Practice and Embodiment in Zen Buddhism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/1677-1222.2024vol24i3a18Keywords:
Buddhism, Zen, Meditation, Ritual, Religious experienceAbstract
This article will address the difference between the meanings of meditation and ritual for “converted Buddhists” and East Asian Buddhists. We will see that the Buddhism practiced in the West, called “new Buddhism” or “modernist Buddhism,” opposes ritual to meditation. In traditional Buddhism, ritual and meditation are religious practices, among others, that make up the set of traditional Buddhist praxis, which, in turn, is strongly related to Buddhist doctrine. We will see that in the Western approach, this opposition is based on a privilege given to the mind in the spiritual process, as well as to the notion of religious experience. The Buddhist practice found in East Asian countries, on the contrary, as scholars stress, is deeply embodied. We will address, in particular, Zen Buddhist meditation as it has been discussed in detail by the studies that will be referenced throughout this article.
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