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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

( :aner, Rohcn Fdgar.

'Jhc Kyoro sclwol an introduction 1 lw Roben F. C:artcr; rc>rcword lw
·1homas 1' Kasulis.
pagcs cm
Includn hibliographiul rekrcnces 1llld indn.
ISBN LJ 7 il-l-45il4-4'í42-7 (phk. : alk. paper)
ISBN l)7il-1-43il4-4'í41-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
l. l'hilosoph1·, Japanc·se -20th century. 2. Nishida, I<iraro, 1il70-194'i.
5. 'Lmabc. Hajime, 1ilil)- 1'!62. 4. Nishirani, I<,·iji, 1900- 'í. l"orhing
(!'hilosophy) l. Tirlc.

B'i24U:57 20U
1ill'.12--dc23 2012011074

]() l) ¡j 7 6 'í 4 j 2

......_ J
 3

Nishitani Keiji
(1900-1990)

ln Súll)'illti [LlllfllÍIJc·,,J thing' UJ!llc: lO rL'\l on rhcir own

roor-\ource. il re, IlOL a .qandp<1Íill rhar only ,r,¡¡e, riLll thL·
sclf ami rhi11gs .1re empry. ·!he ¡;,umLlliOil of 1he c,t,llldpoiill
of Súil)•tiltl lic:, cl,n,hne: IHH rh.¡¡ rhe \elf ¡, L·mpry, hur rha1
empiine" i., rhc· ,el!~ Ih>l rh:11 rhing' :m: cmp1y. hur rh.ll
emprir1c·sc, ¡, dling,.

-i\1;¡,,w Ahe. "1'\i,hir.l!li\ C:h,dlcilg<· w l'hii<IC>ophv ,lll(l

·¡ heologv." i11 i/1e N.e/¡g/ous 1'/u!mop/1)' o/ .\'isf,ir,ll/1 1\ei¡i

When reading Nishirani, one encounters an existentialist who knew

full wcll rhar he lived within rhe "exisremialisr predicamenr" .md
who srrugglcd mighrily ro tind his way rhrough it. According to
rhis perspecrive, rhe human predicament is one in which we have
been thrown into a world without meaning. Furthermore, wirh
no absolure guidepmrs or map ro follow, given rhar God has been
declared dead, 1 we are srill somchow cxpecrcd ro live a mcaning-
ful and moral lite. Há,ig rranslates a passage by Nishirani which
describes rhis kind of exisrenrial despair: "My lite as a young man
can be described in a single phrase: ir was a pcriod absolurdy
wirhout hope . . . . My life at rhe rime lay emircly in rhc grips of
nihiliry ami despair. . . . My decision, rhcn, ro srudy philosophy
Was in f¡cr-mdodramaric as ir mighr sound-a mauer of lifc
and dearh."' A central rheme of his own philo,ophical journey is
this conti·onration with nihilism. Nihilism, or whar he also rerms

91

l
 92 1 The Kyoto School
·'relarive norhingness,'' is rhc poimed awarent:ss rhar our existenc
is withour foundarion and our laws, insriturions, and rl'iigions a e
- b l L - re
fee le atternprs ro papcr over t 1e growing aoyss of rneaninglessness
and hopelessness. Neverrhcless, we rnusr somehow acr signiflcanti.
or else, as rhe f~rench wrirer Albert Camus wrore, al! rhat is lefr ;;
ro commir eirher intellcctual or physical suicide. Physical suicide
needs no explanarion, bur intellecrual suicide is the furile accep.
rance of ideas, laws, ethical sranccs, or religious/polirical ideolo-
gics, none of which are inrellcctually def~nsible. Whar it was rhat
Nishitani soughr was some "standpoint" from which meaning and
foundational justificarion mighr emerge.
Life and Career
Nishitani Keiji was born on February 27, 1900, in a srnall town
on rhc lnland Sea. After rhe death of his Enher, when Nishitani
was fourteen, he and his morhcr moved ro Tokyo. Tuberculosis, rhe
same disease rhar his fuher had died ti·om, causcd him ro delay his
prc-universiry schooling. Scnr ro rlw northern islam{ of Hokkaido,
the resr and ckan air offered a cure. He rerurned to lükyo and this
rime was accq)[ed imo rhe presrigious Dai ichi High School. His
sojourn in Hokbido letr him rime ro read rhe novels of Sóseki
Narsunw, whme memion of rlw Zen starc of mind led Nishirani
ro rhe Zen \\rirings of D. T Suzuki.
In high school he read widely, srudying rhe works of Dos-
roevsky ami Nierzsclw, which began his f~>ray into exisrenrialism,
as well as rhe Biblc and Sr. Francis of As:,isi. Bur ir was Nishida's
J7¡uught tl!Lcl E\ptTÚ'ILCc rhat rurned his arrenrion more roward phi-
losophy as a porential field of inrcresr. Heisig suggesrs rhat Nishi-
rani had rl1ree choice;, before him as graduarion from high :,chool
approached: ro lwconll' a Zen monk, ro join a uropian communirv
called "New 'lown," orto selcct philosophy as his lifC.'s work.' He
decided on rhe larrer, ;,tudying philmophy at rhe Universiry of
Kyoro, whcre he :,rudied under Nishida and Tanabc'. His gradua-
rion thesis was on rhc' Cerrnan philosopher, Schelling ( 1775-1 S 54).
~
Nishitani Keij i 1 93
Having graduatc'd frum univcTsirv at rhc agc· of rwc'nry-fóur, he
~1 r f1hilmo¡1hv in high sthool t~>r rhc· llc'Xt cighr Vc'ars. In l 'J2S
tJLlt' 1
" "- (._ .
he was appoimed ro an adjuncr lccrurc·ship ar ( )rani Univcrsity in
Kvoro, conrinuing rhcrc unril 1955. l-k puhlislJL'd essay' during
rhar rime aml, in ]tJ32, was made a lccturcr ~lf Kyoro Univnsity.
His conrinuing imere;,r in mystiul rhoughr was c'\·idcnt in rhe pub-
lisbing of a book on rhe hisrory of mysricism rkn same year. · l his
interesr was un u:-- u al among WestcTn philosopher:,, where mysticism
had nor pbyed a signitlcmr role in rLeir rhinking, ami ycr rnosr of
rhe philo;,ophers of rhe Kyoto School rook mysticism very seriously.
Nishirani ami Ueda al! wresrkd wirh rhc wrirings of !\lcisrcr Eckharr
¡J260-U2S), rhe rhirtc'cnrh-ccmury German rny;,tic, a.'> did JV1arrin
Heidegger, wirh whom Nishirani and Ut:da srudied.
In 19:)6, hi:, carlicr imercst in Zen broke through once again,
and he began his Zen pracrice, which conrinucd for rhe nexr twc'n-
ry-four years ar Shokoku-ji. under master Yamazaki. His dual inrer-
esr in philosophy and Zcn, a:, J-leisig recoums, "was a mancr, as he
likcd ro say, of a balance berwt:l'll rcason ami lcning go of reason.
of 'rhinking ami sining, sining ami rhen thinking.' "' '!he namé
given ro him by his nuster was 1\:eisei ("voice of rhe vallev stream").
When he was rhirry-seven he was awarded . t scholarship
trom the /'v1inistry of Educarion ro srudy under rhc' Lunous French
philosopher, Henri Bergson ( l b)9-1941 ). However, Bergson's ill
health made rhis impos:--ible, so he was allmwd ro switch ro M.nrin
Heidegger, now ar Heidelberg Univcrsity. Ar th . u tinw, Hc,idegger
was lecruring on Nieusche, ami, during his \tay, Nishirani himsdt'
delivercd a lecrure comparing Nierzsche's /tmltllll.l!rtl ro I'vlei~tcr
Eckhart';, writings.
Ar rhe age of rorry-rhrt:e, Nishirani, like many orhn Japa-
ne;,t: academics, incurred dilticulrics wirh rhe warrime Mini;,rry of
1 Educarion. B()[h Ni,hida ami Tmabe encouragcd him ro speak
our againsr rhe irracional ideology of rhc lime, which appcared
to be lcading _lapan ro war, hur he was unablt: ro do so, unable
to be decisiw enough lO acr on rheir urging>. He· vva' appoiiltc'd
to rhe "chair" of rhe deparrmcnr of rdigion rhar same year. and
\Vas awarded a doctorare, with rhe hdp ami assisrancc of Nishida,
94 1 The Kyoto School
two years larer. His doctoral rhesis was ricled "Prolcgomenon t
0
Philosophy of Religion." a rhea or¿ 1·1nrv
Nishirani reccived a sewre blow in Decembcr 1946 e
. - ' arrer
rhc ddear ot japan, when the occuparion ,1urho1 iries deemed h·
unsuitable tor teaching. Not only could he nor teach any ¡ trn
011
but he was also barred from holding any public oftice. lhe cha~e~
againsr him was rhat he had supporred rhe wartime governme;r.
Needl.:ss ro sav, he was crushed bv this decision, bur he four1d h·
· · IS
suppon in Zcn, as wdl as in his wife. Heisig writ.:s rhar "ir was a
difticulr rime for him, ancl his wite, who would warch_him spending
whol.: afternoons warching lizards in rh.: yard, was atraicl he wou]d
crack undcr rhe pain."; Nonc"rhdcss, during these ycars of academic
exile, he wrote rl ,)/ur~y o./Ari.,tot/e, and God rl/1(1 !lú.,olute Nothing-
Jicss, and l\'ihilisJ!I, all of which "Emabe hailed as "masterpieces."G
Reflecting back ro rhe war years, Nishirani observecl that
during rhc war he was criticized tür nor supporting Japan's rurn
roward milirarism ami righrisr ideology and immecliatdy afrer rhe
war tür having supportcd ir in sorne vvay.- He was damned if he
did supporr rhe war, and damned if he did not. Neverrheless, he
was eventually reappointed ro the position he was forced ro leave
behind, jusr tivc years later in 1952. His final collecred outpur
consisted of rwenty-six volumes, which only began appearing, in
japanese, in 1986.
In his wrirren "message" ro rhe participanrs of a conference
on his book Rcligion tlilrf Nothingl!c.,s, which was held ar Smirh
and Amhersr Colleges in 1984, he sr:ned rhat his "central concern
has been to thinlé the problcm of norhingness."' Furrhermore, he
poinrs out rhar, since Wesrern rhought has cometo influence every
aspecr of japanese culture, ir is nmv necessary ro "re-rhink'' rhe
long rradirion of Easrern "rhoughr and philosophy with rhe help
of whar we lcarned from \X'esrern philosophy."" ll1roughour rhis
rethinking, Nishirani mainrained a Zen posirion, bur in rhe light
of exisrenrial rhoughr, rhar aL,o demanckd rhat "rcaliry" be füund
in rhe living of everyclay lite ami nor in sorne rheorerical account
of realiry. Realiry is undertoor, bur it rec¡uires a good deal of dig-
ging and sweeping ro find ir. \Vhar Nishirani ofters is a srandpoint
Nishitani Keiji 1 95
,, ulred from his digging ami swc·c·nitlg ami fro1n which
h• ( 11a S r' 5 L' L f>
, , world llLl\'
. lw lKTLL'ivL·d
r in a11 n:traordinarv. w.n·,
. a
r ·a\' rhar has bcc·n availabk all along l~ll· annlilL" looking at it ti·om
;h~ srandpoint ot nothingnns/em¡HillL''>S/_)i/;¡ . !t is rk· ordinan
·¡s exrraordlllarv, rhc L'Xtraordllurv ,JS ordli!JI"\'.
wor Id '· · · ·
Nietzsche and Nihilism
Nishirani nor onlv rc-,earLhcd the ropic uf "nihilism," bur. as a
voung man, he had lived ir, cvcntually \\TL·sding ir to rhe ground
~nd rhen tinding a pathway thruugh ir allll bt:yond. ·¡he n1.d:1-
dy he had cxperiencL·d was "EuropL,an nihilistn,·· as he c:tllcd it,
which arose due ru rhe "rapid collapsc·" wirhin him (Jnd rhrough-
out Europé) uf rradirion:d tnc·uphysical philmuphy and "thL· Llccnh
of God," as announced lw NiL·rzsche. \\'har lud h:1ppened \\':ls
rhat the worldview rhar h:1d nourishc,d ami supporrcd tl1t" spirirual
life of EuropL· rÍH more rhan rwo rhousand ve.u·-, w:L'> all ar once
rhrown inro c¡uesriutl: the t~nllldarion uf Euro¡xan lite had nor
just cracked bur had colhpsed alrogcrher. Philosophy allll rdigion
were now seen ro have bn·n human-madL', merL· consrrucrions. An
abyss opened, c,¡sring all torms uf mcaning, sc:Luriry, and lw¡x i111o
radical doubr. As :l rnulr ot" rhis, a grear dL·-,pair swepr rhruugh
Europe, ar kasr among thL· intdligemsia, :llld rliL' onlv \\J\' bcvond
ir was m shifr thL· as:,ULlllLL"~ of rdigiuu:, bith ancl lllL'taphy~ical
reasoning ro rh.ll of rhc ,df "Jh.: cuuragc ro bcL· rhi~ yawni11g
abyss, rl~L·n, rcc¡uired li\·ing wirl]()ut assur;tnccs, ami, )'t'l, .living :l
passionare lite gruunded un one's mv11 choicn. ·¡ hL di.-,closure uf
"norhingnc·ss"' or nihilin· ar rhe core of L'Xisrencc demanded an
'·overcoming" of rhis nihilism bv sLeer dererminatiun tu crL·are and
charr on.:'s Luvvn hisroric!l desri,nation. Nihilism was overcome bv
firsr admirring rhe rrurh of nihiliry and rhen clwo.-,ing ro livL' i;1
rhe E1ee of it. "1 he old values a rose ti·om ourside of rhe individual.
The nnv Nierzschean \·alueo c,lnlc t"rum human bcings, empower-
ing alll! emboldening cach pelVJil ro creare values tor him/herself
This brings bnh a ~will ro ¡)(Jwcr." \Ve would no longcr be hcld
........
 96 1 The Kyoto School
down by rlw graviry of pasr rradirions-old valucs rhar kepr us fro
. • . • I1J.
crearing valucs for ourselves and fancihd rhrears ot eterna! damna-
rion ami divine punishmenr.
Nishirani argued rhar rhe only way ro ddear nihilism is
"rhrough nihilism." 10 His guide in rhis was Fricdrich Nietzsche
whose lhus Spoke Lrtmthustm was based on rhe idea rhar nihilisi1J.
could only be overcome by a reframing of our understanding of
nihilism. Perhaps rhe best roure for undersranding Nierzsche's brand
of nihilism is ro use Nishitani's own analysis in bis lhe Self Over-
coming oj'Nihi!ism. 11 Once Nietzsche had announced rhar "God is
dead," (rhar is, now rhat, tor many, God is no longer believed to
exist) ir became necessary ro investig~lte whar consriruted the life
of Christianity and then the slow implications of its demise resulr-
ing in the need for new values. Nishitani poinrs out rhat with the
collapse of Christianiry, "the ground of received ideals and values
has beco me hollow." 12 For cenruries, Christian values had them-
selves protecred its f(J!lowers from despair ar rhe meaninglessness of
human existence. TI1e way this was accomplished was rhat Chris-
tianiry "granred rhe human absolure vrdue'' as rhe ''image of God"
on earrh. Furrherrnore, Christianiry counrered rhe actual exisrence
of evil and suftering in rhe world by posiring a divine plan, which
gave meaning ro evil and suftering. Moreover, Christian reachings
guaranteed a God-given moraliry, rendering rhe inclinarion roward
physical suicide t:u less of a rhrear due to a feeling of hopelessness.
However, wirh God's dearh, all of rhese assurances wcre raken
away, lcaving rhe porential f()r a yawning abyss of hopelessness.
Whar emerged was a second look at rhar which Chrisrianiry had
promored, now rhar its "rrurh'' was no longer unassailable. Chris-
tian morality had taught thar human beings wcre vveak (''rhe rneek
shall inherit rhe earth"; Psalms 25:8) and rhar the world is filled
with sutt'ering and evil. TI1c belids in Heavcn and Judgment Day
were a denial of rhis world as good, leading naturally to a "barred
of the natural," a justification f()r rhe prderence of rhe weak over
the strong ami culminaring in rhe denial of the passions. So Chris-
rianiry was born as an amidore ro rhe nihilism of the time, yer ir
produced anorlwr nihilism: "Europcan nihilisrn." -!he brcakdown
..........
Nishitani Keiji 1 97
l
. C) risrianirv yidded a frL·-,h look .lt whar, t~lr NiL'll'>chc, wa-, a
ot 1 ~ . .
\VÜ rlll
-dcnving
. e
•Jhilmo•Jln·.
t t •
'lhi> new nihili,m, ,H ir.' vn\·. dcnrJ¡-,,
t
aave risc ro ~1 ncw ovcrcorning uf nihilism, the --,,¡!1 ro pmvcr."
In place of Cm! ¡, rhe !ove uf -,elf ;tnd rl1L' 1\urld jmr a' rhq ;HL',
argued Nict?SLhc. '!he .'>l·Jf. Joarhing of hum~uh a' lu-,dtrl, croric
beings gave \\J)' lU a view ot hunum a, proud, powcrtul LTOCÍl
beinvs who loved lik .md wcrc etpahk· of crL·aring meaning aml
valu;, tór rhemsdvcs. l'lca:,urL' i> nor inrrimically evi,l bur acru~1lly i,
,¡un of rhc· fullne>s uf lit'c ami thc nt;!bli-,hrncm of lit'c-affirrning
a D L
values. One tlctional exampk ol. une who livL''> in thi-, pusirive
and lite affirm ing wa;· i.'> N ÍL'tüchc\ "ovcrruan" (ii/;cmLI'I/.1(¡,), 11 ho
say'> "yl·," ro thL· worl,l c1nd w hi-,/hcr 0\\ n c·xi-,rcncc. Such .1 un,·
displays rl1l' powcr aml '>lrcngrh ro give rucaning tu a mcaningk..,..,
world. lndcL·d, NiL'U\lhe Llllgln thar or1e musr lm·c rhc 11orld that
you hclpcd to :-.lupc ro -,udl ,\Il n.rcnr thar vuu would he will-
ing ro accqH irs worrh L"vc·n if y()u WLTL' Lllllll11Írrnl ro rcliving ir
jmr as ir ¡, OVLT ,l!ld mn ~1gain rhroughout ernnir1·. ·lhc "myrh
of er"-rnal fl'c:ttrrctlí.c" ¡, a rcsr of rhe wonh uf rhe lite vuu h.1ve
crea red. Can you 11 ill it:, exi-,rencc wirhour cnd, or ¡, your crcated
exisrence lcss rlun wonhy uf your cominucd cxisrencL·? 'lhis was
Nicrzsche's sdf·owrcoming of rhc nihilism rlur was lefr expo:,nl
afrer rhc impmcd value:-. ofChrisrianiry had begun ro crumblc. llw
abyss hecamc cvidcnt, aml thL· way our w.1s rhrough "yea-:,ayirlg.''
To Nierz:,che, wc mu:,r makc our me3ning by atfirming rhar we
ourselves have the powcr ro nuke lllL'aning and ro creare value:,
worrhy of us. 1' "Nihiliry," wrirc:-. Nishirani, "rders ro rhar which
rcndcrs meaninglessne\s rhl· meaning of life." 1' Rcligion ari:,es when
meaning, including rhe puinr of our own cxistence, ¡, in doubr
or is even absenr. Whcn we que,rion thL· ,ignihcance uf our own
exisrencc, rhe door ro rdigion ¡, opennl: "A gaping aby'>'> opem up
ar rh,, vcry ground on which Wt' srand." 1' lmked, rhe aby'>s is always
prcscnr, "always just undcd(Jot." Evcryrhing rhar WL' !ove, rreasurc,
ancl find m"·aning from is inrrimically fragile and perishablc.
Nishirani dd!ne:, rdigion ,¡s rhe "real -,df-awarcness of rcal-
ity."1'' Realiry aLtualiLt'S irsdf in ami rhrough m, and this Bud-
dhisr w;¡y of under:,randing in!ttses meaning back inro exisr.:ncc.
98 1 The Kyoto School
,
Ni~hirani echocs Nishida here, fc)r he envtstons "crearion" as the
self-manifcsrarion of norhingness (or God), wirh rhe resulr rhat our
perspectivc has changed fi·om individual ego ro a cosmic one. 1hus,
each of us is pan of divinity and, as such, sharc in rhe purpose
and explorarory narure of rhe absolure. 1 As a resulr, each of us, as
well as rhe cosmos as a whole, is once again filled wirh meaning
and purpose. ~1l1e Harland of rneaninglessness and despair gives way
ro a robust landscapc of hopc and intrinsic worrh.

