عنوان

Filial Piety with a Zen Twist:

Number

LA116692

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Filial Piety with a Zen Twist:

General Material Designation

[Article]

Other Title Information

Universalism and Particularism Surrounding the Sutra on the Difficulty of Reciprocating the Kindness of Parents

First Statement of Responsibility

Michel Mohr

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

This article examines the Sutra on the Difficulty of Reciprocating the Kindness of Parents and its reinterpretation by the Japanese Rinzai Zen monk Tōrei Enji 東嶺圓慈 (1721-1792). In the context of the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) where filial piety was upheld as one of the pillars of morality and Neo-confucian orthodoxy, Tōrei's commentary of this sutra skillfully combined the particularist understanding of filiality as limited to one's relatives with its broader construal as a universal attitude of reverence directed toward all sentient beings. The father is envisioned as the wisdom and the excellence of the Buddha, the mother as the compassionate vows of the Bodhisattva, and the children as those who emit the thought of awakening. Tōrei further pushed this interpretation by adding the distinct Zen idea that the initial insight into one's true nature needs to be surpassed and refined by perfecting the going beyond (kōjō 向上) phase of training, where the child/disciple's legacy and his indebtedness towards his spiritual mentors is recast in terms of overcoming one's attainments and attachment to them. This article examines the Sutra on the Difficulty of Reciprocating the Kindness of Parents and its reinterpretation by the Japanese Rinzai Zen monk Tōrei Enji 東嶺圓慈 (1721-1792). In the context of the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) where filial piety was upheld as one of the pillars of morality and Neo-confucian orthodoxy, Tōrei's commentary of this sutra skillfully combined the particularist understanding of filiality as limited to one's relatives with its broader construal as a universal attitude of reverence directed toward all sentient beings. The father is envisioned as the wisdom and the excellence of the Buddha, the mother as the compassionate vows of the Bodhisattva, and the children as those who emit the thought of awakening. Tōrei further pushed this interpretation by adding the distinct Zen idea that the initial insight into one's true nature needs to be surpassed and refined by perfecting the going beyond (kōjō 向上) phase of training, where the child/disciple's legacy and his indebtedness towards his spiritual mentors is recast in terms of overcoming one's attainments and attachment to them.

Date of Publication

2013

Physical description

35-62

Title

Journal of Religion in Japan

Volume Number

2/1

International Standard Serial Number

2211-8349

Subject Term

family reverence

Subject Term

filial piety

Subject Term

going beyond

Subject Term

Rinzai Zen

Subject Term

Song period Chan

Subject Term

universality

Michel Mohr

Call Number

10.1163/22118349-12341248

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y