The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School and it's Contemporaries

289 Pages·2004·3.79 MB·English

by  Frederick Franck

Franck
Religion/Buddhism
THE
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“Frederick Franck has done us all a wonderful service in culling the
UDDHA
pages of The Eastern Buddhist for these gem-like essays by the
profound thinkers of the Kyoto school … This book is a very
precious gift to us in that it allows us a sojourn in the Buddha eye … It E
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is joyfully recommended to all.” YE
—Robert Thurman, Columbia University, author of Essential H
Tibetan Buddhism
E
“Frederick Franck is one of a rare and precious breed—an authentic An Anthology of

troubadour whose lyricism is pure in word and image. He quietly B the Kyoto School
roams our materialistic world and shows us that even here, even now,
there is hope for our soul.” and Its Contemporaries
U
—Jacob Needleman, San Francisco State University, author of
The Heart of Philosophy
D
Essays by
“The juxtaposition of essays is provocative in eliciting a Western
D
Abe Masao
response. Some of the essays are already recognized as classics and some
of the others should be.… This book provides a service to Western Hisamatsu Shin’ichi
H
students of religion who wish to broaden their understanding of cross- Kiyozawa Manshi
cultural religious and philosophical dialogue.”
Kobori Sohaku Nanrei
A
—The Eastern Buddhist
Nishitani Keiji
Soga Ryojin

“Frederick Franck is that rarest of human beings, a true eclectic—in
E Suzuki Teitaro Daisetz
touch with the perennial …”
—Robert Aitken Roshi, author of Taking the Path of Zen Takeuchi Yoshinori
Y
Ueda Shizuteru
“Franck … looks deep into the human heart and what he finds there
E
is the priceless treasure of the sacred reality: a discovery and message so
Foreword by
crucial to contemporary humanity.”
Joan Stambaugh
—Georg Feuerstein, author of The Yoga Tradition
World Wisdom
World
Wisdom
F F
$ 19.95 Edited by REDERICK RANCK
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About this Book and the Editor
“With the appearance of The Buddha Eye... a new era in Buddhist thought
has been launched.”
—TTaaiitteettssuu UUnnnnoo, Jill Ker Conway Professor of Religion at Smith
College
“This anthology serves as an excellent introduction to the Suzuki version
of Zen.”
—JJoouurrnnaall ooff AAssiiaann SSttuuddiieess
“Dialogues with the spiritual masters of the East show us the possibility of
a universal ecumenism that is rarely experienced.”
—MMaatttthheeww FFooxx, author of Original Blessing and One River, Many
Wells
“For the pilgrim in each of us who would journey into Eastern or Western
spiritual traditions to chart a path in this troubled time.... ”
—JJooaannnnaa MMaaccyy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
“His words... make us see the world as a place where, with more under-
standing and tolerance, we could all live together in harmony.”
—RRhheennaa SScchhwweeiittzzeerr MMiilllleerr, daughter of Albert Schweitzer
“He simply sees things most people do not.... ”
—HHaarrvveeyy CCooxx, author of The Secular City and Many Mansions
“Frederick Franck’s exploration of what it means to be human and his
moving artistic expression have been transnational, transcultural and
transdisciplinary.”
—NNuucclleeaarr AAggee PPeeaaccee FFoouunnddaattiioonn, which awarded Franck
a World Citizenship Award
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“The fact that, over ninety and recovering from a near-fatal automobile
accident, Franck still finds hope and beauty in the world around him and
can convey it with such simple force, is perhaps the most eloquent answer
of all.”
—PPaarraabboollaa magazine
“Frederick Franck is an artist and author who believes in seeing everything
around him.… [This] does not mean simply looking at, but instead active-
ly realizing the importance of everything around him, especially other
people.”
—TThhee OOnnlliinnee JJoouurrnnaall ooff PPeeaaccee aanndd CCoonnfflliicctt
RReessoolluuttiioonn
“Above all else, Franck is a bridge builder whose spirituality points to a new
way of being in the twenty-first century.”
—SSppiirriittuuaalliittyy aanndd HHeeaalltthh magazine
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World Wisdom
The Library of Perennial Philosophy
The Library of Perennial Philosophy is dedicated to the exposition of the time-
less Truth underlying the diverse religions. This Truth, often referred to as the
Sophia Perennis—or Perennial Wisdom—finds its expression in the revealed
Scriptures as well as the writings of the great sages and the artistic creations of the
traditional worlds.
The Perennial Philosophy provides the intellectual principles capable of
explaining both the formal contradictions and the transcendent unity of the great
religions.
Ranging from the writings of the great sages of the past, to the perennialist
authors of our time, each series of our Library has a different focus. As a whole,
they express the inner unanimity, transforming radiance, and irreplaceable values
of the great spiritual traditions.
The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto Schooland Its Contemporaries appears as
one of our selections in the Spiritual Classics series.
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)
Spiritual Classics Series
This series includes seminal, but often neglected, works of unique spiritu-
al insight from leading religious authors of both the East and West. Ranging
from books composed in ancient India to forgotten jewels of our time, these
important classics feature new introductions which place them in the peren-
nialist context.
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World Wisdom wishes to express its gratitude to the Nanzan
Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, and to
James W. Heisig, general Editor of their Nanzan Studies in
Religion and Culture series, for their cooperation and assis-
tance with this revised edition of The Buddha Eye. Please visit
their website at http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN for
more information on their projects and publications.
Cover: Amida Nyorai, 11th century, Japan
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The Buddha Eye
An Anthology of
the Kyoto School and
Its Contemporaries
Edited by
Frederick Franck
Foreword by Joan Stambaugh
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The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School and Its Contemporaries
© 2004 World Wisdom, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner without written permission,
except in critical articles and reviews.
The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School and Its Contemporariesis a revised
edition of the 1982 edition which was originally published as The Buddha Eye: An
Anthology of the Kyoto School, Crossroad, New York, 1982.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Buddha eye : an anthology of the Kyoto school and its contemporaries
/ edited by Frederick Franck ; foreword by Joan Stambaugh.
p. cm. -- (The spiritual classics series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-941532-59-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Buddhism--Doctrines. 2. Philosophy, Buddhism. 3. Philosophy,
Japanese--20th century. I. Franck, Frederick, 1909- II. Series: Spiritual classics
(Bloomington, Ind.)
BQ4165.B79 2004
294.3’420427--dc22
2004001541
Printed on acid-free paper in Canada
For information address World Wisdom, Inc.
P.O. Box 2682, Bloomington, Indiana 47402-2682
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Pluck out the Buddha eye
and sit in its hollow!
DOGEN
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Table of Contents
Publisher’s Note to the 2004 edition xi
Foreword to the 2004 edition xiii
JOAN STAMBAUGH
Prologue xvii
FREDERICK FRANCK
Acknowledgments xxvii
PART I. Essays on the Self
1. Self the Unattainable 3
SUZUKI TEITARšDAISETZ
2. The Awakening of Self in Buddhism 11
NISHITANI KEIJI
3. What Is the “I”? 21
SUZUKI TEITARšDAISETZ
4. The I-Thou Relation in Zen Buddhism 39
NISHITANI KEIJI
5. God, Emptiness, and the True Self 55
ABE MASAO
6. Ikky¥’s Skeletons 69
PART II. The Structure of Reality
7. The Buddhist Conception of Reality 83
SUZUKI TEITARšDAISETZ
8. Science and Zen 107
NISHITANI KEIJI
9. A Dialogue: A Discussion Between One and Zero 137
KOBORISšHAKU NANREI
10. Man and Nature in Christianity and Buddhism 147
ABE MASAO