The Ten Ox-herding Pictures

As a guíde ro Níshirani's complex and derailed analysis of his posi-

rion, ir may prove helpful to recall in derail rhe fmwus Ten Ox-
herding pictures, which wcrc brieHy mcnrioned ar rhe end of chaprer
1, ro help in charring a course somewhar akin ro Nishitani's more
philosophical parh. Nishirani did nor offer or provide rhis sequcnce
of steps and picrures rhat lcad one roward hope and undersranding
of the path ro enlighren ment, alrhough he knew of them. '(he aurhor
of the pictures and their pocric commenrary was a twclfrh-cenrury
Zen master in Sung Dynasry China, (960-1279), narned Kaku-an
Shi-en. Tiwse ten watercolors (line drawings in rhis book) trace the
journey ti-om ordinary, evcryday consciousncss ro enlighrenmenr.
'lhe firsr picturc, enrirlcd "Searching for rhe Ox," begins with a
young hcrder who heeds rumors thar rherc is a deeper ~elf rhan rhe
everyday ego scl( one thar grants fullnc'SS of meaning and purpose.
In asking, "Who am 1?" ami "Whar is the meaning of my lile!"
as his inirial curiosity suggc~ts, he is raking the tlrst ami vital step 4
away ti·om ordinary understanding roward enlightcnment. As with
Plato in ancienr Arhem, this initial questioning is a crucial srcp in
pursuing rhe path-the "way"-to a deepcr realization of sclf To
know rhar yo u do not know is crucial to the search, for if yo u think
rhar you already know, or if you !uve ncver given any rhought ro
who you are, then searching never begins. Awareness of ignorancc
(knowing that you dotÚ know) is rhe firsr step toward knowledge
and, in this insrancc, towards "self" knowledge and enlightcnment.

1
102 1 The Kyoto School
\X'har makc~ ir _so dittlculr ro hcgin rhe journcy roward
enlighrcnmcm is rhe tan rhar onc has absolurely no cvidence to
supporc rhe view rhar rhcrc is such a rhing as a "dcepcr" self that
cxisrs hL'ncarh rhe everyday self rhar now quesrions. A few have
rold rhe ox herdcr rhar an enlighrened awarcncss can be achieved
and rhar a trucr SL'nse of who you are is a genuine pos~ibiliry. Bur
whar drives him w take rhe tirsr srep is bis own inner dissarisfac-
rion wirh rhe srare he finds himsdf in. If we overlay Nishirani's
undcrsranding of nihilism (or rneaninglessness), rhcn rhis young
herdcr dcspairs over his life and irs lirnirarions; he has a sense rhat
rhere has ro be somerhing more, somerhing more sarisfying rhan
rhe noise and busrle of ordinat-y exisrencc. ·¡ his is rhe ''exisrenrial
prcdicamenr" rhar he tinds himself in. Confronring rhe abyss of
meaninglessness, he rakes a firsr srep roward finding rhe "ox"-rhe
meraphor for rhe deep, enlighrened self As Nishirani argues, ir is
nihilism irsdf rhar musr lead ro an overcoming of nihilism, and
rhe overcoming begins wirh rhis firsr srep. ÜLir own awareness of
rhe meaninglcssness of exisrence is rhe goad rhar spurs LIS on ro
search for somerhing more. Nihilism, like rhe Socraric "gadBy" of
ancienr Arhens, bires benearh rhe saddle of complacency spLirring
LIS on ro seek somerhing better. Like a srill small voice ar rhe back
of our ordinary conscioLisness, wc are prodded ro look furrher in
an attcmpr ro move from rneaninglessness ro mcaning, from ordi-
nary ego-conscioLisness ro an awareness rhar seems ro rranscend
rhe limirs of rhe ordinary and everyday.
The tirsr picrure is followl:'d by rhe second, enrirlcd "Seeing
rhe Traces." Following rhe meraphor, rhe herder sees only faint
foorprinrs, hinr tracks lefr behind by the sL1pposed "ox.'' Whar rhe
metaphor suggests is rhar rhese rracks, or traces, are hinrs that rhe
boy herder finds in his reading of the scriprures, or perhaps from
his early attempts at medirarion, or from lccrures or sermons. lhese
whispers give some hope rhar orhers have genLiindy found whar he
is now looking for. lhe hoofprints of rhe ox provide some slight
evidence rhat rhere may be a path to deepcT undersranding rhar
will sarisfY. Srill, ir could be a myrh rhar rhere is anyrhing berrer:
a crurch used ro superticially and tcmporarily sooth rhc masscs.
_j__
Nishitani Keiji 1 103
The rhird stagL' ("Seeing," or "Carching a Climp't' uf rhe Ux"J
of rhe herder's dt'vdopmenr comisrs in actLially ~eeing a portion
of rhe rcrrearing ox. As 1). T. Suzuki write~, "1·-le tinds his way
rhrough rhe sound [ noise 1; he sees in ro thc origin of rhings." His
1
''
"rrue'' sdf is now presl:'lll, at leasr at rhe background of conscious-
ness, which involves seL·ing "inro rhe origin of rhings" insofn as
enlighrenmenr is a secing inro rhe onc'neo,s of all rhing~. ·¡he ckcp
self is aware of this unirv. revealing rhar rhe herdc:r is actually onc
with ultimare realiry itsdf Like salt in water, both rhe deep self ami
nothingness art' alrL'adv prnc·m in rhc· background of LOmciousness,
while remaining umeen.
Ir is nmv rlur thc hard wnrk hegim. ·¡he-re is no longer a m·
doubr rhar rht' det'fk'r st'lf exisrs (thL' ox), but awarcness of ir bLks
in and our uf uJn~ciuu~,¡¡ess, like a hologram un ,¡ nedir Lard.
which ap¡xars and disappcars as 011e slighrly adjusts rhL' angk nf
view. Hahirs nn:d tu he acquired to keep rhe ox prc'seiH, ro prevt'IH
ir from slipping ,JWa\·. ·¡ hl:' L'\'lTYtby t·onsciousnt·ss uJillinues ro
override rhe deepcr sdf In rht' lounh picturl:', entirled "Carching
rhe Ox," ,¡ rope is anached ro rhe ox and rhc hcrdcr srruggb, ro
control ir. \Vhen ht' meditares. hi-, mind charrers awav. or wandtTs
from bmasv ro bnusy, limiring the dfcctivencss ot' mL'dirarion. His
paso,iono, and t~'ars, luitgings amilllt'nwric's continu~dly cunlL' w rhe
fordí·onr of his awarent'S'>, leaving him disorduui ami frmrratt·d.
'!he raming of thc <..kep sdf (or is ir, tirsr. rhc t~uning of rhe shal-
low o, el t~) ckmando, f~Kuscd ton<.. L'n rLnion and diligt'nr rrai n ing.
lndeni, all of the JlfLlnnL' ans, from medirariun ro rlw manía!
an-,, demand rigorou-, ami sw,rainccl rLlining it' one is ro develop
as a prauirioner. Onl: ~mr-linni pracrice ami ~evere :-.elf-di~cipline
will keqJ rhc ox tí·om rL·cc·ding from awarcnt'ss and rcrurning ro
rlw quier pa:-,rures of rhe unconscious.
'l1w tití:h kultL', emirlni "Herding rhe ( h," ¡., rhe srage of
CO!Isistmt sdt~di;,cipline. ·¡ hl:' lwrdcr is 110\\ almosr tí·ee of the many
conceprualizations rlur tilrer our rhc righr-now, righr-bd~Jre-him
expuience, which Ni-,hid,l rekrrt·d LO as "purc' L'xpnicmt·." Ir
require, simplv being fully aw,nc, fullv prL·senr, as expt-rientt'
Unlolds bd~ne him. 'lht"It' is no rhinking, no conccptu~dizing, no
.....

