Abstract
The teachings of Eihei Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253) emphasize a non-instrumental orientation to zazen as “practice-realization”, which might be described as a single movement of purposeful action and actualization of aims. Yet the question remains, if zazen is not in some sense a set of clearly defined steps toward specific ends, exactly how are its benefits manifested, and why would Dōgen place such an elusive approach at the centre of practice? In the following, I will discuss how Dōgen’s conception of practice does not necessarily function as a prescriptive methodology leading to specified results, but might better be described as an orientation to everyday experience that facilitates a comprehensive integration of physical and perceptual interactions within shared environments. Any sense of the utility or benefit of zazen is inseparable from reference to these relations within specific contexts of practice. Exploring close parallels between Dōgen’s conception of universal self (jiko) and gestalt theory, particularly as it is referenced in ecophilosophy and sociomaterial practices literature, suggests ontological and ethical implications of “practice-realization” from contemporary secular perspectives.
Highlights
Exploring close parallels between Dōgen’s conception of universal self and gestalt theory, as it is referenced in ecophilosophy and sociomaterial practices literature, suggests ontological and ethical implications of “practice-realization” from contemporary secular perspectives
According to Uchiyama, this applies to the abstractions commonly used to describe elements of Buddhist practice itself, including speculations regarding states of enlightenment, concentration in activity, or “oneness with all things.”. To counteract such habituated recourse to abstraction, Uchiyama (1973), rather than positing what one is supposed to experience, instead describes Dōgen’s approach to zazen as a baseline of wakeful attentiveness to which we might return from the inevitable distractions, inattention, and daydreaming that arises during any activity (p. 33)
“religion” may be ill-advised in the context of Zen Buddhism, with its possible associations with the worship of divine beings or states of being separate from the worldly self, his intention seems to be to re-inscribe this term as meaning something like reverence for all aspects of our everyday existence: The wonderful point of Dōgen’s practice of zazen is that it is religion which must function concretely in one’s daily life
Summary
As I hope to relate, it is Uchiyama’s exposition of this term that can plausibly provide a direct connection, through Deep Ecology literature, to twentieth century gestalt theories that have developed independent of Buddhist philosophy yet convey surprisingly compatible accounts of how diverse beings exert and absorb influence within shared environments. Uchiyama, conversant as he was in western philosophy, psychology, and contemporary culture in general, serves to bridge the distances between these perspectives and the 12th century Zen practice of Dōgen.
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