Document Text Contents
Page 1
OPENNESS AND F I D E L ï W
THOMAS MERTON'S DIALOGUE WTH D. T. SUZUKI,
AND SELF-TRANSCENDENCE
b
Joseph Quinn Raab
A Thesis subnrittd to tht F d t y of Thco10gy of the University of St. Michaei's College
uid the Dcpuhnnit of ïheology of the Toronto School of Theology
in p& fulfüknent of the rrguirements for the degree of
Ooctor of Philosophy irt Thcology
awarded by the University of St. Michael's College
Toronto 2000
0 Joseph Quinn Rja b
Page 2
National Library Bibliothéque nationale
du Canada
Acquisitions and Acquisitions et
Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques
395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellirigtori
OnawaON K l A W OnawaON K1AON4
Canada Canada
The author has granted a non-
exclusive licence allowing the
National Library of Canada to
reproduce, loan, distribute or seli
copies of this thesis in microform,
paper or electro'onic formats.
The author retaios ownership of the
copyright in this thesis. Neither the
thesis nor substantial extracts kom it
may be printed or othewise
reproduced without the author's
permission.
L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive permettant a la
Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou
vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
la forme de microfiche/film, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
L'auteur consenre la propriété du
droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
ou autrement reproduits sans son
autorisation.
Page 113
of authenticity.15 Suzuki then uses examples from the stories of the Desert
Fathers and quotations from Meister Eckhart to further illustrate and
support his basic iwightç.
Using the proper relation between Knowledge and Innocence as a
hermeneutical tool Suzuki makes ethical evaluations. If one sets
Innocence and Knowledge up in contradictory opposition, one ends up
with the legalistic enslavement to an ungrounded "knowledge" on the
one hand, or the misguided license of a false "innocence" on the other.
Knowledge without Innocence is the fallen state of alienation from the
ground of one's being. innocence without knowledge is illusory, it is the
quietism of empty-headedness. The proper relation of the two leads to
mindfulness and wisdom, or Prajna. But even in the recognition of their
complementarity, the responsibility of realizing the balance between the
hvo falls on the acting subject. Suzuki sees the story of the "great hermit"
as an example of a failure to maintain the balance.16
The "great hermit" is guilty of not realizing Emptiness, that is,
Innocence, and Abbot Poemen commits an error in applying
Innocence minus knowledge to the affairs of the world. The robbers
are to be consigned to pison, for the community will suffer; as long
as they are outlaws they must be depnved of their liberty
(ZBA, 107-108).
'%uzuki refers readers to his hnkovatara Sutra (London: Routledge k Kegan Paul, 1957).
pp. 32,43,89, etc ... .
I6The "great hennit" was attacked by robbers and when other hermits heard his cries they
rescued him and marched the robbers off to jail. "But then the brothers were very
ashamed." They went to Abbot Poeman for counsel and he saidcMRemember who camed out
the first betrayal, and you wïil learn the reason for the second. Unless you had been
betrayed by your own inward thoughts you wouid never have ended by turning those men
over to the judge." The hermit who had been attacked, "touched by these words, got up at
once and went into the city and broke open the jail, letting out the robbers and freeing them
from torturerf (See WD, XXXVII).
Page 114
Whereas in part one of his essay Suzuki focused on the relation of
Buddhist Emptiness to Christian Innocence, in part two he discusses it in
relation to poverty. He begins, "The metaphysical concept of Emptiness is
convertible in economic terms into poverty, being poor, having nothing:
'Blessed are those who are poor in spirit'" (ZBA, 108-109). Suzuki spends
the remainder of part two attempting to convey the utterly radical nature
of the kind of poverty he is talking about. It is a poverty so great that there
remains no-self to be poor, or to be proud of one's spiritual emptiness. In
order to comrnunicate this idea he draws on the sayings of some Zen
masters, but he ends the second part with a quote from Eckhart:
If it is the case that a man is emptied of things, creatures, himself,
and God, and if God could h d a place in him to act, then we Say: as
long as that (place) exists, this man is not poor with the most
intima te pover ty (eigen tlichste Armu t). For God does not intend
that man shall have a place reserved for him to work in, since the
true poverty of spirit requires that man shall be emptied of God and
al1 his works, so that if God wants to act in the soul, he himself must
be the place in which he acts-and that he would like to do (ZBA, 110).
