Japanese Spiritual Traditions

26 Jun Japanese Spiritual Traditions

I was really struck this week by the idea that Eastern philosophy treats mind/body unity as an achievement, that it is not a given and requires disciplined practice. While I don’t agree with this in theory (it’s already one and therefore nothing needs to be done but recognize it), I do agree with it in the way I live my life. I have practiced ongoing physical disciplines all my adult life in order to keep my body in top shape and extend my health and vitality. I practice daily awareness of my embodiment. When students ask me how to increase their sense of embodiment I always answer that it takes many years of disciplined effort. So there you go – my beliefs and my practice are not in alignment.

Because of my research topic I was delighted to discover Kūkai with his positive take on sexuality. He believed that life cannot be understood unless sexuality is investigated, which is similar to a tantric orientation. He saw sexuality as a key, a doorway to deeper realms in the body, and that through this body it is possible to drop into Buddha nature. In Wilbur’s schema of the ascending/descending line, this would be viewed as a descent from the metaphysical down to the physical, although I have never appreciated this terminology. A better word might be expansion.

Perhaps this is not politically correct to share, but I found the Zen meditation to be using scare tactics which I didn’t appreciate. Then when the narrator said, “Nothing can be gained by extensive study and wide reading: Give them up” I burst out laughing. I once visited the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and practiced zazen with the monks there, and planned to go back but never did. I have great respect for Zen and this week’s tradition even if this type of meditation is not my cup of tea.

© 2024 Catherine Auman

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