Abstract
This chapter sketches the contours of Ueda Shizuteru’s philosophy of Zen. It begins by commenting on how Ueda inherits Nishida Kitarō’s and Nishitani Keiji’s endeavor to bring Zen thought and practice into dialogue with Western philosophy and religion. It then discusses Ueda’s interpretation of Meister Eckhart and Zen as paths of “non-mysticism” that go beyond a mystical union and back to the here and now of everyday reality. This path of non-mysticism is shown to be exemplified in Ueda’s illuminating interpretation of the Ten Oxherding Pictures. Treated next is Ueda’s account of the self as a dynamic movement of “I, in not being I, am I,” rather than as a static substance or simply self-identical subject. This self-negating movement of the self is shown to entail an empathetic openness to others. The chapter then examines Ueda’s account of language, which he argues entails a ceaseless dynamic of “exiting language and then exiting into language.” This dynamic takes place within what Ueda calls the “twofold world.” The chapter ends by commenting on how Ueda personally exemplified his philosophy of engagement in our meaningful worlds while maintaining an attunement of releasement (Gelassenheit) to the “infinite expanse” in which these worlds are situated.
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Notes
- 1.
On the Kyoto School and Ueda’s place therein, see Ōhashi and Akitomi (2020) and Davis (2019a). While Abe Masao 阿部正雄 (1915–2006) is better known in the United States given his long residence there and his many publications in English (see Mitchell 1998), in Japan Ueda is unquestionably viewed as the central figure of the third generation of the Kyoto School. Having spent a number of years in Germany and published numerous articles in German, Ueda is better known in Europe than he is in the United States and other English speaking countries. For a list of Ueda’s works in German, see Ueda (2007–2008, 5: 254–258). For a selection of these, see Ueda (2011a). For a review of Ueda (2011a), see Davis (2013). Earlier versions of chapters 1–4 of Ueda (2011a) are available in excellent English translations as Ueda (1982, 1983, 1989a, 1992). Ueda has approved my plan to edit an English anthology of his work that will include translations from both Japanese and from German texts of his. Scholarship on Ueda’s work available in English includes Döll (2011, 2020), Davis (2008, 2013, 2014, 2019b), and Heisig (2005). The first monograph on Ueda’s philosophy is in German: Döll (2005). In Japanese, some commentaries on Ueda’s thought, along with responses and retrospective essays by Ueda himself, can be found in the 2005 issue of the journal Tōzai shūkyō kenkyū (Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 2005). The first collection of essays in English on Ueda’s thought recently appeared as a special issue of Comparative and continental philosophy (Davis 2022a). It contains a translation by Gregory Moss of Ueda’s programmatic early essay “Meister Eckhart’s mysticism in comparison with Zen Buddhism” as well as essays on key aspects of Ueda’s thought by John Krummel, John Maraldo, and myself, and concludes with a review essay on Ueda (2011a) by Jason Wirth. The present volume is the first book-length collection of essays on Ueda’s thought.
- 2.
uss refers to Ueda’s Collected Works; see bibliographical information at the beginning of this chapter.
- 3.
Nishitani and Ueda (1988), Ueda and Horio (1998), and Ueda et al. (2006) contain essays by Ueda and other leading contemporary Japanese scholars affiliated with the Kyoto School on the relation of the philosophies of Nishida, Nishitani, Hisamatsu Shin’ichi as well as the thought of Suzuki Daisetsu and others to Zen. See also the essays collected in uss, 5. On the relation between philosophy and the practice of Zen in Nishida’s, Nishitani’s, and Ueda’s thought, see Davis (2021) and Davis (2022b: 275–289).
- 4.
Unless otherwise noted, all translations in this chapter are my own.
- 5.
Ueda also wrote retrospective epilogues to each of the eleven volumes of his Collected Works (uss). These epilogues were collectively published with some additional reflections in Ueda (2007–2008, 5: 2–258). See also the afterword to each of the five volumes of Ueda (2007–2008). These epilogues and afterwords illuminate the signposts of his thought-path and reveal how remarkably consistent that path has remained for more than half a century. This consistency is also attested to by the fact that Ueda paid little attention to chronological order in the arrangement of chapters and volumes of his Collected Works.
- 6.
“What is religion?” (Shūkyō to wa nanika 宗教とは何か) is both the title of Nishitani’s magnum opus, translated by Jan Van Bragt as Religion and Nothingness (Nishitani 1982), and also the title Ueda gave to the final volume of his Collected Works (uss, 11). On the difference it makes to rethink this question from the perspective of Japanese Buddhist traditions, see Davis (2004) and Davis (2020a).
- 7.
For an elaboration of the following account of Ueda’s comparison of Eckhart and Zen, see Davis (2008).
- 8.
Yamada (2004). For Ueda’s commentaries, see Ueda and Yanagida (1992: 17–174), and Ueda (2002). Both of these are now included in uss, 6. In 2004 an interview with Ueda on his interpretation of the Oxherding Pictures was broadcast on the NHK television show, Kokoro no jidai; for a transcript see http://h-kishi.sakura.ne.jp/kokoro-26.htm. For an elucidation of the Oxherding Pictures that is much indebted to Ueda, see the concluding chapter of Davis (2022b).
- 9.
Ueda (1973). A revised and expanded version of this book appeared under the same title in a paperback series published by Iwanami in 1993. In a rearranged order and collated with other related essays, most of the chapters of this book now appear in uss, 4, the volume title of which is Zen: Kongen-teki ningen (Zen: Radical human being).
- 10.
Ueda (2000); reprinted in uss, 10: 15–171. uss, 10 is entitled Jiko no genshōgaku (Phenomenology of the Self).
- 11.
- 12.
Even though Ueda did not publish his first monograph on Nishida until three decades into his literary career, when it came time to arrange his own Collected Works, he foregrounded his works on Nishida by gathering most of them in the first three volumes, the first of which is entitled simply Nishida Kitarō (uss, 1).
- 13.
Revised versions of these chapters appear as “Zen no kotoba” 禅の言葉 (The Language of Zen) and “Taiwa to Zen mondō” 対話と禅問答 (Dialogue and Zen Mondō) in uss, 4: 183–319. For an extensive treatment of the question of language in Ueda’s philosophy of Zen, see Davis (2019b). For an introductory account of language and Zen that culminates with Ueda, see chapter 20 of Davis (2022b).
- 14.
Ueda Sensei passed away on June 28, 2019, while this volume was in preparation. For some personal reflections on my last few meetings with him, see Davis (2020b).
Abbreviations
- uss :
-
Ueda, Shizuteru. 2001–2003. Ueda Shizuteru shū 上田閑照集 [Collected Works of Ueda Shizuteru], 11 volumes. Tokyo: Iwanami
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Davis, B.W. (2022). The Contours of Ueda Shizuteru’s Philosophy of Zen. In: Müller, R., Bouso, R., Loughnane, A. (eds) Tetsugaku Companion to Ueda Shizuteru. Tetsugaku Companions to Japanese Philosophy, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92321-1_2
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