104 1 The Kyoto School
rc:preseming of somerhing rhrough words, or by comparison With
somerhing else nor presenr. 'l11e ox has becorne his panner and
they walk togerher along rhe parh.
'!he sixrh picrure is enrirled '"Coming Home on rhe Ox's
Back," showing rhe her,der and rhe ox t~ be in perfect harmony.
·¡he: joy and serenity or rhis new srare of awarencss is symbolized
by rhe music rhe herder pbys on a bamboo tlure while riding
along upon rhe ox. '"'l11e srruggle is over," and he is no longer
distracred by rhe noise of the world; he and bis ox are as one.
He now experiences joy in rhe tl.ow of rhings, awesrruck by rhe
exquisiteness of each unique rnomenr; he: is living in rhe '"now."
Ar lasr able ro live fully in rhe world, he realizes rhe he i.1 his own
deep self and rhar somehO\v ir is wirhin him rhar rhc birds sing,
the brook gurgles, and rhe sun shines. He is flnally at home, in
his own home-ground, as Nishirani vvould have ir.
'!he: realizarion of rhe sevemh drawing, enrirled '"'!he Ox l;or-
gotten; Leaving rhe Man Alone" is rhar rhere ncver really was an
ox separare from him. -¡he ox was only syrnbolically separa te. Now
rhe herder sirs al! alone, fully ar peace in rhe universe.
The c:ighrh srage, enrirled '"'!he Ox and rhe Man Borh Gone
our of Sighr," is rhe realization of nothingness, or emptiness. Borh
rhe ox and rhe herder !uve disappeared. Nor are rhere rrees, or
birds, or anyrhing else. There is norhing! '!he empry circle, or zero,
is a toral negarion. Because he no longer sees himself as he once
did, the chains of rhe empírica! or everyday self are now broken.
Al! rhings !uve collapsed, have disappeared, and wirh ir any furrher
possibiliry of substrl!Lce rhinking. Buddhism reaches rhar rhe cen-
tral cause of sutFcring is rhe E1lse belief in permanency: of self or
scJUI, of mounrains and warerblls, or wealrh and repurarion. All is
impermanenr, and rhe realizarion rhar norhing has subsrance and
rhat all rhings are empry is cemral ro seeing rhar all is norhing.
More imporranrly srill is rhe E1ct rhar rhe empry circle announces
rhar nondual consciousnes~ has been fully esrablished. 'TI1ere is no
herder, no ox, no world, bur only rhe onc:ness of all rhings-rhe
formula rhat describes enlighrcnment. Speaking rechnically, rhere is
_l...._
-,
Nishitani Keiji 1 105
11 o 11 \. .
~rder no wurld, unly tllUtlrcuess: rhe Howilll,_,' of w~lter, tite cra~h
' · . ._
of rhunder, rhe bmzing ot insecrs; berrcr srill, therc is only How-
ing, crashing, ami buzzing. Each of u:-. tlows. uashn, and bunes.
When rhe English philosopher John Lockc ( 1(Í,)2~ 1704) rried ro
explain what rhc "'substancc" was rhat he assumed, he could only
saY rhar ir was a "'somcrhing 1 know nor whar.'' Locke v>as t~JIIowed
b); David Hume (1711~1776), rhe rhird of rhe three grear Rritish
empiricisrs (Locke, Berkeky, and Hume), vd10 added rhar rhere was
110
evidence rhar a subsranrial self exisred, hur in:-.read poimed ro a
"rhearrc" of ~l\vareness where souiHh and tlowing occurred. ·¡ here is
really no empirical evidence c:irher for the exisrence uf substance,
or of a conrinuing sdL lnsread, we simply assume thar rhere are
such. Zen rdls us w srill rhe mind, furego comepts, presupposi-
rions, and languagc, ami just take in rhe tl.owing, thL· crashing,
and rhe buzzing; jus¡ be the buaing. Ir is now rlur wc: are on our
own home-ground, according ro Nishitani, ar rhe same rime on rhe
home-ground of every orher rhing. 'lhc: decp self bmzes; rhe buzz-
ing is rhc dec:p sdf We are home ar last. In any t'Vellt, rhe eighrh
picture reprcsenrs whar Nishirani calls rhc jlcld of",\;únytUú. lr is on
rhis fidd rhar "'rhings" arise in rheir suclmc'ss; as bmzings. In irsdf
rhe fleld of norhingness, like a lighr rabie: (which musr bL· assumed
ro be r~nmless, except rhar ir is nor possible r~n such ro exist in
rhe ordina1-y spacelrime world) used ro display phorographit. slides,
illuminares the buzzings ami orher rhings rhar now arise in a new
lighr, as wíll become e\idcnr wirh picrure nine.
Ir may be rhar pictures nine ami ten were added ar a larcr
date, bur wherhc:r parr of the original colkcrion or nor, they are
essenrial in explaining how une reenrers rlll' ordinary wurld ati:er
having b~Hhc:d in rhe fullnL·ss of absolure norhingnes:-.. ·1 he ninth
picrurc is emirled '"Rc:rurning ro rhe Origin, lhck ro rhc: Source,"
and ir is rich, lush, radianr wirh rhe incomparable beaurv uf· rhe
world of narurc:. 'li·ees, tlowers, birds singing, a tluwing river have
all reappl:'ared, bur are· 'l'l'Il now as ncvc:r bcforL·. Now, out ot'
emprin"'s' comes rhe rich nuny. The '"emprying'' of all rhings in
pictLHL' c:igln is now ovLTLOillL' in rhe ninrh fí·amc as rhinp Illl\\'
___________ ...ollillll
106 1 The Kyoto School
,.
return wirh a fullness thar is so brighr rhar one is dazzled. 1he
rnoumains and "buzzings" rhar disap¡K·ared in rhc eighrh srage of
awarcne" have rcappearcd wirh an incredible brighrness, newness
and richness becausc we, as aware obscrvers, have bcen freed of
our old ways of dualisric undersranding vvhich, by nccessiry, placed
objecrs "out rhere," at a disrancc from us. Now, wc !uve become
rhose objecrs insoEu as rhc seer and thc seen havc become one. Fur-
thermoré, all rhar t"xisrs is now "backlir," as ir were, beca use rhey are
now lined wirh nothingncss, the background ro all rhe foreground
appearances of rhings. Fverything now shirnmers in irs suchness,
its rhusness, for rhings now appear in rheir own homt"-ground, just
as they are in rhemsclves.
Ueda Shizureru suggesrs rhar figurc:s eighr and nine should
not be raken in succession, bur rarlwr as co-relared. 1hey should
be vic:wed as "oscillating back and forrh." '!he rwo should be taken
togerher, ''like two sides of a single sheér of paper, a paper wirhour
1
rhicknéss." 1' Each sragé infiltrares rhe orher so rhar eighr implies
ninc, and ninc implies eighr. The enlighrened man or woman sees
both at once:, srereoscopically. Everything perceiwd cxists in its
suchness on rhe field of .~'únyrttd, as Nishirani understands rhis. lhe
ficld of SúiiJrltd is figure eighr, upon which rhc things of picture
nine now exist. 1magine drawings eighr ami ninc: on clc:ar rrans-
paréncies projécted on a screéll. First eighr is projecred, ami then
nine, cxcc:pt rhat c:ighr is not rcmovc:d bur nine is phcc:d on top
of ir. Borh drawings are presenr, bur nine now rc:sts on c:ighr. If
we could add ro this metaphor somé way of making nine brighrer
because of eighr, rhen rhis putting rogerher of rhe rwo would be an
apt meraphor clepicting an énlighrcnc:d awarenéss of how rhings are
in their "suchncss." furrherrnore, now rhar it can be seen thar atl
rest on rhc: ficld of .~únpl!tl, norhingness, rhc:n cach rhing is rclared
ro rhe orhers as kindrcd manifesrarions of norhingness, arising out
of ir and resting upon ir. Norhingness, ,~úllyrttd, allows each rhing
to be: in its own homc:-ground while simulraneously being in rhe
home-ground of evcryrhing elsc:, for rhc:y share rhe very same lin-
ing, rhe same place: aml origin of bc:ing.
1
Nishitani Keiji 1 107
1hc corrdariun of picmrcs t"ighr and nine caprurl·s nicclv rhc
norion of rhe sclf-conrradicrory ickmin· rhar Ni-,hida strugglcd w
describe in more precise philosophical terms. -Il1c: comradicriom
infiltrare c:ach mher whilc mainraining rheir "orhernc:ss" as separare:
and disri11ct. '!he world of rhings (the n1.111y) is also norhingness
(rhe One), aml norhingness is rht.: world of rhings: 'Torm is empti-
ness, empriness is t(Jrm; nirvana is samsara, samsara is nirvana."~"
Form ( rhings) as formlcss ( norhingnc·ss), or rhe t(mnb.s as tí.mn,
are rwo clistinct pnspc:ctives on realiry, bur borh aré rc:quircd if
one is ro have an aclc:quare gDsp of rhe world. "!he sc:eing rhm
describl·d is a kind of double vision, bur wherher raken scparately
or togéther, a pcrspc:ctiw is giwn rhar is t:u clearer .md t(>Cusl·d
rhan C'Vt'r bdore. One is 110w fully in ami of rlw universe, ami rhis
provides a st·nsc: of bdonging rhar urrerly dispels any rhrear tl·om
nihilism or mc:aningkssness. ·¡¡_¡ be a pan of rhc: ongoing t-low of
rhe universe itself is thl· ultimare in mc:aning. Having re.1ched this
poinr lw having gol1l' rhrough 11ihilism only makes rhc arriv.d all
rhc: swc:erer. As wirh Ucda\ "no11-mysricism" in rhe cluprn 011
Nishida, rhe i11sighr gai11ed plungt.:s one b.tcl~ intu rhl· n·eryday
world wirh a new inrensirv.
"lhc· rcmh piLTure, emirlcd ··Emcri11g rhe C:itv wirh
Bliss-bestuwing H.mds" implin rhar rhe hcTckr, 110\\ an uld IIU!l,
has hands dut can transl(mn anorher. '!he cummemary rclls m dur
oné would nner know rhat he was enlighrcnc·d, r(n he· is tt>und in
rlw cOlllfHI1)' of "\\il1e-bihbcrs Jnd burchers, land] hl> and rhl·y are
alllonwned imo Buddlus." "lhe drawiil¡_', has him enloumning
a young hov, and we mighr imagine dur dw buv is asking him
wherher rhnc· is such a thing ~ts an ox. A rd-lcuion uf sumcone
young who is whne hl· once was. he .mswers tlut he \\ould teach
rhe boy \vhar he has leamcd ~1bour rhe existence of rhc· ux. \\'e
can rhcn inugim· tlwm ,haring a cup of tc·a .tnd a piece of brl·ad
while rhc· enlighrn1ed llld llLlll 'urrs rhc~ bm· un bis joumly ro
1:"111 igh
renllll'll t.
'llw hrsr of rhc: ox-herding picwre' u>rrnpumh roughh- tll
rhis aw~uencss of rhl· emprint·ss uf ordi1ury umkrsumlin¡o,. ·¡he
1 08 1 The Kyoto School
" Nishitani Keiji 1 109
nihilism at rhis srage is rhe simple recognition of rhe unsaris[1cror
narure of our existence, and wirh ir rhe dim aspirarion rhat rher~
oughr ro be somcrhing more. "I11e underlying abyss is ever-present
ft)r one who rhinks deeply, for dearh always looms, erhical demands
change from generation ro generarion, wars continue ro break out
and nt'ither religion nor rhe exisring philosophies are able ro elimi~
nare our awareness of a dis-ease based on a radical uncenainry.
Ir was Nietzsche who alerred Europe ro rhe exisrenct' of the
abyss rhar undermined tradicional values, rhe belief in rhe existence
of God, and rhe srabiliry of so-called rarional choices. Nierzsche's
successes were real, bur whar he achieved, as Nishirani understood
him, was a new nihilism within whar Nishirani rerms tht' "field
of consciousness." 1he d ualism of sclf ami world remained, bur
rhe "power" of rhe self was now engaged in a historical barde
berween an innt'r sclf ami mlter rhings. Yn neirher self nor rhings
could be known c:xcept from a disrance, rhat is, representation-
ally. Reprc,sentational knowing is knowing by means of concepts,
words, or proposirions. Al! of rhese are at lcast once removed from
rhe actual experience thar rhey seek ro identify, describe, or repre-
sen t. Such knowledge is mediaterl (by conceprs, words, or proposi-
rions) and nor direcr or immediate. To know sclf or things in the
outside world is ro know rhem as represenred, and nor as rhey
mighr be aparr fi·om consciousness. Neirher rhe self-in-irself nor
things-in-themselves can be grasped direcrly, bur only as an image
wirhin consciousness. ·n1e security of divine knowlcdge now gives
way ro rhe nihiliry of subjective awareness. The price for human
power, ir turns out, is rhe rclativiry of a total subjectivism: rhat is
ro say, iris a "knowledge'' withour guac111ree reduced ro a matter of
rasre or majoriry opinion. Even science irsdf is rendered subjecrive,
a series of value judgments, for rhe data of science is subjecrive
appearance, mere phenomena-in-consciousness. ll1e religious and
meraphysical guarantees of realiry irself ha ve been lost and, insread,
rhere is only exisrenrial choice, a choice to be made wirhour an
abiding map or even an innare scme of direcrion. Real or unreal,
good or bad, beauriful or ugly have become matters of subjecrive
rasre or of rhe "realiry" of rhe momenr.
.......
l
The Meaning of "Nothingness"
Before wrning tu Nishitani's uearive respume ro rhc nihilisric ch~ll­
lenge. ir musl lw remarkul rhar for Kyoro ::;,hool philmophns,
"norhingness" is said in many ways (ro paraphLlst' Aristode on
"being"). Wh~ll Arisrork said was rhar "rhne are llLlil)' semn in
which a rhing may he said ro 'be,' hur al! rhar 'is is relarc:d ro
one central point, 011e kind uf rhing, ami is 110t said 'ro be' hv
a mert' ambiguiry.'''' Simibrly, a \'arien' uf meanings ,·ame ro be
arrached ro "nothingnes~:· by rhc Kyoto School rhinh-rs. t\evenhe-
iess, "norhingness," in spite of ditfert'IJLt's in meaning, was lwld ro
rder ro the same frnllldarional or originary realirv rhar is rhe basis
of Kyoto Schoul philosophv.
Ueda ShiLurnu, Nishirani's besr-known studenr and Lner
colleague, suggests rlur Nishiths thar.lcteriurion of rhe Wesr as
culrures of "being," and rhe Easr as cultures of "¡wrhingness,''
does nor rake into atcounr philmophas in rhe \Vesr such as Eck-
harr and Nieusche who do t:xplore "norhingnt·ss" in considerable
deprh; nor dues n do jusriet' ro rhe variarions in meaning given
rhe notion of "norhingness" by Fastt'fll rhinh-rs, induding brer
members of rhe Kyoro School. Neverrhcless, U,·da condud,,, rhar
"ir do,·s afrcr ~111 st:em rhar i11 European philosuphy, rh~n whi,h
is foundarional al](! originary is ulrimardy grasped in terms of
"being.'' "Il1at is ro say rhar "in rhe \vest norhingness is undersrood
as non-being, rlur is, as rhe negarion of being, ami in rhis sense is
based on being.'"' Norhingness is rhoughr of mndy as rhe nt:'ga-
rion of some being of some kind. By comrasr, rhe Kyoto School
philosophns rhoughr of "norhingness'' as rdcrring to rhar which
was nrigi1ury. ulrimare, or absolute, How,·ver rhey t·ach ga\'e \'L,n'
dit+er,·m metllfillgs ro this norion.
Borh Nishida ami "Lmabe rt,sred rheir philosophies on ri1L,
norion ot' "absolure norhingness" (zctttti-tuu). Yer, rlwre were
imporram ditt~,renc,·s: '"\'x/hile Nishida's [philosophyj conceived of
ir in rerms of 'pbce' (/;as!JU), 'Lmabe's conct:ived of it in tnms of
'praxis' (j/,,_~m)," or rhe working uf absolutL, nothingn,·ss in hi,rory,
rhrough lu\e. ·,
-""''liillll
11 O 1 The Kyoto School
In contrast to both of these views, Nishitani chose the
Mahayana Buddhist term ernptiness (Sünyatd) as the better des-
ignation for nothingness because of "rhe significant role that the
arrival of nihilism played in his thought, a problem that had not
been an issue for Nishida." 25
Ueda argues that given that the problem of nihilism remained
front and center in Nishitani's writing, "the idea of 'absolute noth-
ingness' could not help but be impacted." 26 1he "death of God"
made the use of the language of absolutes an unlikely choice, if
not an impossible one. "Because of the collapse of the absolute,
the loss of the horizon of onrology, and the endless nihilization of
nihility, 'absolute nothingness,' which would accommodate within
itself even absolute being, could no longer be the basic category of
thought in a world horizon." 27 Terms such as "absolute" and "God"
now "rang hollow," and a new term was needed-still to refer to
the central notion of "nothingness," but with none of the baggage
of "absolute nothingness." Nishitani found such a term in classical
Mahayana Buddhist thought, one that had not been discredited
by the nihilism of the modern age. "Emptiness" (Sünyatd) was
such a term, although Nishitani admitted that he used it "rather
freely," adopting a position that attempted to "stand at once within
and outside of tradition." 28 If God was dead, then absolutes died
with him. Nishitani emphasized that finding an alternative term
for nothingness was, in fact, "demanded by the problem of nihil-
ism."29 What he tries to show with this term is "rhe breaking free
of nihility, and the positivity of the freedom that emerges from that
break." 10 Ueda contends that the literal meaning of "emptiness"
conjures up a variety of nuances such as the image of a vast blue
sky with its limitless possibilities, or of the wind, perhaps because it
can circulare anywhere and is invisible yet sensible. Nishitani chose
to rethink Kyoto School philosophy from the ground up while
yet retaining the core of Kyoto School philosophy. 1he overriding
philosophical problem was no longer the bridging of Eastern and
Western philosophical traditions through the adoption of Western
terminology and method, but the overcoming of a growing sense
of meaningless, depression, and despair that now extended more
or less around the world.
Nishitani Keiji 1 111
A Way Out
Nishitani offered a way out of this nihilism of the field of con-
sciousness, which leaves us forever trapped within our own sub-
jective consciousness. He does this by substituting "the field of
Sünyatd" for the field of consciousness. 1he path to this second
field is already present in the first. 1he realization that both the self
and things are mere objects for and in consciousness means that the
self and everything else is wirhout foundation, empry, and utterly
impermanent. Everything will perish, scienrific theories will follow,
one upon another, and death looms befare each of us as inevitable.
No longer is complete nihility covered over, for now everyrhing
is unreal, that is, impermanent. In Nishitani's words, "What 1 am
talking about is the point at which the nihility that líes hidden
as a reality at the ground of rhe self and all rhings makes itself
present as a reality to the self in such a way that self-existence,
together with the being of al! things, turns into a single doubr." 51
No longer is there a disrinction between the doubrer and what
is doubted, and the enrire field of consciousness gives way ro the
Great Doubt of Zen. 1he self becomes rhe Great Doubt, a doubt
at a far greater level than rheoretical doubt. Such Doubt is lived,
not theorized, and one is left with nothing.
Nishitani's mention of a "path" corresponds ro pictures two
through six of the ox-herding series. 1he Great Doubt brings us
to our emotional and intellecrual knees, for nothing that we know
will dispel our awareness of meaninglessness. But thinking, study-
ing, listening to the wisdom of the testimony of others who have
seen rhe "ox," constitute rhe path forward. lt is hard work, and
for much of the journey there is still no confirmed evidence that
the path is not a blind one.
1he everyday self now seems to be a myth. Stage seven is the
realization rhat rhe herder and the ox have always been one, never
separated from one another, but it took courage and a steadfast
resolve ro come ro realize this. Now, in peace and contentment,
the boy herder relaxes under a tree, finally aware of rhe unity of
the self Yet, as we know from the pictures and their description,
the boy has not yet reached the end of his quest. 1he oneness of

