Essays in Zen Buddhism : $b First series — John Shaqi
Essays in Zen Buddhism : $b First seriesSuzuki, Daisetz Teitaro
Religion
Essays in Zen Buddhism : $b First series
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro
Zen Buddhism
So we see that Enlightenment is not the outcome of an intellectual
process in which one idea follows another in sequence finally to
terminate in conclusion or judgment. There is neither process nor
judgment in Enlightenment, it is something more fundamental, something
which makes a judgment possible, and without which no form of
judgment can take place. In judgment there are a subject and a
predicate; in Enlightenment subject is predicate, and predicate is
subject; they are here merged as one, but not as one of which something
can be stated, but as one from which arises judgment. We cannot go
beyond this absolute oneness; all the intellectual operations stop
here; when they endeavour to go further, they draw a circle in which
they for ever repeat themselves. This is the wall against which all
philosophies have beaten in vain. This is an intellectual _terra
incognita_, in which prevails the principle, “Credo quia absurdum est.”
This region of darkness, however, gives up its secrets when attacked by
the will, by the force of one’s entire personality. Enlightenment is
the illuminating of this dark region, when the whole thing is seen at
one glance, and all intellectual inquiries find here their rationale.
Hitherto one may have been intellectually convinced of the truth of a
certain proposition, but somehow it has not yet entered into his life,
the truth still lacks ultimate confirmation, and he cannot help feeling
a vague sense of indeterminateness and uneasiness. Enlightenment now
comes upon him in a mysterious way without any previous announcement,
and all is settled with him, he is an Arhat or even a Buddha. The
dragon has got its eyes dotted, and it is no more a lifeless image
painted on a canvas, but winds and rains are its willing servants now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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