Finally, in the third part of his essay, Suzuki discusses the 'virtues' a
Buddhist attempts to actualize. "They are: (1) Dana, 'giving'; (2) Sila,
'observing the precepts'; (3) Virya, 'spirit of manhood'; (4) Ksmiti,
'humility' or 'patience'; (5) Dhyana, 'meditation'; and (6) Prajna,
'transcendental wisdom"'(ZBA, 111-1 12). He clarifies that each of these
virtues is fundamentally related to the others. Although Prajna is most
comrnonly considered the goal of practice, it is also the basis of authentic
practice itself. So the "Paramita moves in a arcle with no beginning and
no ending. The giving is possible only when there is Emptiness and
Emptiness is attainable only when the giving is unconditionally carried
Page 226
McGim, Bernard. The Focindations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth
Century. New York: Crossroad, 1995.
Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Anthropology in Theological Perspective.
Translated by Mathew J. O'Comell. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press, 1985.
Pascal, Blaise. Les Pensées. Paris: Giraud, 1928.
Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith: A n introduction to the Idea
of Christinnity. Translated by William V. Dych. New York: Crossroad,
1993, 2nd edition.
Ricoeur, Paul. The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hernzeneutics. Edited
by Don Ihde. Evanston: Northwestem University Press, 1974.
Ryan, William F. Culture, Spirituality, and Economic Dez~eloprne~zt:
Opening n Dialogue. Ottawa: International Development Research
Centre, 1995.
Tracy, David. The Analogicnl Imagination: Christian Theology nnd the
Culture of Plurnlism. New York: Crossroad, 1981.
WiIber, Ken. Sex, Ecology and Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolirtion.
Boston: Shambhala Press, 1995.
. Engter, Jack. and Brown, Daniel P., eds. Transformations of
Co>~scioitsness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on
Deuelopment. Boston: Shambhala Press, 1985.
Whitehead, Evelyn E. and James D. Christian Life Patterns: The
Psychological Chnllenges nnd Religiozts Invitations of Adltlt Life. New
York: Crossroad, 1979.
Whitson, Robley Edward. The Corning Convergence of World Religions.
New York: Newman, 1971.
OPENNESS AND F I D E L ï W
THOMAS MERTON'S DIALOGUE WTH D. T. SUZUKI,
AND SELF-TRANSCENDENCE
b
Joseph Quinn Raab
A Thesis subnrittd to tht F d t y of Thco10gy of the University of St. Michaei's College
uid the Dcpuhnnit of ïheology of the Toronto School of Theology
in p& fulfüknent of the rrguirements for the degree of
Ooctor of Philosophy irt Thcology
awarded by the University of St. Michael's College
Toronto 2000
0 Joseph Quinn Rja b
Page 2
National Library Bibliothéque nationale
du Canada
Acquisitions and Acquisitions et
Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques
395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellirigtori
OnawaON K l A W OnawaON K1AON4
Canada Canada
The author has granted a non-
exclusive licence allowing the
National Library of Canada to
reproduce, loan, distribute or seli
copies of this thesis in microform,
paper or electro'onic formats.
The author retaios ownership of the
copyright in this thesis. Neither the
thesis nor substantial extracts kom it
may be printed or othewise
reproduced without the author's
permission.
L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive permettant a la
Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou
vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
la forme de microfiche/film, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
L'auteur consenre la propriété du
droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
ou autrement reproduits sans son
autorisation.
Page 113
of authenticity.15 Suzuki then uses examples from the stories of the Desert
Fathers and quotations from Meister Eckhart to further illustrate and
support his basic iwightç.
Using the proper relation between Knowledge and Innocence as a
hermeneutical tool Suzuki makes ethical evaluations. If one sets
Innocence and Knowledge up in contradictory opposition, one ends up
with the legalistic enslavement to an ungrounded "knowledge" on the
one hand, or the misguided license of a false "innocence" on the other.
Knowledge without Innocence is the fallen state of alienation from the
ground of one's being. innocence without knowledge is illusory, it is the
quietism of empty-headedness. The proper relation of the two leads to
mindfulness and wisdom, or Prajna. But even in the recognition of their
complementarity, the responsibility of realizing the balance between the
hvo falls on the acting subject. Suzuki sees the story of the "great hermit"
as an example of a failure to maintain the balance.16
The "great hermit" is guilty of not realizing Emptiness, that is,
Innocence, and Abbot Poemen commits an error in applying
Innocence minus knowledge to the affairs of the world. The robbers
are to be consigned to pison, for the community will suffer; as long
as they are outlaws they must be depnved of their liberty
(ZBA, 107-108).
