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| The design of enlightenment in koan Zen | ||
| 作者 | Tarrant, John |
|---|---|
| 出版日期 | 1988, 1987 |
| 頁次 | 204 |
| 出版者 | Saybrook University |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.saybrook.edu/ |
| 出版地 | Oakland, CA, US [奧克蘭, 加利福尼亞州, 美國] |
| 資料類型 | 博碩士論文=Thesis and Dissertation |
| 使用語言 | 英文=English |
| 學位類別 | 博士 |
| 校院名稱 | Saybrook University |
| 指導教授 | Banathy, Bela |
| 畢業年度 | 1988 |
| 關鍵詞 | Enlightenment; 禪宗=Zen Buddhism=Zazen Buddhism; Psychology |
| 摘要 | A map of Zen training and enlightenment is developed using systems design methods. Analogues between systems design and Zen are drawn. A design group for collaborative theory building was formed. Nine experienced Zen students, including the author, used consensus techniques to generate a description of enlightenment as a system. Additional material was drawn from literature and from the author's experience. Structures and processes of the Zen system are identified. Major structural features are: Student, koan, teacher, and sesshin. The Zen student concentrates on the koan to the exclusion of other concerns. The teacher holds the student to the koan. Important stages leading to enlightenment are: Existential doubt, which brings the student to Zen; deep concentration, in which the student is absorbed in the koan; a catalyst, an ordinary sense impression which breaks up the concentration; and enlightenment itself. Enlightenment involves initiation into the depth of Zen and an encounter with the universe, the teacher and the tradition. A special language centered on the koan is developed. Enlightenment is operationally defined as the ability to respond to the teacher's koan questions. Other features include a sense of one's true identity and, paradoxically, of the ordinary nature of the insight. Readiness and expectations influence the emotional tone of the experience. Enlightenment is one event in a long journey of practice and development after enlightenment is seen in terms of the psychological concept of presence. More general theories of enlightenment are considered: psychological frame-breaking; altered states of consciousness; and the existential shift--this last providing the best description. Zen practice is then shown in relation to formal theories of discontinuous change, namely: Punctuated equilibrium; catastrophe; and dissipative structures. These are viewed as particular cases within a general theory of design. In a dissipative structure a fluctuation from equilibrium is amplified and leads to an abrupt transformation, a symmetry break, followed by reorganization at a higher level. This provides an excellent model for Zen enlightenment. This theory may be useful further in linking Zen training and existential psychotherapy. Design is shown as a powerful method for inquiry into consciousness. |
| 點閱次數 | 427 |
| 建檔日期 | 1998.04.28 |
| 更新日期 | 2016.04.22 |
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