Liberating Intimacy

Enlightenment and Social Virtuosity in Ch'an Buddhism

Peter D. Hershock (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

254 Seiten

1996
State University of New York Press (Verlag)
978-0-7914-2982-2 (ISBN)

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Liberating Intimacy dramatically reevaluates the teachings and practice of Ch'an Buddhism. Considering Buddha's insight that everything is empty or absent of a permanent and independent "self nature," Hershock argues that not only is suffering without any essence and so dependent on time and place, so is end of suffering or enlightenment. He shows that the tradition need not entail a quietistic withdrawal from social life. Far from being something privately attained and experienced, Ch'an enlightenment is best seen as the opening of a virtuosic intimacy through which we are continually liberated from the arrogance of both "self" and "other." That is, enlightenment in Ch'an must be understood as irreducibly social—it can never be merely "mine" or "yours," but is only realized as "ours." Including new translations from the teachings of Ma-tzu, Pai-chang, Huang-po and Lin-chi, Liberating Intimacy reconciles the almost fierce individualism that characterizes the mastery of Ch'an and its unwavering embrace of the ideal of compassionately saving all beings.

Peter D. Hershock is Project Fellow of the Asian Studies Development Program at the East-West Center.

AcknowledgmentsPreface

Part I. Theoretical Foundations of Ch'an Enlightenment

1. Suffering: Divergent Conceptions of the Context of Enlightenment
2. Culture and the Limits of Personhood: Common Rituals and Uncommon Tales
3. Dramatic Interdependence and Improvisation: Sociality as Orientation
4. Communicative Conduct: The Paradigmatic Locus of Ch'an Enlightenment

Part II. Practice: The Embodiment of Enlightenment

5. Intimacy and Virtuosity: Entering the Gate of Ch'an Practice
6. Opening the Field of Virtuosity: Practicing Tun-wu, Wei-hsin, and K'ung
7. The Techniques of Unmaking: Energy and Awakening in Ch'an
8. Morality and Character in the Mastery of Ch'an

Notes

References

Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	3.7.1996
Reihe/Serie	SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Zusatzinfo	Total Illustrations: 0
Verlagsort	Albany, NY
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	354 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
ISBN-10	0-7914-2982-2 / 0791429822
ISBN-13	978-0-7914-2982-2 / 9780791429822
Zustand	Neuware