issues. The traditionalists propagate a self-definition based on notions of ineffability, nonduality, and social harmony. Recent reformers, however, undertake historical and cultural criticism that challenges the traditional claims of the meaning of Zen. In Zen Skin, Zen Marrow , Steven Heine argues that a neutral approach is possible, and lays the groundwork for a constructive compromise based on balanced, non-evaluative methodology. This approach allows for a juxtaposition of competing views that can contribute to and benefit one another, avoiding the stagnant polarization that characterizes most encounters involving traditionalists and critics.

Heine focuses on three main areas of debate. He investigates the role of language and discourse in a tradition that claims to be "outside words and letters," yet has produced voluminous texts including koan records and historical narratives. He examines the function of rituals and other mediating elements of religious practice such as objects of worship, which are used to gain worldly benefits in a tradition supposedly founded on unmediated experience attained in an iconoclastic environment. He measures how impact of a tradition that espouses peace and harmony has impacted social issues such as class and gender discrimination, as well as nationalism and imperialism in modern Japan.

With new insights into both the Traditional and Critical Zen views, Heine offers each side a realistic and balanced middle road. While total agreement may not be probable, this work signals a major turning point intended to transform these previously divisive disputes into a productive and fulfilling conversation.

Reviews

"As we enter the 21st century and western Zen Buddhism develops the roots and branches of its second and third generations, the time has come to reflect on what aspects of this ancient tradition we are importing. What are the Zen myths and realities we are disseminating throughout the West? Most importantly, does Zen address the moral and ethical issues unique to our time and place? Steven Heine is eminently qualified to crack open this Pandora's box and help us sort out the real from the apparent. With its critical reflection, deep investigation and outstanding scholarship, Zen Skin, Zen Marrow is a step in the process allowing Zen to take the shape of the container that holds it. This book belongs on the shelf of every Zen center in the West." --John Daido Loori, author of True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans and Sitting with Koans

"This book provides a valuable and insightful effort to clarify the conflict between two competing streams of Zen scholarship: the Traditional Zen Narrative and Historical and Cultural Criticism. Steven Heine is among the world's leading scholars of Rinzai and Soto Zen, and this latest work will make an extremely valuable contribution to such fields as Zen/Chan studies, East Asian Buddhism, comparative mysticism, and other related areas." --Steve Odin, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

"This book makes an extremely valuable contribution to Zen studies, general Buddhist studies, and comparative studies of mysticism. ...Highly recommended." --Choice

Product Details

232 pages; 7 b/w halftones, 4 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-532677-2ISBN10: 0-19-532677-6

About the Author(s)