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Carry water, lug firewood: Dōgen's dialectical standpoint on "dropping off body and mind"

This paper examines Zen Master Dogen's philosophy of shinjin datsuraku, dropping off body and mind, through his dialectical standpoint on sunyata. In our efforts, we shall learn of the philosophical affinities Dogen shares with early Mahayana thinkers, particularly Nagarjuna and his philosophy of emptiness. A demonstration of this connection will in turn open up a new conceptual window for viewing and interpreting various themes and passages within Dogen's writings. Some ideas we will explore in order to frame out a dialectical discussion of shinjin datsuraku are the mind-body problem and its relationship to the problem of time, as well as his philosophy and practice of zazen, seated meditation. / Following from this examination, we will then probe Dogen's dialectical standpoint on shinjin datsuraku. In our attempt to unfold the philosophical layers of meaning that encapsulate this teaching, we will provide a novel reading of his philosophy of Buddha-nature, a philosophy that is free from all traces of essentialism.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.83125
Date January 2004
CreatorsMarkowski, Joseph D.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Faculty of Religious Studies.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 002210191, proquestno: AAIMR12743, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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