A ZEN LIFE - D.T. Suzuki (Excerpt)

A documentary about D.T. Suzuki (1870-1966), credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Zen
• Life
• Daisetz
• Suzuki
• Shin
• Buddhism
• Interfaith
• Gary
• Snyder
• Huston
• Smith
• Mihoko
• Okamura
• Robert
• Aitken
• Donald
• Richie

[JapanInterCulture]

Zen monks want their students to learn from direct experience, not by reading "about" Zen. Suzuki was also adamant that the aim of Buddhism is to get in touch with one's "true self," not blindly follow a leader (including the Buddha). His understanding is much deeper than that of some who look down upon him. Others' experiences can be worthwhile, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to interview people who respect him and who evolved their own understandings.

Michael Goldberg

[thisNewFoundLand]

...one other note: .anyone who claims that DT Suzuki was in support of ANY war has absolutely no knowledge of the man and his life's work.

peace; and thanks uploader.

[bluetoothdandy]

i guess the current "trend" is to paint Suzuki as a nationalist. It gets ambitious authors published because it garners headlines, although those that have read his private diaries and papers have not come away with that impression - nor indeed those that i have met who actually knew him.

[pef23]

@catandpiddle Same to you friend :) Merry Xmas!

[catandpiddle]

@pef23 Then there's little point of any further discussion I think. Perhaps your credulity is hardwired to your aversion to criticism. So be it. Live a full and good life.

[pef23]

@catandpiddle I read that article and thought it was utter garbage. If you think it has any worth, there is not too much point in me going on like this. If you choose to believe that Suzuki was a nationalist, there is certainly some proof to "support" that hypothesis, but Suzuki was absolutely not "avowed." Future finds of private letters, etc. may prove this but at this stage there is no conclusive evidence. I think it is pointless to make such strong accusations without any reliable proof.

[catandpiddle]

@pef23 The "Negative Side" of D. T. Suzuki's Relationship to War . Enough said ...

[catandpiddle]

@pef23 Much of what we know about anyone that has passed on lacks credulity unless written down and Suzuki would have been shrewd enough to keep his thoughts on the matter either private or shared with only a few. The gleanings from those that knew him here, in Japan, in fact very much 'do' point towards nationalism. Mumon roshi was the same, a nationalist and expansionist no doubt about it at all. I shall look for the book you've mentioned but the larger point is, Zen is avoided by many in Japa

[pef23]

@catandpiddle Also, I would be keen to know if you have read Sato's "Brian Victoria and the Question of Scholarship" in the Eastern Buddhist and Victoria's own response in the same issue. I can't see how you can interpret Victoria any other way but that he concedes defeat on the issue but remains subjectively unconvinced - not exactly an academic standpoint. In addition, the work by the native Japanese researchers is highly questionable. How do you argue that their work is reliable?

[pef23]

@catandpiddle In that case I would certainly like you to point me to some of this proof as I have never seen anything conclusive in Suzuki's own words. Victoria adds his own skewed interpretation to everything I have seen from him. Do you know of anything where Suzuki says "I support Japanese expansion into Asia" or anything of the like? You say "avowed." What do you mean by that?

[catandpiddle]

@pef23 yes you're quite right, you are indeed 'guessing' my knowledge of the japanese language. I'm a translator, make a living this way and read, speak and write the language very well indeed. there is no 'myth' about it at all. suzuki was an avowed nationalist and I know with certainty that victoria researched the subject very well. not only that, there are native japanese researchers who have the same opinion about suzuki.

[pef23]

@catandpiddle Reading a couple of works by Sharf and Victoria and the like doesn't qualify you to make claims like that. Have you atually checked any of the (extremely limited) "proofs" that these scholars' arguments lay on? I am guessing that your knowledge of the Japanese language is as poor as some of these scholars. The myth of Suzuki as nationalist was started by a few men that stood to gain a lot in terms of their own careers.