'%uzuki refers readers to his hnkovatara Sutra (London: Routledge k Kegan Paul, 1957).
pp. 32,43,89, etc ... .
I6The "great hennit" was attacked by robbers and when other hermits heard his cries they
rescued him and marched the robbers off to jail. "But then the brothers were very
ashamed." They went to Abbot Poeman for counsel and he saidcMRemember who camed out
the first betrayal, and you wïil learn the reason for the second. Unless you had been
betrayed by your own inward thoughts you wouid never have ended by turning those men
over to the judge." The hermit who had been attacked, "touched by these words, got up at
once and went into the city and broke open the jail, letting out the robbers and freeing them
from torturerf (See WD, XXXVII).
Page 114
Whereas in part one of his essay Suzuki focused on the relation of
Buddhist Emptiness to Christian Innocence, in part two he discusses it in
relation to poverty. He begins, "The metaphysical concept of Emptiness is
convertible in economic terms into poverty, being poor, having nothing:
'Blessed are those who are poor in spirit'" (ZBA, 108-109). Suzuki spends
the remainder of part two attempting to convey the utterly radical nature
of the kind of poverty he is talking about. It is a poverty so great that there
remains no-self to be poor, or to be proud of one's spiritual emptiness. In
order to comrnunicate this idea he draws on the sayings of some Zen
masters, but he ends the second part with a quote from Eckhart:
If it is the case that a man is emptied of things, creatures, himself,
and God, and if God could h d a place in him to act, then we Say: as
long as that (place) exists, this man is not poor with the most
intima te pover ty (eigen tlichste Armu t). For God does not intend
that man shall have a place reserved for him to work in, since the
true poverty of spirit requires that man shall be emptied of God and
al1 his works, so that if God wants to act in the soul, he himself must
be the place in which he acts-and that he would like to do (ZBA, 110).
Finally, in the third part of his essay, Suzuki discusses the 'virtues' a
Buddhist attempts to actualize. "They are: (1) Dana, 'giving'; (2) Sila,
'observing the precepts'; (3) Virya, 'spirit of manhood'; (4) Ksmiti,
'humility' or 'patience'; (5) Dhyana, 'meditation'; and (6) Prajna,
'transcendental wisdom"'(ZBA, 111-1 12). He clarifies that each of these
virtues is fundamentally related to the others. Although Prajna is most
comrnonly considered the goal of practice, it is also the basis of authentic
practice itself. So the "Paramita moves in a arcle with no beginning and
no ending. The giving is possible only when there is Emptiness and
Emptiness is attainable only when the giving is unconditionally carried
Page 226
McGim, Bernard. The Focindations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth
Century. New York: Crossroad, 1995.
Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Anthropology in Theological Perspective.
Translated by Mathew J. O'Comell. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press, 1985.
Pascal, Blaise. Les Pensées. Paris: Giraud, 1928.
Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith: A n introduction to the Idea
of Christinnity. Translated by William V. Dych. New York: Crossroad,
1993, 2nd edition.
Ricoeur, Paul. The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hernzeneutics. Edited
by Don Ihde. Evanston: Northwestem University Press, 1974.
Ryan, William F. Culture, Spirituality, and Economic Dez~eloprne~zt:
Opening n Dialogue. Ottawa: International Development Research
Centre, 1995.
Tracy, David. The Analogicnl Imagination: Christian Theology nnd the
Culture of Plurnlism. New York: Crossroad, 1981.
WiIber, Ken. Sex, Ecology and Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolirtion.
Boston: Shambhala Press, 1995.
. Engter, Jack. and Brown, Daniel P., eds. Transformations of
Co>~scioitsness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on
Deuelopment. Boston: Shambhala Press, 1985.
Whitehead, Evelyn E. and James D. Christian Life Patterns: The
Psychological Chnllenges nnd Religiozts Invitations of Adltlt Life. New
York: Crossroad, 1979.
Whitson, Robley Edward. The Corning Convergence of World Religions.
New York: Newman, 1971.
