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Zen, Wittgenstein and Neo-orthodox Theology: The Problem of Communicating Truth in Zen Buddhism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

Hsueh-Li Cheng
Hsueh-Li Cheng
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Hilo
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Extract

One of the problems religious men and philosophers often face is how to convey enlightenment or wisdom to others so that sentient beings can be enlightened or awakened from dogmatic views. This problem is also the question of how truth (the Word of God or Buddha's Dharma) is made known to men. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of communicating truth in Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1982 , pp. 133 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

page 133 note 1 Suzuki, D. T., Zen Buddhism (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1956), p. 103. He also claimed thatGoogle Scholar‘Zen has no philosophy’. See his An Introduction to Zen Buddhism (New York: Grove Press, 1964), p. 39.Google Scholar

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page 134 note 4 There are many other names, such as ‘New Reformation Theology’, ‘Dialectical Theology’, ‘Neo-Protestantism’, ‘Neo-supernaturalism’, ’Crisis Theology’ and ‘Barthianism’, which have been given to this new theological movement among contemporary Christians. Certain neo-orthodox theologians did not want the term ‘neo-orthodox’.

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page 143 note 1 ibid. p. 140.

page 143 note 2 ibid. p. 145.

page 143 note 3 Ibid.

page 143 note 4 ibid. p. 176.

page 143 note 5 ibid. p. 140.

page 143 note 6 ibid. p. 272.

page 143 note 7 Ibid.

page 143 note 8 Ibid.

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page 149 note 1 ibid. p. 93–4.

page 149 note 2 ibid. p. 191.

page 149 note 3 For the more detailed discussion of this, see Cheng, Hsueh-li, ‘Zen and San-lun Mādhyamika Thought: Exploring the Theoretical Foundation of Zen Teachings and Practices’, Religious Studies, XV (09 1979), 343–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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