David L. McMahan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195183276
- eISBN:
- 9780199870882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183276.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter investigates the articulation of Buddhism in terms of Romanticism and Transcendentalism by examining how Buddhism has come to be conceived as having a special link to art and creativity. ...
More
This chapter investigates the articulation of Buddhism in terms of Romanticism and Transcendentalism by examining how Buddhism has come to be conceived as having a special link to art and creativity. D. T. Suzuki, a key figure in this conception, amalgamated German idealist and American Transcendentalist cosmological concepts with Buddhist ones and presented the Japanese poets, Zen monks, and samurai warriors as deeply and religiously attentive to nature in ways similar to the English Romantics and American Transcendentalists. His conception of spiritual freedom as a spontaneous, emancipatory consciousness that transcends rational intellect and social convention drew heavily on these figures. The idea caught on with other influential figures like Lama Govinda and Sangharakshita and has inspired a plethora of popular books, as well as programs in meditation and creativity in monasteries and universities.Less
This chapter investigates the articulation of Buddhism in terms of Romanticism and Transcendentalism by examining how Buddhism has come to be conceived as having a special link to art and creativity. D. T. Suzuki, a key figure in this conception, amalgamated German idealist and American Transcendentalist cosmological concepts with Buddhist ones and presented the Japanese poets, Zen monks, and samurai warriors as deeply and religiously attentive to nature in ways similar to the English Romantics and American Transcendentalists. His conception of spiritual freedom as a spontaneous, emancipatory consciousness that transcends rational intellect and social convention drew heavily on these figures. The idea caught on with other influential figures like Lama Govinda and Sangharakshita and has inspired a plethora of popular books, as well as programs in meditation and creativity in monasteries and universities.