112 1 The Kyoto School
rhe evcrvday_ self and rhe dceper self--or, perhaps betrer, when the
evcryday sclt sirnply disappears-leads ro rhe recognirion rhar all
rhings are one, for the nothingness of the everyday self now spreads
ro the norhingness of cveryrhing. "Thcre is no ox, no herder, jusr
absolure nothingness.
Sornehow, out of rhis realizarion of ''absolute nothingness,"
when it seerns rhar the siruation wc find ourselves in is "beyond
all solution," "rhen demand arises for a transpersonal field to open
u p." ' TI1is fiel el is the Buddhisr srandpoinr of ,~ú11yatd. For Nishi-
2
tani, rhis represenrs a birrh of thc self not rhe old sclf bur rhe self
"in its original counrenance," ro wit, rhat of absolute nothingness.
1he result is a nihilism that stands on the experience of nihilism
as rhe foundation of evcryrhing, including ourselves. ~'únytltd is
an emptiness rhat even empties irself~ a nihilism which empties
nihilism. In doiqg so, nihilism itself is transcended, and sclf and
the world reappear in rheir suchness, in rheir true deprh. Nishi-
tani's phrase for this is rhe "real self-realization of realiry," which
serves also as his definition of religion. Tilis account of "realiry"
afllrrns a nondualistic perspective: ir involves "both our becoming
aware of reality, ami, at the same rime, the reality realizing itself
in our awareness."" Such awareness is nondualisric insot~1r as the
distincrion between the knower and that which is known vanishes.
With the ego-self gonc, une is able ro experience a leve! deeper
than in thc ficld or normal consciousness. 11lc field of conscious-
ness inescapably separares the knower tl·orn the known. 13ut on
the field of emptiness, which is ~'únytttd, eme becomes aware of
realiry more deeply, wirhour rhe intervention of rhe sclf on the
f1eld of comciomness, allowing reality ro ''speak'' on irs own and
in its own way. Of course, there is srill awareness, bur ir is 110W
nondual awarcness wirhout a disrinction berween the knowcr and
the known. All the issues relating ro realiry as subject, or subsrancc,
or whcrher the mind auromatically adds ro what is "our rhcrc,''
rhe tcm11s and percqlfiom of rime and ~pace, rogether with rhe
categories of camalirv, ami so on, can now he pa~sed mer as not
applicablc ro awarcncss on the fidd of ,~zlitpltti. \X1 hereas on rlw
tldd of ordinary consciousncss things can only be known via rheir
~
..,
Nishitani Keiji 1 113
e rcsentation in ~llld f(H consciousness, which rcndc.Ts rlw knowing
:tanything in-irself impossible, on rhe field of ,)'úityiltd all knowl-
cdge is direct, rarher rh,111 mediated by ami rhrough rqHesenrations.
Realiry is no longer apprehendcd by mean;, ot concepu, (such as
"chair," "round," "tlower") but direcrly, in its suchness.
Nondual aw,tn:ness, represented by rhe empry circle, is dif-
ficult for mosr o!' us living in thc Wesr ro grasp, ami probably for
rnost Japanesc as well. Howcvcr, Japancse culture is a mL·dirativc
culture, and, as such, r~1lk of nondual awareness is in the cul-
tural environment much of rhe time. Tradirionally, ami, ro a ksser
cxrent, even roday, nuny Japanesc childrcn are exposL·d ro one or
more of rhe medirarive disciplines-tlower arranging, landsLapc.'
gardening, rhc tea L·eremony, thc marrial arrs-all uf which are
meditative paths ro L'nlighrenmcilt. '' Husinesscs oti:en semi rheir
employeL'S ro worbhops on haiku poctry, or ro lcarn rhe swords-
manship of km rió. ·l he su ffix "rió" at rhe end of /,:mr/ó, cf,arló,
aikido, for example, rranslates as "way" or "parh,'' wavs meanr ro
lead ro enlightenmem.
Enlightenment
As you may rLTall frum rhc chaprer on Nishida, all L·nlighrenillL'Il[
experiences ,ue pure cXfleriL·nLes, alrhough not all pure cxpericnce~
are enlightenmcnt ex¡xri<.:'nces. Purc cxperiL'IlL·e occurs prior ro the
subjn:t/objccr split and prior ro any and all judgmellts or othcr
activiries of ordina1-y consciousness. The cbim is rhat, as a resulr.
realiry is now ahk ro speak directly ro our awarencss, as it is
in-itself Of course, ir remains rrue rhar nondual aw,lrL'ness i.-. dis-
tinctly ditFerent fi·om regular conscious expnience, and is much
richer. Such expnienCL' is not concepr-bound. nor is ir a reprcsen-
tarional absrracrion. Now reality speaks directly, sceminglv as ir io,
in its "suchnes~·· (as it is in irselt} rnlis is the "real sdf-rcalizarion
of realiry" ~peaking directl~, ro us. Having conti-onted the emprincss
of all things, ami having bced our inevirabk death hl:'ad on. rather
rha11 bccoming ,hroudtc·d in dcspair, an apertUrL' of awareness lcads
 114 1 The Kyoto School
T Nishitani Keiji 1 115
from rhe Crear Doubr m rhe f-ield of ,)'únyatd. Ir is rhen, because of
rhe background of impermanence and emprine>s, rhat rhe imper-
l:lanence and cmptine:-,s of al! rhings now rake on a shitnmering
1-reshness and brilliancc tor usa:-, rhough we are sceing rhings tor the
hrst time. All awareness is now fresh awareness, and each instance
manifests a deprh and richness rhar is impiring. Each and every
awareness now ariscs from its "home-ground," its original "place."
Relative and Absolute Nothingness
Unno Taitetsu comments on rhe implicarions of such a perspec-
rive: "In absolute norhingness lite becomes very clcar-whar is
rruly of value and what is nor. 1hat which is ro be cherished as
having ultimare value is rhc here and now, each momem, each
cncounter, each rhing bd()fe us: the flower 1 see, rhe srar in rhe
heavens, my pet dog, my brher, my mother. Each of rhe realiries
realizes irself rhrough my awareness, and my awareness is deepened
and expanded rhrough each reality thus realized." '' Such knowing
is a "knowing of non-knowing" (rhar is, nor known in rhe more
usual inferential or mediated wav) where imrnediate prcsence irself
is gramed. '''
FurrherrnorL', c~Úil)lflttl i> 110( some rhing, bur, rarher, simply
an absolute emptim·s., thar is emptied even of the represemarion
of empriness. This non-knowing rcveals rhar absolure empriness
"appears as one wirh being."' 5 ·nLlt is ro say, imoEtr as rhings
appear in rheir wchness, in absolure empriness and on rheir own
home-ground, rhen in rhi:-, nondual awareness of rhing:-, in rheir
home-ground in absolurt: empriness, absolure empriness and rhings
are one: emptincss is being, and being is empriness. Nishitani elab-
orares: "Empeines:-, mighr be called the tlcld of 'be-ihcarion' . . . in
contrast ro nihiliry which is "rhe tldd of "nullihcation.' ...,, 111ings
are absolurely empry on rhe t-ield of empriness, r111rl_yet precisely
because rhey are empty, rhey are fully n:alized as what rhey re:dly
are in rheir suchncs:-,. 1 bis realizarion can only be expre~~ed as a
paradox: "Ir is ;wt rhis rhing or rhar. rherdore, ir is rhis rhing or
rhar." ''' Ir i:-, a realization bc')'ond conceprs or represemariom (""chis
.......
or rhar"), ami onlv ~tppe~w, a:-. a "chis" ur J ""rlut .. dirc·ctlv in irs
suchness. 'lhus, all rhinp are empry, ;~nd rhc·rd(nc· all L·mprinL·:-.s
is rhings (f(nm>): f(¡rm i.s emprinL·ss, emptiness is t(mn: .\tllll.'tlilt
(rhe rhi1tg;, of ordinarv comciousllc'") is uirL'dlltl (cmprinn>) and
nirur/1/{/ is .lillll.ltli"tl. 'lhis is wh~tt ~tppe.lrs on rhe tldd of absolutc'
norhi ngnc·>s.
Ne!tt!ÍI'é' nor/Jili,~llt.-.1, or nihilirv 011 rhe f1c·ld ofcomLiousnL"s>, is
relarive bc·c~lu~e. nq',~tring thc· lwing of rhings, it i> still undnsmod
in rebrion ro bcing, a11d. rhnd(JrL·, cantHH be absolurc nothingness.
Furrhertlllll"L'. whu1 WL' think ~tbour nihiliry, \\e srill reprc·sc·¡¡¡ ir in
our comciou>ness ~1s lK·ing :,omc·thing. lr is srill undnstoocl as lwi11):':
oursidc· of rhe sclf, "'as >Olllc·thing disrincr from and extnn~tl ro ri1L·
self Moreovn, n1hilit1· itsL·It' i> flllrL·h nq.;arive in rlut all things,
from rhc standpoint uf' nihili-.m, ,nc· rhrown intu qunriun. lhL·
awareltess of nihilirv ar rhc' base uf e,Kh and ever: tlting usrs rhL·
being uf each ami evnv thing imu doubr. ·¡ hus, an alwss OflL'm
up ar rhe root of nc1yrhing.
By conrrasr, a/;so!utc ;wthiilc'!JICS.' i> bevond nihilirv, or else
Súnyi!Lti as ,t ncw t(mn uf nihilism wuuld be a vicwpoint o,rill
rrapped wirhin bL·ing. Absolure IJOthingnc·ss, or .)'tiJ!)Ii/tri, mu:-.r rake
us beyond al! concqHualizarion and rqlt"esenurion, borh posirive
ami ncgarivc. ,~illl)'tl!ti i:-, 110r >omc "thing," nor i> it cmptint:ss rcp-
resented as some rhing omside of being. Al! dut un be said, or if
saving annhing at ~~11 i:-, impos'">ible, rhen al! rhar can be poimed to
i'"> an empry nothing, srrippL·d bare of rhe represc'ntarions of empti-
ness. In rltis SCihe, .~ÚII_)'flttl empric·s irself complcrdy amlmmt now
be seen a:-, a place whcrL' beings "be." As such, absolure emprine>s,
which is nor a rhing, i, '">ynonvmous wirh Úci11g as rhinp. 'lhings
are 110\V c~Úil)'tltÚ, ami SúnytlttÍ is now bc·ings. lhc standpoillt uf
.~úll_ytltti require~ a doublc negarion: rhere nihiliry, allC! a nega-
tion of rhe negativity uf nihiliry, and rhis double negarion yidds
a pmirive, an ~ttfinnation. 'lhis atfirmarion of an empry norhing
reinsrares all rhing>, bur now as whar rhcy are in rhcmsclves, each
on irs own home-ground.
'!he srandpoint of 5'úll_yi1Ld is 110r a "rhing." 1\arher, ir is rhat
non-rhing rhar allows rhinp ro presellt them>elvc·\ a'l rhing:-.. ·¡ hing>
re,tppc,tr in thc·ir '"non-substantial subsranec-," in rhcir rniL" '">uchnc>s,

