Zen Expressions and Buddhist Philosophy

Zen expressions of interdependence are close relatives of the great Buddhist philosophies. However, the Zen masters provide satisfactory coherence by augmenting and expanding the philosophical methods of expression through the incorporation of more figurative (less literal) language. The limit of the philosophical method is in the very exacting, meticulously precise language that makes its scheme so intellectual attractive. Here we meet one of the most important issues concerning an effective systematic approach to Zen doctrine and methodology; figurative language has a much greater capacity to communicate wisdom than literal language does. Buddhist philosophy achieves its intellectual heights through its rigid adherence to logic, precision, and detail; its language is descriptively accurate. Descriptive accuracy depends on literal accuracy; literal accuracy demands precisely defined boundaries—in a word; abstraction. Clear, abstract, literal accuracy is excellent for recording and conveying knowledge and information; but its capacity to transmit or evoke spiritual wisdom is extremely limited.
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This is not to say that literal, descriptively accurate language has no place in Zen; it has a vital position. Most practical instructions on meditation, for example, are quite literal. However, the true nature of reality cannot be transmitted with a literal explanation using abstract terms and concepts, no matter how descriptively accurate. The figurative language of myth and metaphor has always been the language of wisdom. Reality is permeated by paradox, logical inconsistency, and incommunicable experience. Literal accuracy depends upon consistency of logic, consensually verifiable evidence, and an absence of paradox. In the language of myth and metaphor inconsistent logic and paradox are functional, incommunicable experience is shared. One Buddhist scripture, the Heart Sutra, tells us, “There is no old age and death,” and, “There is no ending of old age and death.” Literally, this is nonsense. Metaphorically, it transmits a profound truth.
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Through the creative development and refinement of the intimate, demonstrative expression of “direct pointing,” the figurative language of Zen (and Dogen) abandons the nets and cages of literalism and conceptualization and transcends the limitations of the great philosophical systems of Buddhism. Where the Huayen master explains how a golden statue of a lion has both “one essence” (gold) and “many characteristics” (a head, claws, hair, etc.) the Zen master simply delivers the lions roar.
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While it is true that figurative language can be just as false and nonsensical as literal language, the fact remains that it is the most effective vehicle, if not the only one, for the transmission of wisdom. The classic literature of Zen exemplifies the potential of this vehicle. Dogen’s Shobogenzo exemplifies one of the greatest realizations of that potential.
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The great Huayen master, Ch’eng Kuan, in one of his marvelous explanations of interdependence wrote:
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On the eighth day of a [lunar] month, half of the moon is bright and the other half is dark; the very appearance of the bright part [the disclosed] affirms but does not negate the existence of the hidden part. Likewise, the manifestation of something always implies the existence of the unmanifested or concealed part of the same thing. At the moment when the bright part of the moon is disclosed, the dark part also "secretly" establishes itself. This is the reason for the so-called simultaneous establishment of concealment and disclosure…” Non-Obstruction of Concealment and Disclosure, by Ch’eng Kuan, The Buddhist Teaching of Totality, Garma C. C. Chang
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In Case 100 of the Blue Cliff Record, a monk asked the Zen master Haryo for an explanation of this same principle:
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A monk asked Haryo, "What is the razor-sharp sword?"

Haryo said, "Each branch of coral supports the moon."

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Peace,

Ted