Swedenborg: Buddha of the North (Swedenborg Studies, 5) - Hardcover

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro

4.16

38 ratings by Goodreads

9780877851851: Swedenborg: Buddha of the North (Swedenborg Studies, 5)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0877851859 ISBN 13: 9780877851851

Publisher: Swedenborg Foundation, 1996

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The first complete English translation of two works by Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki introduces Emanuel Swedenborg and compares Swedenborgian thought to Buddhism. The first work stresses Swedenborg's message that true spirituality demands an engagement in this world; the second compares Swedenborg's description of heaven to the paradise of Pure Land Buddhism.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was Japan's foremost authority on Zen Buddhism, and the author of over 100 works on the subject. He was trained as a Buddhist disciple in the great Zen monastery at Kamakura. From 1897 to 1908 he worked in the United States as an editor and translator, and later became a lecturer at Tokyo Imperial University. In 1950, at 80, he returned to the United States and spent most of the decade teaching, lecturing, and writing, particularly at Columbia and Harvard. Returning to Japan, he died in Tokyo in 1966 at the age of 95. Christopher Reed has been teaching Buddhism and Buddhist meditation for 15 years. He received transmission as a Dharma teacher from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. He has been influenced by the tradition of socially/politically engaged Buddhism, and works toward the integration of traditional Buddhist teaching with the demands of everyday life. He is co-founder and director of the Ordinary Dharma Meditation Center in Los Angeles and the Manzanita Village Retreat Center in San Diego. Andrew Bernstein holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Graduate School of the City University of New York. He teaches Philosophy at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York, and at the State University of New York at Purchase. Dr. Bernstein is a speaker for the Ayn Rand Institute and lecturer on Ayn Rand's novels throughout the United States.

"Previously, I noted that the essence of heaven is innocence and that, because this innocence cannot be achieved through ordinary knowledge, it must be reached through a perfect enlightenment beyond knowledge. What I call enlightenment is the perception that we cannot independently achieve good separate from the Lord God in heaven. Without this perception, we cannot attain innocence.

"Since heaven derives from innocence, its opposite, hell, would have to signify non-innocence. In other words, those who believe in self-power without relying on other-power will always fall into hell. When my ego's purpose suddenly arises, I shoot into hell like an arrow. The purpose of ego, according to Swedenborg, is self-love and worldly love. When the vault of hell is opened, the raging fire and smoke that one sees rising up is what springs from the blaze of these two loves. Those who are in hell in bodily form are completely consumed by these flames. As I said before, there is also heat in heaven, the heat of divine love. However, this heat is like the warmth of spring, and once this warmth flows into the blade of hell, the blaze cools and becomes extremely cold. The heat of heaven acts in this mysterious way. Flowing from the depths of the Divine is a power that cannot be judged by human perception."

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.