116 1 The Kyoto School
on the field of ernptiness. Using a series of analogies, Nish 1·r .
an¡
rries to explain whar he mcans whcn he says rhar rhings appear
on rhe field of norhingness in rhcir own horne-ground: fire does
nor burn fire; the sword does not cut rhe sword; the eye does
nor see rhe eye; water does not wash water. 11 Fire burns firewood
bur ir cannor burn irsclf; rhe cye sees all rhings, but it cannor se~
irself Werc the eyc ro sec irse!( then it could only see itself and
norhing clse, for seeing would be blocked by the eye secing itself
alone. lhe eyc functions prccisely bccause it does not see irself, and
precisely because fire does not burn itsel( it is ablc ro burn orher
things. Only whcre fire does not burn irself is ir truly firc, on its
own home-ground. Only whcre rhe cye docs nor see irsclf is ir on
its own home-ground. In not sceing itsel( yet seeing, rhe eye is
what it is in itself. Abe Masao summarizes Nishitani's position as
follows: "Nishitani's norion of 'in-itself' denotes the self.-idenrity
of things which points direcrly ro rhe thing itself in irs original
modc of being." 12 lhe activity of fire is ro burn rhings, but fire
irself-in-irsclf.--burns wirhout burning itself. ·rhe true narure of
fire is rnaintained as non-burning, even while ir burns other rhings.
lhcrdorc, ir burns wirhout burning, pur paradoxically.
To know fire on irs home-ground is ro know itas ir is in itself.
Whar rcsulrs ti·orn such examples is a "complerely disrinct concept
of cxistencc." l.i ll1e poet Basho, whom Nishitani quotes, hints at
rhis kind of existcnce and rhe ditference entailed in knowing ir:
hom the pine rree
learn of rhc pinc' trec',
And from the bamboo
Of rhe bamboo.
We come' to know a rhing not by scicnrific analysis, or by philo-
sophical analysis, bur by cnrering inro "rhe mode of being whcre
rhe pine rree is thc' pine rree in irse!( and thc' bamboo is rhe bam-
boo irse!( ami ti·om rhcre ro look at rhc' pinc tree and rhc bamboo.
He calls on m to rake ourselves ro rhe dimension wherc rhings
become manit::sr in rheir suchncss, ro artune oursdvcs ro rhc sclf--
~ .......
l
Nishitani Keiji 1 117
_
nes 5 0
f rhe rIJinL· treL· ~md rllL' selfnt:":,s of rhe bamboo."'' 1Ltving• ldr
our ego-selves bchind. WL' can I\0\\' SL'C wirh an undisrortL·d eyc rhe
¡jne rrcc' bdtJrL' us, on irs m\·n homc-groumL ti·om rhe :,randpoinr
~f .'l;tillyt/iti. Ir is as rlwugh \\l' sec i/) rllL' pinL· trce, from rhe imilk
rarhc'r rhan rhe ourside. 1-lere philosophv ~md pocrrv coalcscc·, f(Jr
bv sc'eing fully frum thl· imide of rhe pine trL'l', \\C bt·comc thl·
p.inc' rrec in rhi:, imranr of immediacy. fully in thl· righr-herc'-IlOW.
Ir is nor a knowing rlur comes by comparison vvirh orher rhings
(taller, prcrricr, ro rhe lcfr ofl bur from rhe rhing in-irsdf direcrly.
llws. each rhing atl-lnm irself on rhc' field of .\úilViltti.
'Jhis way of knowing render' Gllh rhing uniquL·. 'l11c flinc
rret is nor vic'wcd a' a lllc'lllher of a spccic''o, bur rather a'> rhis
uncrly unique rhing, bd(ne ml·. Ir is ar rhe cemn of rhc univL·rsc,
as is evtry orlwr rhing. Ir is rhc mastn of all rhings. tlml yct it
is rhe servant of all rhinp. Ir i'> master bcuw.e of ir:-. n,nrraliry
and absolurc uniquenL:Ss. Ir is s.:rv~ult bccausc ir is rd~Ht:'d ro all
orher rhings: "Being one and all are garhcred into one."'' 'lhis
relatiomhip of urrcr uniqueness, yer imer-connecrc'd ro all othc'r
rhings, Nishirani calls "Lircuminsnsional inrnpencrrarion." "' Each
rhing is a "nm,rirurivl· elemcnr" in evcry orhn rhing: thc' univcrsc'
is significandy interdependt'Ilt, as the Buddhist notion of lkpen-
denr (or imc'fdepc'ndL·IH) origin~nion rn~1kcs plain.
1
Evcr\'thing
in rh.: universc is linkcll rogerher. Things come inro being linked
wirh L"ach and everv orhcr rhing, and _yct, cach rhing is individual
and unic¡udy \\hat ir is. L1d1 rhing, therd(nt·, v\hile on irs own
homc-ground is, ar the 'ame rime, on rhe home-ground of cach
ami cvcry orhcr rhing, and each and every orhn rhing is on rhe
home-ground uf this uniquc individual thing. l.ih· a gianr wcb,
each rhing is l·nmeshed \\Íth cvc'ry other rhing; ami this circum-
sramial rdariomhip ''is rhe rnosr essenrial of all relariomhips. one
rhar is dosn [O the ground of rhings rhan clll)' orher relariomhip
cver conccived on rhe fields of sensarion and rc'ason by scicnL·c,
l1l)Th, or philosophy."'' '!he 'ystem of mutual intnpc'nerrarion
Nishirani likens ro a "field of foice," a unitying t(m:e rlur rnakcs
rhc \\urld a world. ami nor a 11lldgcpodgc of random, chaoric
CVCll rs.
 118 1 The Kyoto School
1he voice of Nishida might be heard in the above account:
the One becornes many, and the whole is linked by a unifyin
force: "a field of force by virtue of which al! things as they ar:
in themselves gather themselves together into one."'''J Nishitani's
reframing of Nishida's account is a step forward into eternity and
an anridote ro existential nihilism.
The freshness of perceiving each and every thing in its unique-
ness, on its own home-ground, is represented by picture nine of
the ox-herding pictures. Furthermore, as Ueda suggests, the total
interconnection of rhings is represented by the superimposition of
picture nine onto picture eight: things in their unique suchness
are, at the same time, lined with nothingness. It is on the field of
Sünyatd that things shine fonh in their interconnected individual-
ity-each thing on its home-ground, and yet, each rhing on the
home-ground of every other thing, on the field of nothingness.
Every thing is fresh and new; and yet, at its core, every thing is
no-thing, empty. On the field of Sünyatd every thing dissolves
into a nondifferentiated nothingness. 1here remains only whar the
eighth picture exemplifies through an empty circle. And yet, out
of this field every rhing arises, in its suchness, and dazzles the
beholder with its vividness. Pictures eight and nine describe this
double vision well, when superimposed. One might speculate that
the enlightened person is able to access rhe contents of both depic-
tions at one and the same time. Each entity is also a nonentity:
every rhing is nothing, and yet nothing is every vivid thing. In
Nishida's words, the formed is formless, and the formless is (each
and every) form.
The Self
Our ordinary sense of self pales in comparison with becoming
"rruly ourselves" on the field of S'únyatá. On the field of ordinary
consciousness we try, in vain, ro grasp ourselves, and we have
similar difficulty in representationally trying to grasp things in the
world objectively. On the field of Súnyatd, the "original self in
Nishitani Keiji 1 119
. lf" opens up on its own home-ground. Here, our self~ like al!
1rse _
orher rhings, is emptied, and at rhe base of ordinary consciousness
is found ro be non-consciousness. Non-consciousness is known
rhrough nor-knowing, meaning that it is nonreHective knowing.
Nishirani drives home this difficult account of the real self by
returning ro the eye and fire analogies: "J ust as the es sen tia! func-
tion of the eye, to see things, is possible by virtue of the selfness
0
f rhe eye itselt; and jusr as rhe fact that fire burns rhings is pos-
sible by virtue of rhe selfness of fire, whereby the fire does not
burn itselt; so, roo, the knowing of rhe subject is rendered pos-
sible by rhe nor-knowing of rhe self in irself"' 0 Try ro catch the
self "selfing," and you come up empryhanded. To catch rhe self as
objectified is easy, bur ro catch the self direcdy, as pure subjecrivity,
is impossible. Try this experiment: think of your self; now try ro
carch rhar which rhinb of your self (now as an objecr of thought);
now try ro catch a glimpse of rhe self rhar jusr objecrified the self.
As soon as you rry ro do so, self becomes objectified-and so on
ro infiniry. 'l11e "observing" self can never be caught as subjecriv-
ity, for any arrempr ro do so is ro objectify rhe self once again,
which is precisely ro lose rhe subjectivity soughr. ·n1e self of pure
subjecrivity is known in a nor-knowing: we know it is rhere, bur
we simply cannor capture ir in ordinary co11sciousness whose o11ly
way of knowing is ro objecrif)r rhings wirh conceprs. 1he self rhar
we are searching for is 110t a self in rhe ordinary sense: ir is a self
rhar is nor a self~ or "rhar which is self in nor bei11g self"' The
1
self is now free of self-ce11tered11ess since, 011 rhe field of .~únyatá,
ir inrerpenetrares rhe home-ground of every orhcr rhing, everyrhi11g
merges inro a onencss, and yet, at o11e and the same rime, each
rernains disrinct. Being everyrhing else (al! rhe things that we come
ro know, we know in co11sciousness), the self real! y is not a se!(
because ir is no longer an isolated, closed-off individual selt; ir is
a non-selfing self. To be a rrue self is ro be open ro al! rhings, ro
be able ro become rhe pi11e rree or the bamboo from thc inside,
from rhe home-grou11d of the othcr. Al! things are said to advance
now to one's own rrue sd( tor al! things are now also in rhe
home-ground of rhe self 1 am rhe pine rree, or my neighbor. Such
..J
 120 1 The Kyoto School
knowing by bccoming is what Nishitani calls thc "natural lighr." 52
Ir is rhe lighr of things corning ro us, with rhc result rhar "hills
and rivers, the earth, planrs and rrees, riles and stones, al! of these
are the self's own original part." One's being and the being of al!
things is nothingness, so even rhe self is nothing and nothing is
the self The self "resists al! explanation"; ir is one wirh ernpriness
and, rherdore, one wirh al! rhar exists.
Rerurning ro rhe ox herder once more, he is now free of
self-cenreredness, no longer conrrolled by rhe ego-self~ the herder
(in picrure ten) is now a marure man who is ready ro greer another
with rhe compassionate knowledge thar rhe other is hirnself He
exrends a hand in friendship, and one can imagine rhe boy asking
for advice and somehow sensing rhe incredible deprh in rhe walk
and rhe smile on rhe face of rhe mature herder. 'fhe boy asks if it
is rrue rhar there is a state of enlighrenmem, rhar there is a deeper
sense of self and wherher rhrough its realization a profound sense
of rneaning arises thar sweeps away doubrs, psychological pain,
and confusion. The older herder, we imagine, invites the boy to
share wirh him a por of tea, and they sir as the older herder talks,
poinring out thc parh rhar rhe boy will need to embark upon. Ir
will be a long journey, bur rhere is no doubt thar it leads ro the
desired goal. 1l1e boy lisrens inrendy and, for the first time, begins
to discern rhe Llint tracks of the ox in the rnanncr and wisdom
of rhe herder's accounr. just this glirnpse of the tracks seen in the
srability and joy of the herder's body and mind are enough to
'\
give the boy rhe courage ro begin his own journey. In truth, he is
already on rhe path, thanks ro rhis remarkable encounrer, for this
connection with an enlightened man is already the completion of
rhe first picrure, and rhe energy resulting from this encounrer with
the old herder has moved him to rhe second stage in his journey.
Enlightenmenr is contagious for one who is open ro ir.
Selfless Ethics
While ethics was not a focus in Nishitani's wnnngs, it is worth
noting that he closed his monurnenral work Religion ttnd Noth-
1"
_..J..._
Nishitani Keiji 1 121
. gness with a discussion of erhics on the field of c~únyatd. His
:eliberations, there and elsewhere, make plain how very differenrly
he rhought ethics was undersrood in rhe conrext of Japanese Bud-
dhism. Whar he describes may hclp to explain why the analysi~
of erhical terms such as '"good," "right," ''ought," and "inrenrion,"
has lirrle or no place in rhe history of Japanese philosophy and
religion. In general, the Japanese come at ethics frorn a radically
different standpoint.
In an essay on '"l11e 1 "lhou Relarion in Zen Buddhism,"''
Nishirani begins by citing an encounter bcrween rwo "Zen men"
recorded in rhe Blue C!iff' Recorcls.'' In rhc form of a koan (or
puzzle), enrirled "Kyozan roars wirh laughrer," we read:
Kyozan Ejaku asked Sansho Enen, "Whar is your namc?"
Sanshó said "Ejaku!"
"Ejaku!'' replicd Kyózan, "rhat's my name."
"Well then," said Sansho, "my name is Enen."
Kyozan roared wirh laughrcr.
Sansho was a grear Zcn j\!laster, and bis response ro Kyozan's
query must be raken as insrrucrional. Sansho took Kyozan's name
and, in so doing, collapsed the ditference berwcen rhem. Looked
ar from rhe standpoinr of c~únyatd, Samho is Kyozan. As a mas-
ter, Sansho suggests rhar a genuinc encounter with anorher should
begin by "becoming" rhe orher, or, a~ we might say, by standing in
rhe other's shocs. But furrher claritlcarion i' needed, tor ir is not
enough ro stand in anorhcr', shoes simply as onesclf---as Sanshó-
one must stand in anorher's shoes, in this case, as Kyozan. In such
an encounter, rhe rwo becomc one, ancl yct cach remains distinc-
tively Sansho and Kyozan. Funhermore, if Kyózan has "caughr" rhis
lite lesson, rhen he should respond by saying, "Ami 1 am Sansho."
lhe one is rhe orher ancl the orher is rhe onc. We are meant ro
bdieve rhat Kyozan undersrood this, sincc rhe insight caused him
ro roar wirh laughter and ddight ar this surprise insrruction. The
1 is the ·nwu, and rhc ·nwu is rhe l. Nishitani srares that rhey
!uve bccome ''non-dittercnriared," resulring in gcnuine compassion
ami revealing rhe rrue meaning of loving anorher as onesdf Onc
......
 122 1 The Kyoto School
,.
acrually experiences the /;cing of the orher as all discriminator
diitcrences luve vanished. Sansho has "empried" himself and hZs
pur Kyozan "in bis (Samho's) place." Stared simply, "where the
orher is at rhe center of the individual, and where the exisrence of
each one is 'other-centered,' absolure harmony reigns. 'l11is mighr
be called '!ove,' in rhe religiom sense."'c As such, non-self meers
non-sclf in this exrraordinary encounter, and yet sdf and other are
neirher one nor two, "for each self retains its absoluteness while
srill being relativc, and in this relarivity rhe two are never for a
momem separated."'- ·¡he maimaining of individualiry is possible
in that each has bn:ome rhe other wirh norhing sacrifi.ced, and yet,
because each i.'> in rhe other's home-ground, they share rhe same
home-ground.
lhe crhical irnport of rhis reponed encounter is enormous.
With the emphasis on rhc transformation of rhe individual ''on rhe
inside,'' there is no need ro analyze rerms or evaluare lists of pros
and cons to determine the righr way ro rnect another or invoke
racional principies such as Kant's "Never treat a person as a means
(alone), bur always as an end (in him or hersclf)." Ir is not that
doing so would be somehow wrong, just that ir is unnecessary for
one who meets rhe other m che other. In breaking rhc hold of che
everyday selfi.sh sel( rhat is, the self's own obsession wirh itself,
one is now able ro rerurn ro rhe home-ground of the other, and,
indeed, wirh all other beings. 'K The self can no longer be rderred
ro as an end in irse!( as Kam argued, for che self is now empty
and potentially fi.lled wirh all other rhings rhat are, each of rhem,
ends in rhemsel ves for che newly e m ptied self ·!11 us, che self is no
longer an cnd for him/hersel( even rhough s/he is now an end
for al! of rhe other rhings. 1 he self is now a "nothingness." 'l11is
is the ethical impon of circumincessional interpenetration, where
each rhing is all of the others and all of che others tlre rhis thing:
everything interpenetrates the home-ground of every other rhing
and, in so doing, has discovered irs own home-ground.
Love or compassion demands a putting aside of sclf-love: che
ordinary self must be ernptied of its own fi.xations ro make room
for other rhings. Moreover, this lo ve or com pass ion embraces rhe
...........
Ni~hitani Keiji 1 123
l
orhcr jmt as s/hL·/ir is, "su rhat evnv other is loved jusr as ir ts:
loving him as a sinner if lw lx· a sinnn, or ~¡s an c·nemy if he hL·
an enc:my."•" Such a PL'rspecrive opc:m up "a !lcld in thL· sdf LO
Jovc one's ncighbor as onéself wirh thL· 11un-dith:ruuiaring !ove rhat
makes one 'like unto Cod.' "'•"
Nishitani's undcrsta11ding of sclfkss !ove exrends nor just ro
encounrers wirh othcr peoplc hut wirh anyrhing: "'lhis must he a
srandpoinr wherL' one sL'es one's sclf in all things, in living rhings,
in hills ami rivcrs, towns ami hamlets, riles and stones, and !oves all
rhesc rhings 'as oncsdf' ·•,,¡ Jusi as Sr. ha neis u1countcred wind ami
rain, tire and hear as "hrothers and sistcrs," so \\'L", roo, will come
ro grasp rhar '"cvny single rhing acrually ZL'II.> a brorher nr a sisen.
since each had beL'I1 crc·ared, rogL·ther wirh hirmd( by Cm!. !he
rc:sult is a cosmic !ove· rlur is ~lvailable to anyunc' who has emptic·d
her or his .sL·If Ir is an ungoing ei1Lounrer, or éXfK·ril'llCl', ami 11ot
an obligariol1, rule, or cornmarHL Ir Ulmes ahuut whcn artachmenr
ro che sclf h~1s hL'l'n c'xtinguishnl. allowing orhn-dirc'Cfl'dness ro
emerge frorn che norhingnL·ss uf thl· non-sl-lt' self '1he non-self
sclf is rww boundlt"sslv open, wirhour restricriun and, ~1s a I"L'sulr,
che cnrirl· univLTsc' is 11ow .1hk to manitest within ir. Samhó and
Kyl'úan, you and l. che ~nri-;r ami rhe Hown, rhe tea master ~tnd rhe
tea-guesr, the LmlLc~qx g~trlknn .md his rucks and trt:L·s ,¡JI ll,l\c·
b<.:coml' une with thl· other. ·¡ his is a tlJrmuLt l~>r grcat discoVL'r\',
great art, and thé dc·L-pesr loVL· ami friendship ..Ami for Nishirani,
all uf this un, ~1nd doL·s. rakl· piale on tlw tldd uf -~Úil)'tlld. lt is a
place much dcepn rhan the (kmamL, of <.:"thics, dcéper rh.1n reason,
dt'l'per than ukularion, ami is opL'll ro CVLT\'lllle ~md anvone wlw
wishn LO make thL· dil.>rr. lr is alreadv av~1ibblc, right umkrrtJOL
l·ur rhosL' who h.t\"L· nut yct malk che move to\\Jrd ··enlight-
enmuH," ordirury syo.tt"Ill'> of dhico. ami our rcasoning will still be
rcquirL·d ro stl·er rhc·n¡ rhrough rhc complexitin of l'lllOUIHers wirh
orhn pt"opk and otht"r tiLings. Bm the gre~llc"t L'fhiL~tl insighrs h.1w
bl'c'n given by rhosc: who \\'cTL' awarc of rhc true urigin ot~ Jnd
intLTLO!lllL'Ltion \Vith ~tll dut (·xists. ( )rdinan cthics is lllLTL'h' ~lll
arrempt ro codi!)· thL· nuin thrusrs of such imighrs into a wstc'Ill
of righro. allll wrongs, do\ cllld don"rs. Such WS[L"i11S are, hmvc'\'LT,
 l
124 1 The Kyoto School

