Zen Buddhism and the Spiritual-Intellectual Potential of Japan (second half of the 19th – 20th cent.)

The article is devoted to the place of Zen Buddhism in the development of the spiritual-intellectual potential of Japan in the period from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to the end of the twen-tieth century. Two major Zen schools in Japan, Rinzai and Soto, and Sambo Kyodan, a syncretic school influencial in the West, were considered. Within each school the article focuses on the role of prominent Zen Buddhist intellectuals such as Imakita Kosen, Shaku Soen, Suzuki Daisetsu (Rinzai School), Nishiari Bokusan, Suzuki Shunryu, Sawaki Kodo, Deshimaru Taisen (Soto School) etc. The main innovations that positively influenced the intellectual development of Zen Buddhism were highlighted, such as the creation of modern educational institutions (such as Hanazono and Komazawa Universities), the Zen lay movement (koji Zen), the studies of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions, foreign languages, Western philosophy etc. by Zen masters, and promoting Zen knowledge beyond Japan. The influence of Zen on the formation and development of new Japanese philosophy (Nishida Kitaro, Nishitani Keiji) and literature (Natsume Soseki, Kawabata Yasunari, etc.) are mentioned. Particular attention is paid to the spread of Zen in the West, because it is connected with an important intellectual innovation – the rethinking of Zen as a non-denominational universal common to all mankind. A prominent role in the philosophical development of this concept belongs to the eminent scholar and thinker Suzuki Daisetsu. It opened the possibility of studying Zen psycho-practices for all comers, regardless of religion, and therefore created new perspectives for dialogue with Christianity, which had been realized already in cooperation of Suzuki with Thomas Merton, and developed further by Sambo Kyodan School and found its manifestation in the activities of Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle and Kadowaki Kakichi. The popularity of Zen in the world, in turn, contributed to both the interest in Japanese culture in general and the promotion of its other products in the West, from karate to anime. In this regard, we propose to approach Zen as a special intellectual product through which Japan made a significant contribution to the world culture of the twentieth century.