Masao Abe, Zen Buddhism, and Social Ethics

Daniel Palmer

Departmentof Philosophy, Purdue University

Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Vol 4, 1997

Introduction

In the last few decades, Masao Abe has emerged as the leading exponent of Zen Buddhism in the West. Trained in the Koyoto School of Japanese philosophy, Abe has, however, not sought merely to transmit passively the basic precepts of Zen Buddhism. Rather, following the tradition of the Koyoto School, Abe has sought to rework and transform these doctrines in dialogical encounter with both Western philosophy and religion, and with contemporary secular ideologies that are hostile towards the very existence of all forms of religion. In doing so, Abe does not shirk from taking seriously the problems and challenges posed to the traditional framework of Zen Buddhism by these other forms of understanding. Indeed, in a response to Abe's seminal essay "Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata," John Cobb, Jr. remarks that:

Abe acknowledges that the criticisms have not expressed mere misunderstanding. He does not belittle them as showing that the critics are dealing only with secondary matters. He acknowledges their force and proposes ways in which Buddhism can and should deal with them.(1)

For Abe, if traditional forms of religion such as Zen Buddhism or Christianity are to survive at all in the context of our multicultural and technological era, it must be on the basis of a mutual transformation of basic concepts in the light of an ongoing dialogue with each other and with the various forms of critical rationality that are also prevalent in society.(2)

Abe's efforts in this direction are paradigmatic for the development of Buddhism within the West. Indeed, I would argue that if Buddhism is to become a viable force in Western culture it must continue to engage in the kind of critical and dialectical inquiry that is the hallmark of Abe's method for a number of reasons. In taking seriously both traditional Buddhist concepts and the Western forms of understanding that often stand in apparent opposition to them, Abe reminds us that a viable form of Western Buddhism must avoid the extremes of either simply interpreting Buddhism in terms of one or another set of Western categories or adopting Buddhism as a form of exoticism and escapism. A viable Western Buddhism must both be respectful of its own traditions and adaptable to the unique situation, both conceptually and practically, that is found in the West. Abe shows us that Buddhism has both something to offer and something to gain from its adaptation to the West. More importantly perhaps, Abe's dialogical method is of paramount importance for Western Buddhism precisely because the situation in the West (socially, economically, politically, and so forth) is quite different from that of the East. As such, if Buddhism is to thrive in the Western context it must address the unique concerns and problems that are presently being faced in the West.

Therefore, while there are of course a number of criticisms of Buddhism that have emerged in its confrontation with other forms of understanding, here I will focus upon one particular set of criticisms that has been historically directed at Buddhism from a number of fronts that I believe is of particular importance for Western Buddhism. These criticisms concern the perceived inability of Buddhism to issue concrete social critique and to develop a positive social ethic. It seems to me that as the discourse in the West comes to focus more upon social issues any form of understanding that is to remain alive must be able to respond to such concerns, and thus that if Western Buddhism is to survive it must illustrate how it can address these issues. I will argue that Abe does recognize that this has been an area in which Buddhism has been traditionally deficient, but that by reinterpreting several key Buddhist concepts Abe offers a new paradigm of Buddhism that does allow for the possibility of social critique while still retaining the essential insights of traditional Zen Buddhism. In the first section of the paper I will develop the specific nature of the criticisms in relation to the traditional understanding of Buddhist doctrine. In the second section I will show how Abe's transvaluation of Zen Buddhism in light of his dialogical hermeneutic takes account of these criticisms and develops the resources within Zen thought to deal with them.

Buddhism and Social Ethics, Traditional Difficulties That Buddhism has historically been perceived by outside observers as lacking a significant social ethic is undeniable. The alleged lack of a positive social philosophy in Zen Buddhism was already present, as James Whitehill points out, in the eleventh-century Neo-Confucian critique of Buddhism that took "Buddhism as inimical to such [social] values and even a threat to civilized life."(3) Such claims have been repeatedly proffered until the present day, the charges usually claiming that Buddhism in general, and Zen in particular, undermines the very possibility of social critique and reform due to its essentially inward orientation, escapist attitude, and its undermining of all substantial distinctions. In terms of popular culture, this has translated into the prevalent Western image of the Buddhist as a solitary individual completely detached (often represented in terms of a physical separation, i.e., the monk sitting atop the mountain) from the concerns of the world who occasionally dispenses obscure sayings. We should point out that the general claim that Zen Buddhism lacks a social ethic actually involves two quite distinct charges. First, there is the question of the actual historical record concerning Zen and social agency; whether or not Zen Buddhists have in fact adopted means of social critique and reform. But there is also the question as to whether, despite whatever the historical situation might be, the essential doctrines of Zen Buddhism are theoretically compatible with the development of a social ethic.