4
always much less than che insiglHs on which chey are based· th
• • V • • • • ey
rarely carry thc -,ame passton, cornpasston, or deep convtccion. For
che enlightencd person, rhese lasr rluec demenrs are an essenrial
pare of rhe rranstormarion rhac resulrs from viewing che cosmo
Watsuji Tetsuro
• S
from che srandpoinr of Súnyatd. 'lo be rruly crhical is now ro be
who one really is, rh~r is ro say, a non-sdf rhar now ''selfs" by
(1889-1960)
sponraneously and eftorrlessly loving each being as a manifesred
türm of rhe torrnless, t(Jr s/he is each and every torm. hre burns
wirhour burning (irself), rhe eye sees wirhour seeing (irself), water
washes wirhour washing (icsdf), ami rhc enlighrened person acts
compassionarely by being a self thar is not a self Ethics of this \'Vhcthcr whar WL' cal! "thc Wcsr" has always hccn incorrigihly
kind arises whcn one's own home-ground is rhe home-ground of riltnl 1owards a prioririting of rhc individttal .llld ;L ncgkcl of
everything and everyone. what Wa1suji ulk,! "huwc:ciuJcss" (ttidi,~tlril) is, 1 d1ink, an
imporLlll! qucslioii. . . During rhc rcccnr ccn1urics o!' 1hcir
inlclkclual .llld social lite, Emopc ami Amcriu !uve pL1cnl
a srrcss on 1hc imlividu.d ro -.uch an cxruLr 1ha1 inlclkcruals
in ccruin Asian comcxts havc coll!C lo vicw rhar cmphasis ,1s
.111 imhalance nccding lo he chalknge,l. 'V\/,llsLLJL was .nguo~hly
1he hcsr read .llld 1hc IllOSl sharply articulare ;UllOilg 1hc r\.si;u¡
rhinkcrs \dw .Jddre-.-.c:cl 1hi-. prohkill. Ailll 1hc Fthin is whcre
he he-.r dcnwmrr.Hnl th.u p<liil! of view ;tnd rhL· clulknge 10
dlllught impliLil wi1hin i1.

