Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Fo
This text provides a comparative investigation of the affinities and differences of two of the most dynamic currents in World Buddhism: Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement. Defying differences in denomination, culture, and historical epochs, these s
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Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement
Buddhist Revivalist Movements
Alan Robert Lopez
Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement
Alan Robert Lopez Chiang Mai, Thailand
ISBN 978-1-137-54349-3 ISBN 978-1-137-54086-7 DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-54086-7
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956808 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Nickolay Khoroshkov / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York
PREFACE
This story begins 2500 years ago in Northeast India in the foothills of the Himalayas. Here were the original forest monks of the Buddha’s newly founded sangha. Here also is the origin of the doctrines and practices that would metamorphose and travel eastward to become Ch’an Buddhism, better known in the West under its Japanese name Zen. A more proximate starting point is several decades ago in the foothills of the Berkshires in Northwestern Connecticut. Here in a retreat that attracted Buddhists from different denominations; participants practiced a meditation that claimed to point directly at the essence of mind. We listened to talks from a cross section of Buddhist traditions. In this ecumenical space grounded in practice, a message that perhaps had been intuited by many of us was clearly enunciated. Each day, different dharma teaching was invited to speak. Among them was a monk of the Thai Forest Tradition, a disciple of the famed Ajahn Chah. What he told us to his delight and wonderment was that hearing the teachings on the nature of mind and the practices that accompanied them was like listening to his Thai teacher. He assured us that no monk had come over the mountains north of Thailand and descended to his forest wat or monastery. The practice/wisdom o
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