Knowing Blue Early Buddhist Accounts of Nonconceptual Sense Perception

Books

Typically, in the Western philosophical tradition, the presence of paradox and contradictions is ... more Typically, in the Western philosophical tradition, the presence of paradox and contradictions is taken to signal the failure or refutation of a theory or line of thinking. This aversion to paradox rests on the commitment-whether implicit or explicit-to the view that reality must be consistent. In What Can't be Said, Yasuo Deguchi, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, and Robert H. Sharf extend their earlier arguments that the discovery of paradox and contradiction can deepen rather than disprove a philosophical position, and confirm these ideas in the context of East Asian philosophy. They claim that, unlike most Western philosophers, many East Asian philosophers embraced paradox, and provide textual evidence for this claim. Examining two classical Daoist texts, the Daodejing and the Zhaungzi, as well as the trajectory of Buddhism in East Asia, including works from the Sanlun, Tiantai, Chan, and Zen traditions and culminating with the Kyoto school of philosophy, they argue that these philosophers' commitment to paradox reflects an understanding of reality as inherently paradoxical, revealing significant philosophical insights.

Papers

Journal of the American Academy of Religion , 2021

Is there a world out there when nobody is looking? This is a question that medieval Buddhist scho... more Is there a world out there when nobody is looking? This is a question that medieval Buddhist scholiasts struggled with over many centuries, giving rise to a variety of competing positions. In this article, I identify a loop that runs through and structures seemingly antithetical positions—some realist, some antirealist—in these debates. My claim is that the loop is a feature of our lifeworld, and thus any serious reflection on the mind/world relationship is bound to get entangled in it. Even modern physics has come up against it, such that rival positions advanced by quantum theorists are structurally analogous to positions proffered in medieval Buddhist writings. I conclude by turning to the Chan Buddhist tradition, which is often mischaracterized as hostile to philosophical analysis. Chan is among the few Buddhist schools that recognize, foreground, and celebrate the manner in which mind and world enfold each other. As such, this paper foregrounds the decidedly philosophical insights of the Chan tradition.

In "What Can't Be Said: Contradiction and Paradox in East Asian Thought," coauthored with Yasuo Deguchi, Jay Garfield, and Graham Priest (Oxford University Press). , 2021

Meditation in Buddhist-Christian Encounter: A Critical Analysis, edited by Elizabeth J. Harris and John O'Grady , 2019

Zen is a large monastic organization in modern Japan, comprising some 60 training monasteries, 21... more Zen is a large monastic organization in modern Japan, comprising some 60 training monasteries, 21,000 temples, and 24,000 ordained clergy. But only a handful of Zen priests have been actively involved in training Christians, and they have tended to be reformers or lay teachers who left the traditional (Rinzai, Sōtō) monastic organizations altogether. This chapter focuses on who these Zen teachers were, the specific form of Zen practice they were transmitting, and the significance of their teachings on how Zen has come to be understood and practiced by Christians.

Representations , 2018

Philosophy East and West , 2018

In post-Dignāga Buddhist epistemology, nonconceptual cognition (nirvikalpa-jñāna) comes to be con... more In post-Dignāga Buddhist epistemology, nonconceptual cognition (nirvikalpa-jñāna) comes to be construed as a sort of pre-reflective and self-intimating feature of all states of cognition. In earlier Ābhidharmika exegesis, however, the closest candidate for nonconceptual cognition is the notion that the five sense consciousnesses apprehend their object-supports directly, as opposed to the sixth consciousness—mind consciousness (manovijñāna)—which alone has the capacity for conceptual discrimination. In an oft-repeated example, visual consciousness is said to know "blue" but not "this is blue"; it is mind consciousness that knows "this is blue." This paper explores the difficulties that Sarvāstivāda exegetes encountered as they tried to make sense of immediate, nonconceptual cognition.

Critical Review for Buddhist Studies , 2017

This article begins with a reflection on why medieval Chinese Buddhist thought has not been more ... more This article begins with a reflection on why medieval Chinese Buddhist thought has not been more conspicuous in recent comparative work on Buddhism and Western philosophy. The Japanese proponents of "Critical Buddhism" (hihan bukkyō 批判仏教), Matsumoto Shirō 松本史朗 and Hakamaya Noriaki 袴谷憲昭, would see this neglect as merited since, in their view, East Asian Buddhism in general, and Chinese Chan in particular, is philosophically crippled owing to its embrace of tathāgatagarbha and buddha-nature thought. Indeed, Matsumoto singles out Shenhui 荷澤神會 (670-762), one of the architects of the Southern School of Chan, as an example of the early Chan advocacy of buddha-nature doctrine.
This article is not concerned with whether buddha-nature and tathāgatagarbha thought is actually deleterious to critical philosophical work. Rather, the concern is to demonstrate that, far from embracing buddha-nature doctrine, the eighth-century founders of Southern Chan had serious concerns with it. Evidence for this is found in: (1) the writings of Shenhui, notably in his opposition to the doctrine of the "buddha-nature of insentient objects" (wuqing foxing 無情佛性); and (2) the Platform Scripture of the Sixth Patriarch (Liuzu tanjing 六祖壇經), particularly in the variant versions of Huineng's famous "enlightenment verse." Thus the Southern School may be viewed as a forerunner of the Critical Buddhist anti-dhātuvāda polemics. The article closes with comments on the ongoing problems Chinese Buddhist exegetes had in marrying the metaphysical monism of Yogācāra and tathāgatagarbha teachings with the anti-foundationalist thrust of Madhyamaka and Prajñāpāramitā literature.

Transcultural Psychiatry , 2014

Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of &amp;amp;quot;b... more Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of &amp;amp;quot;bare attention&amp;amp;quot;-a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.

Journal of Indian Philosophy , 2015

Philosophy East and West , 2014

Myth, Religion, and Thought , 2014

The Art Bulletin , 2011

Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies , Jun 30, 2003