Christian contemplation and zen buddhist meditation integration of zen and christian practice
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Authors
Andrich, Judy
Issue Date
1997
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Religious Studies , Art
Alternative Title
Abstract
The two major themes of this thesis are: first, the connection or affinity between Zen Buddhism and Christianity (particularly Catholicism,) and secondly, the integration of practice, i.e., Christian meditation (contemplation) and zazen (sitting meditation). The heart of this connection seems to lie in the apophatic tradition of both religions. This is the tradition within Christianity which emphasizes the unknowability, the ineffability and the inadequacy of concepts about God, using a kind of negative theology to discuss the meaning of God. Out of this has developed the "mystic" tradition, which seeks to "know" or experience God on an individual basis, as foreshadowed in the Wisdom traditions of the Old Testament and found again in the Gospel of John and the Epistles of Paul in the New Testament.