~\VilliallJ R. LL~kur, "hm:wonL'

111 \\':usu¡i li·tslim; N.!nn.~ill.:u: Ldun i11 }tj){/1/

Life and Career

\'Cw,uji serves as .1 viral coiHrast to rhe orher Kyotcl Sclwol rhinkcrs,

for whcrcas Nishida's focus was on mcraphysic'> a!l(l episrcmology
and logic, ami borh ·Llllabc ami Nishiuni took rdigion as rheir
focm, Warsuji emphasi1ni erhics ami culture. Amllikc~ Japan itself
after irs tinced opcning ro non-JapanL·sc in 1854, he was conHicred
by whar séemed LO be rhL· superiority of Wesrcm cultures. Yer, it
was anyrhing bur ckar whar gave \Vcsrern cultures supremacy in
militarv arms ami indmrry, ami t()r a rime rhc JapattL·se spcculared

125

~
 1 Notes to Chapter 3 1 193
192 1 Notes to Chapter 2

31. lhid., (J. Chapter 3. Nishitani Keiji

32. James W. Hcisig, f/;r f'hi!wopf,ers of i'v'othingness: An Essay on
the f\¡•oto Scll()of (Honolulu: lJnivcrsity of Hawai'i Prcss, 2001 ), 124. l. N icw.chc "annuLl!lCed" rhc ck;n h of ( ,od in 1h· Cnty Sciou·1·
5.3. Nakamura Hajimc, Wít¡·s o/ Thinking o/ Etstern Peup!es: (in rhe fÍfth hook. u1titlnl "\\'e Fc.nks:- ( )nes." fir.st aplwrism). Ir rL-.llis.
lnrlirt-Chinll- Tibet~/iljitlll, rram. Philip P Wcincr (Honolulu: East-Wesr "']he grc.Hcst reccnr C\'Ctll~tlut 'Cod is dca,l,' dut hclief in thc Chri:--
Ccmcr Prc>S [now Univcrsiry of Hawai'i Prcssj, 1')(14), 521. tian Cod ILb hccomc unhclic·v.rhlc~is .!lrc.rdy hcgitming to ust it:- tirst
34. lhid. :-hadow F.uropc."
0\'LT

55. Hcisig, "Clohal Villagc," i\. Heisig cites rhis as a paS>age ti·um 1l11 ¡._;,·".¡'
2. J;uncs W. Hci.sig, Phi!o,op/;ns u{ ,\'otf,ingnos: 1111 tf,c
Tanahc's "A Logic of Social Existcncc," (J: 1G6. kyow Sc/;oo! 1llonolulu: L;Ilivcrsity <lf H.Iwai'i l'rc·ss, 20() 1 ), \')l .
.3G. Ibid. 5. lhid .. 1i\.3.
:F. !bid., 'J. r lcisig again cites rhis as a passagc ti-o m Tmabc's "A 1 1. lhid., 1i\'1.
Logic of Social Existcncc," ll1r Co!lerw! Wín·ks r:f' T/nwbe H11jime, Vol. 5. lhid., li\5.
(Í: 1') 5. (l. ihid.
.3i\. Tm,!lJc, /'vlettl noetics, 1±. 7. lhid.
.W !bid . i\. !\iishiuni Kc·iji. "r.ncoutllcr with Lmptitlcss: A ~'vkss.I~c liom
40. !bid., 5. Nishiuni Kciji," in Jl;c Ndigious 1'/Ji!usoph)' o/ SishitiiJÚ A'oii, d. Lrill'lsu
41. lhid., .F L!niHJ (N,¡goya, ja¡w1: NatiUil lmtitulc t(n Rdigion .md Culture, ]')i\')), l.
42. !bid., li\. '). lhid., 2.
45. lhicl., 2i\. 1 (J. Hcisig, f'/;i/moj'lwr.> ij','votf,¡llj!,lll'J;, 21 'i. 1 lci:-ig ILl!lsl.ItL·s a rcc-
411. lbid. ollcction hy Nishir.mi o11 hi:- L'.lrlicr work <>11 nihili.sm: "l .un convincnl
45. !hiel., .)0-.) l. dut thc prohlcm of nihilism lie:- .lt rhc root ol thc mutu<~l ;1\crsion of
16. lhid., 25. rcligiun ami scicncc·. Ami it w.Is thi.s that gavc: my philosophicrl cng,Igc-
!Í 7. lhid., 120. mcm its :-t.ming point. . 'lhc tlmd.rmcm.!l prohlcm of my lit~ . ha.s
4i\. lhid., 12!J--21. always hcur . . rlrc ovcrcomiirg of Ilihilism rhrou~h nihilism."
4'). !bid. 1 l. ]\¡i:,hir.mi Kciji, f/;t Sef(()¡•erco!!Úfl,~ o(\'illlfi,lll, tLlll\. Cr.dr.IIII
50. lhicl., 152. i'arkcs with Sct.sttko ¡\il1.1ra (Alh.my: Starc Univcrsit\' of Ncw l:\nk l'rcss,
SI. lhid., p. IM. ]')')()).
52. !bid., 15i\-5'J. 12. lhid. 52.
55. lhid., 15LJ. 15. lhid., 2')-(Ji\.
54. !bid., ]71. 1·1. \lishit.mi KL·iji. Rrllklrill tila/ Sothillklltss, tram. J.uL \'a11 Bragr
55. !hiel .. 1 7 2. (Lkrkdcy/losAngcks/LHlel<m: L!nivctsity o!' C.rlii;>mia l'rL·ss. 1')i\2). 4.
56. !bid. 1 'í. lhid., :l
s~ !bid.' ]')0. ](J. lhid., 5.
Si\. !bid., 2'!0. 17. lhid., 4-5.
5'). !hiel., 2')]. 1 i\. Stlluki D.lisL·ll 'Jcium. h.'il)'·' /;¡ /m 8udrlf,j,;;l, hrsr SLTics
(,()_ lhid., 2')2. 1Lund<>ll: Ridcr, ]')'Í')) ..F 2.
(J 1. Francisco J. Vare la, t.'i/;iclll Knou•-lloll': Action, V,/isrlom, ,¡ntf ]'). Leda Shiniicl'li. "Lm¡HiiJess ,md Fullnc:.s: .'>uJJ)'illd i11 ,\l.dL1\',]Il.I
C'ognitirm (StantÍ>rd: Sranf(m! Univcrsity Prcss, 1')')')), ~5- '75. L)uclclhi:.m." Lt.>ti'rll /5/l(!t//;¡_,/ )\:\'. IW. 1 (S¡ning I'Ji\2): 1') .

.........
 1
194 1 Notes to Chapter 3
20. !bid.
21. Suzuki D.lioclL Tciraro, i\)i/!lllt!l o{ Lm Budd/Ji.1111 (London:
Ridcr, 1eJ'Jó), 134.
22. i\riotDlk JJ,e Bi!sir \J(frn-ks o{ Aristot!e, cd. with an inrro. by
Riclurd rvlcKcon (l\ew York: Random Hnw,e, teJ41 ), 752 ("Mcraphy;,-
ic,," hk. !¡, ch. 2 [1 0051).
23. l;cda Shi;ll[nu, "C:oll(rihuriom to Dialogue wirh rhe Kyoro
Sclwol," in ./rlpilnesc 1111d Contillcnttd l'/Ji!osophv: Co!l/.'!TiiltloJts with the
Kroto Scll{)o!, cd. Brct W. [),¡vi;,, Brian SchroL·dn, ,md Jason ,y\. Winh
(Bloomington: Indiana Univusitv Prcss, 2011 ), 25.
24. !hiel., 2 1 1.
2'J. !bid., 2'i.
2ó. !hiel., 26.
27. !hiel., 27.
21\. !bid.
2e). !bid.
50. !bid., 21\.
51. 1\ishirani. Rel1,~ion r!nd NoiÍ'IIl,~nn,, 17-lS.
')
J~. !bid., 'JO.
.33. !bid .. 'J. 1\ishitani clarihes his me of "rcali;L·" ro includc horh
"actualin:" ami "ullCkrsrand." He conrinues, "] am using rhc word ro
imlicatc thar our ahiliry to pcrceiV<: realiry lllGlllS dur rc,dirv redlizes
hcruali1es) irsclf in m; rhar rhis it1 turn is rhc only way rlur vv·c can
rc:dizc (appropriare thruugh unckrstanding) rhe hcr rhat realiry is also
rcalizing itsdf ir1 m; :md rhar ir1 so doing thc sclt~re:dizarion of realiry
rakcs place" ('l).
Yí. Roben E. Carrcr. Jll('}lf'illlese /lru dl!d Se!rcu!til'atirm (Albany:
Srarc Lniversitv of \lnv York Prcss, 2001\). An cxploration of h\'L' of rhc
many Jap:mL·.sc ,ms: ,likülo, rhe 'V< 1ay o('lca, rhc '\\'ay of Flowcrs (ikeÚi/1111),
Lmdscapc g.1relcning. ,md porrcry. Similar cxpc·curiom o!' thc jap:u1esc
.u-rs-th:H thcy c.u1 k'<1d to cnliglnenmc1H-Clll be t~Hmd in J¡pancsc
calligr.1phy, No/; dranu, i)/11/lli/m puppL·try, ere. C.mcr's buok provicks
thc philosophicd h.!d.grouml ro rhcsc ,ms as p:nhways tu cnlit;hrcnmcnr.
3">. T!ircr.su Lnno, L'd., l11e Rc/¡giom 1'/Jifosop/JJ' o( ¡\'¡,j,¡ttlJti Keiji
(BL-rkclcy: ¡\-,i:¡¡¡ 1lununirics Prcss, 1 'JS'J), 511.
:)(,. Nishirani. Rc!igioll dlld Soi/;J;¡c~lli'SS, 121.
57. !hiel., 123.
)S. !bid .. 12'Í.
5eJ. lhid.
.....,¿_
Notes to Chapter 3 1 195
'111. t\hc· ,\l.l\,10, "~ishit.uli's C:halktl~c· to \\',·stcril l'hiloouph1· ,uld
·¡J¡,·ul,>gl·." i11 Lrnl<>. //11' Nt'Ú~Ii!IIS 1'/Jdmop/;¡· o/ ,\';)1/!dltl 1\.l'ljl. 2-1: "¡\s
rhc ncg:uio11 "/ rhc c"istL'Il\X ,Ji· thitlp rtihility '>t.l11Lls i11 "f'Pmitillll w
c:>cÍ'>lC11Cc'. ! his lllCdiLS dut 11ihilir1 is still ukc·11 .1'> sllnlc· 'rhi11g' c.dlccl
nihiliry . .1 n·Litil•l' !lollun,~JII'.'·'·"
·1 1. ;\li,hit,11Ji, Nd1.~io11 d!itl ,\'ot/1/N~III'.I.'. 12">.
·12. ¡\he·, '"\i-,hit.111Ís Ch:dle·11gL·." .1.2
!,). 1\ishit:lllÍ, Ncll,~/11/1 r111rl Sorluil,~lll'.l.\, 121\.
·tLJ. J hi,J.
·1 ). !hiel., JI¡¡)_
4(>. !hiel.
'Í7 "Dq>L'1Jektll ori~itution," .'>ll1llctimL·s ¡·d~·rred tu ,Js "c\l-depul-
dull llrigi1utilln." or "illtndcpc·ttelc1H origi11<ttio11," i-, a ke1· Buddhi.'>I Lll11-
cqH th:ll .ll[L'lllfllS [() .\[\()\\' th:!l (.lll\:1liOil Í.'> ,1 Cllll1f'k\, fllll(L''>'> \\lllc·h
eksuihc·.s thc ari,ing llf thi11g'> withour rcu\lusc to flLTIII:1Ilcnt notiotls
ul· "suhsr;u¡ce" or "sclvL·.s." hn ,11\\'thing to come i11to c'\Í'>k1\CC .lile! to
rcmain in existeiiLL ..1 "dl.liiJ o/ Clltse<' must comi11Uc lO '>llf1port it. t\n
L'X,llllf'k olrcn usnl is dut u/lirL·. hrc· rcquirc·s 11) t'uel, ( 2) ox1gen. UJ
dnllc·.ss, [·1) .1 S<llll-cc· ul ig11iti<lll, efe. 11.111\' lll thcsL· .111tece,lc-111 Ul1Icli-
tiuns is ,1hsclll, or if ,!111' <>1te "f dJull cc,l.sc·s ro cxi'>t, tltc1l thc Jire v1ill
go out. The clllirc llilil'l'l'SL' is a \',tsr collc-ctio1J o!' "c,1use.s." with cvcr\'
thing. livi11g hL·in~, or hum,m scli' ,kpu1den1 u11 :1 spcciiÍL "bundle" ,,(
c.l!I'>es ¡;,r i1s C<>II1Í1lli< el L·xistc·tlcL·.
1\11 c:xccllctll disLll.s,ioJJ ut. CL>-depc1dc:lll <ll'igiil.!liott is 1<> lw l<>uml
in Ahc ,\1.!\,!ll, "Nun-l\ci11g .lllc!LHII---llll' ,\kt,1pln·.siL.d N.lllllc· ol NL·g.1til·-
it;. in thc Lht .u1d the \\',·,¡,"in t\he ,\1.1,.!0, /m ,r¡¡r/ \Xí·stl'/11 l!wli,~/1[, ed.
\\'illi,1m L1¡:icm (1 lellllliulu: l nivc-rsitl' ot' 1 L1v1.1i.i l'rc'>.'>, 1')i)'J), 12)-2(>:
... l h,ll cvcrnhirrg is impcrtlLIIlcll[. h,Jving 1lll c1LI1J,d sc:ltlwo,! (scli~hL·ingJ
,melno um:h:mgc.Jhlc ;,tJlbLlllLL'. is <lllL' "f the h,JsiL pri11Lipks ot' L\udelhi'>111.
lh.H e\'LTVthi11g is dcpcndcrn un ;.omething elsc, rh.u lll>thing is irlelcpul-
du!l a11li ,clfcxisting. ¡, .uJothcr h.1sic Budclhisr pri11cipk. This is tlTil!Cll
fJ/iiiÚ)'d-.ltllillltf',/dtt, v1hich e,¡¡¡ he tramLHnl :1:> dcpcmlcJJt ot·igin,!lion, rc·la-
ri,mality, rcl:!rional origin.uio11. or dqlcndull c:o-:1rising. -lllc' rc,di;arion that
L'\'LTytlling is impcmunull :ulll dcpcn,lc1Hly origi11:Hing mm! he .1flplicd ru
tl1111g' 1HH only i11 thc urJivcrse hut :d'>o hc)'lllid thc univcrsc:."
l1i-l. NishiLilli, Neli,~illli ril!d Sorf;illgllcss, 1"lO.
'1'). !hiel.. HA. l\ishir.mi quotcs frum ,\lus<> Kokushi, .dsu k1tllW11
,!S ,\lus(-) se->Seki (12 7 ">-l,)'l 1 ), ,1 /c1l Bt1eldhisr IllOllk allll teachcr. ul-
ligr.1phcr. fllll'l, ,111d L1neLupc ckoignn.
196 1 Notes to Chapter 4
---,-- Notes to Chapter 4 1 197

