THE MAIN TRENDS IN THE RESEARCH ON ZENThe author presents the following main topics of research on Zen: the polemics concerning the history and orthodox character of Zen which are inseparably associated with the inveterate conflicts between the various Zen schools, the psychological and psycho-analytical interpretation (as well as its libertine variety, including “beat Zen”), the theory of Zen universalism (which is associated with the dialogue between Zen and Christianity), the so called, missionary trend in Zen and the debate on the philosophy of Zen. What is especially significant is that the author singles out the missionary trend in Zen, incorporating passages whose aim is to interest the readers in the practice of Zen (e.g. the answers of Zen masters to the questions posed by students). Due to their essayistic nature, the texts should not be treated as academic treatises on the philosophy of Zen. As a matter of principle, their authors avoid systematic philosophical analyses for the latter are regarded as an obstacle in the religious practice of Zen. It is very rare that the texts written by the same author may be qualified as belonging to two different trends. For instance, Daisetsu Teitarō Suzuki who in his missionary papers criticises the philosophical (intellectual) approach to Zen, is at the same time the author of an article on the philosophy of Zen.
This article is aimed at the analysis of Jakuan Sōtaku’s Zen Tea Record from the perspective of the teachings of the Zen masters included within it. In my book entitled Estetyka zen (Aesthetics of Zen), in relation to the ideas of Nishida Kitarō (1870–1945), a philosopher who was also a Zen practitioner, I explained how in Zen art there must be conveyed certain aspects of reality grasped in the act of enlightenment. Nishida called this reality the “absolutely contradictory selfidentity” (zettaimujunteki jikodōitsu), meaning such a paradox unity of all that does not exclude the distinctiveness of singular elements. The aspects mentioned above are: surpassing the dualism of the subject and object of cognition (“one is all and all is one”, ichi soku issai, issai soku ichi), affirmation of the common perspective of perception of reality (“form is emptiness and emptiness is form”, shiki soku ze kū, kū soku ze shiki), internally contradictory unity of oppositions (like motion–motionlessness, sacred–profane), “eternal now” as paradox unity of past and future, state of “no-self ” (mushin) as the creative act and absolute freedom of the enlightened person (for example braking the rules and canons of artistic creation). In the article I want to show that Sōtaku in his treatise included most of those aspects.
‘Ghosts of a living person’ (ikiryō) as the content of Subconsciousness in Murakami Haruki’s Kafka on the Shore The authoress analyses the image of ikiryō, ‘ghost of a living person’ in Murakami Haruki’s novel titled Kafka on the Shore trying to prove that ikiryō can be regarded as the manifestation of various contents of Subconsciousness according to the psychoanalytic typology presented by Carl Gustav Jung. The image of ikiryō can be found in Japanese mythology and folklore which is in accord with Jung’s statement that legends and myths represent expressions of collective Subconsciousness and provide important symbols. Such symbols can be helpful in the process of transferring the contents of the Subconsciousness into the consciousness, so that they could be interpreted and integrated. The authoress shows that ikiryō in Murakami’s novel has two main meanings: it is an equivalent of both the archetype of the Shadow and traumatic contents of consciousness, which were driven out to the Subconsciousness. Murakami emphasizes that without integrating such traumatic contents, the personality cannot be strong and stable. Ikiryō is also the Shadow as the absolute evil, which is not an abstract notions but psychic energy related to emotions. Psychic energy cannot be fully controlled by subjective consciousness because it also belongs to the Subconsciousness. The psychological situation of an individual who has no will to resist their own evil inclinations is represented in the archetype of the Shadow as ikiryō – ‘the ghost of a living person, who cannot be controlled when it leaves the sleeping body and torments people he hates.
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Autorka analizuje motyw ikiryō, czyli ducha osoby żyjącej w powieściKafka nad morzem Murakamiego Harukiego starając się udowodnić, że odpowiada on różnym rodzajom treści nieświadomości zgodnie z psychoanalityczną typologią Gustava Junga. Motyw ikiryō występuje w mitologii i folklorze Japonii, a według Junga, baśnie, legendy czy mity wyrażają ekspresję psychicznych procesów nieświadomości zbiorowej i wraz z ideami religijnymi dostarczają symboli, z pomocą których treść nieświadomości może być skanalizowana do świadomości, a następnie zinterpretowana i zintegrowana. Autorka wykazuje, że ikiryō w powieści Murakamiego jest wieloznacznym pojęciem – stanowi bowiem zarówno archetyp Cienia, jak i wyparte traumatyczne treści nieświadomości indywidualnej. Murakami na przykładzie swojego bohatera, Kafki, ukazuje, że bez integracji tych treści nie jest możliwe funkcjonowanie silnej i odpowiedzialnej osobowości. Ikiryō są także związane z archetypem Cienia jako złem absolutnym, które nie jest abstrakcyjnym pojęciem, ale energią psychiczną związaną ze sferą emocji. Energia ta nie jest pod kontrolą podmiotowej świadomości, ale posiada pewną autonomię. Brak woli człowieka, by przeciwstawić się złu, które jest w nim samym, zostało najpełniej przejawione w archetypowym obrazie Cienia jako ikiryō, czyli duchu osoby żyjącej, nad którym jej ego nie ma żadnej kontroli.
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