'50. l\Jishirani, Re!igio;¡ 11m/ NotNng11ess, 1')(,_ 1(,, !bid .. 20C.

')l. !bid., 157. 17. !bid., p. 1')J. For an introductioll to thc· philo,"phv hchittd
'52. !bid., 1 (,_), Japc~nco,c Lmclo,c.lpc g.tnktl'>. '>ce· Rubnt L C;mn. 1/w /rljitli!CSt' ,irts i/1/(/

'55. Nio,irani Kciji, ''1hc 1-1hott Rclarion in Zcn Buddhism," in lhe Se!(Cullii'i/lio!I (•\lh.mv: Sratc· Lnivno,ity ol 1'\c·\\ Ymk 1\c·\\, 2()(JSI. eh,.
Buddha t_ye: An ilnthu!ugy o( thr Kyoto Srhoo!, cd. frcdcrick Franck (New ami .'\.
York: Crossroad, 1')02), 47-GO. 1 S. \Vat.o,uji. Clilllili<'. 2()·1.
54. !bid., 4S. lhe B!ue Cliff Rerorcls is an "old and wcll-known" 1 '). \'u.ts.l Y.IslllJ, --¡he· LJ¡,·ouiHl'l' o( ,\lodcm 1-Ifl,!IlL'sL' l'hilmo¡lll\·

collccrion of kr5t111S srill w,cd to uain Zcn monks. with 1-Jci,kggcr." i11 flnrleg~cr i/1/(/ ;],¡,m 11'"".~/1/, e·cl. (,¡·,¡h,tm l'arke·s
55. Nishirani, "1l1e I-1lwu Rclarion," 47-GO. (1-lotwlulu: Lttivn,itv ol f Ll\\,li'i Prc\\, 1')S~). 1(,S.
5G. lbid., 5G. 20. \X 1.I!>Itji 'ict'>ltrt-,, \\ili.>li/1 Jez,¡nfi_; N!l!ri_rt!ku, rr. Y.tilLI!lloto Sci-
'57. !bid. "tku ami 1\ohni L C:.mn (.\lh.IIll': St.IIL L!ttin·ro,itv or \kw Ymk l're·.">.
SS. Nishitani, Re!igion and Nothingness, 27'5. ]')')(,), ').

5LJ. lbid., 27S. 21. 'r'tt.l'>a Y.to,uo, 1/te llorlr: liul't!itl ti!I l:t!;lem />llllrf-!iorlr IJ,mr¡,
(,(), !bid. cd. 1. P. ¡-:,¡,ulis, lLIIls. \:.tg.tt<>IlHl 'lltigutllri .md l. l'. K.hltlt, (:\lh.im:
(,l. Jhid., 2S l. Sute Ltti\L-r'>itv ot \:e'\\ l'urk l're\s. l'JS71. 1 tS.
62. Jbid. 22. \X,IhLiji. /(¡¡m.~ti/.:11, ').
25. lhid.
2•L !hicJ., ] ): "[\\']e _i,t¡l.llllSL h,I\'L prmiucni .1 ,jj_,lillCli\'L ulnlql-
Chapter 4. Watsuji Tetsur6 tioll ot' hum.ut hcing. :\ccmding llJ it, ;Iin,~m ¡, dtc· fltthlic .ud, al rhc
o,alllc' rime. thc ineiividu.d lwlll.IIl hcittg livir1g \\ithitl ir.
l. W'arsuji Tctsurü\ S!~tmwn Dúgm (Purifying Zm: Wrztmji~- Sham- 2'í. lhid., 12·!.
on o~-,gcn), rrans. wirh commcntary by Stcvc Bcin (Honolulu: Univcrsiry 2(), lhid.
of Hawai'i Prc,s, 2011). 27 !hiel. 251.
2. w~muji 'lctsurü, C]imate ami Culture: A f'hi!osopl,im! Study, 20. !hieL 22'l.
tram. Ccotli-cy Bownas (_japan: 'Jhc l-lokuscido Prcss, ~vlinisrry of Educa- 2'). lhid.
tion, 1%1), 17. :)0. C:unlúcius, C.lulllg-_)'1111.~ (!Jo<'trine o{ tl~t· A/e,/11), ch. 20. S,
5. !hiel., 1-2. tram. Jame'> Lxggc, i11 ff,e ConjÍicit!ll ClilssÚ.>, 2nd ni. (( hl;ml: CLHcll-
!¡_ !bid., 211. don Pn.:"), Vol. 1, .'¡()(J.
'5. lhid., 142. .JI. lhid., ch. 20, IS.
6. lhid., 1:)(,, 52. ( ;cnpci !\itwtniy.t. "hhic,d Backgror!lld, in J.tp.m .md ·ntcir
-¡ !bid., us. lk.ning upon thc Risc· of 'loci.d C:ottscioustlns in Jtp;m," \1.\ Thc,is.
S. !bid .. IYJ. L:nivcrsity of C:hicago, 1')27, ')(,_
'). !bici. .l:l. \X'ahuji Tctsur(¡, C/!11/{l/t t111rl C11!ture, l-iS.
1 O. !bid., 14'l. ol·L \'\'.muji, R.i;m,~,,ku, 22'S.
11. lbid. 5'í. Yuasa Yastw, 1/Je !Jor/y, 1'í(L
12. !bid., 1'50-)1. Y1. Sallic B. King, "Egalir.Hi~tn Philmophics in Sc:xi.,t lmtituriorh."
15. Ihid., 1 'í5-'í5. /rnimtil oj'f.émmist Studies m Rc/¡gum :¡ (Spring 1'JSSi: 1 'i. King c:xplaim.
14. !bid .. 1(J•l. "Clnc \\ ho is mtikoto or o,inccrc i, truc lo hcr or his rot.d lite >ituatillil: onc
1 'l. !bid .. 1()(,, ¡, truc 10 lJilL'sl'i( by knowing une:\ trtll.' naturc which io, in .1 condition

.........
 202 1 Selected Bibliography
tt~st v:~'iti11gs: Notf,illplns ,ntcl thc Rcl<~iow \J..'ín-fr/,·ú·u•. Ti-am. D. A. Dil-
worrh. Honolulu: Lniver,ity Pre'' of Haw.¡i'i, ]')k7.
"On the Doubr in Our r lean." Tí,am. J. Shorc and F. 1\:ag.¡o,awa.
Etsta/1 8uddhió't 17, no. 2 ( l'JkftJ: 7-ll.
"111c Problcm of Japanco,c: Culture." 'Ji·am. 1\l. Abe ami R. Dc:1'v!arrino.
Sources of)rtjJflllese Tii{{litirm, vol. 2, cd. R. Tsunoda, \V T de Bary,
and n. KCL'lll', 3'i0-(l'). Ncw York: Columbia Univcrsiry Press,
]'))k.
Studies About Nishida
Abe:, Masao, and L. Brüll. "Kiraró Ni,hida Bibliography." lntenwtiona!
Philosophú·,tf Quarter!y 2k. no. 4 ( I'Jkk): 573-k l.
Axrc:ll, G. S. "Compararivc Dialccrics: Nishida Kirarü's Logic of Place and
Wcsrcm Dialccrical T11oughr." Philosophy Ew cmd Wfest 41, no. 2
(l '!91): 16.3-k/¡.
Caner, Roben E. lhe Nothingness Beyond God: An lntroduction to the Phi-
!osoplry o( Nishidil Kitttrif, 2nd cd. 1\'ew York: Paragon Hottse, 1997.
- - - . "God and Nothingnc\\." Philosophy Emt rlltd \r'{•st 59. no. 1
() anuary 2009): 1-21.
Kn.1u1h, L. "Lite is Tragic-T11c Diary of Ni,hida Kirarü." fdonumenta
N!jJjJI)nim 20, no. 5-4 (1 %7): 55S-3k.
Ni;,hirani Kciji. Nishidd Kitaró. Tram. Yanumoto Sci;,aku and James W.
Hcisig. Berkcley: (NailZ<lll Srudics in Rcligion ami Culture), Uni-
versi ty of Calil(nnia Prc;,s, l 991.
'!i1keuchi Yoshinori. "Thc Philosophy of Nishida." In lhe Buddha Eye: An
Antho!ogy ofthe Kyoto Srf,ool, 179-202. Ncw York: Cro,road, 19k2.
Ucda Shizurcru. "T11c Ditficulry of Undcrsranding NishicLú Philosophy."
Eutem Buddhist 2k, no. 2 (Aurumn 199'i): 175-k2.
Wargo, Roben J. J. The Logic o{Nothingness: A Study o{Nishicla Kitcmi.
Honolulu: Univcrsity of Hawai'i Prcss, 2005.
Yusa, Michiko. Len ami Philosopl~v: An lnte!!ectlf{d Biogmph¡• o{ NiJf,idtl
Kitt~ró. Honolulu: Univcr,irr of 1 Iawai'i Prc;,s, 2002.
Scc rhc "Memorial bsuc" J(n Nishidd Kiraró. in Ewem Buddhist XXVIII,
no. 2 (Autumn 1 'J9'i).
Sce Sourrebook fin' fvfodem }1pt1nne Philosopf,y (sec main cntry in "Ccn-
n.d Background" scc:rion) which cotllaim livc rranslarcd cssays hy
\iishida.
~ Selected Bibliography 1 203
Tanabe Hajime
The Translations of Tanabe 's Writings
"llK Logic: of thc Spn:ieo, a., Dicdenico, ... '[i.lm. D. A. Dilwonh. Tlira
S.ll.l. lHotlllllltlllil ,\'¡ppo!lll'd 2'1, no. 5 ( ]•)(,•)): 2';'5-kk.
f'f,ifmopl>¡' liS /'vfcti/Jtoct/<'.1. ·¡ Ll!ls. Yoshintni 'hkc·ttc:hi. Vddu \'igliL·Imu .
.urcl JamL·, \X/. 1-let,ig. lkrkL·kr: (N.m;cm StucliL·, i11 Rc:ligiun curd
Culturd. L!trivc:r.,irv o! C.tlit;Jrlli.l PrL·"· l'Jk(J.
Se: e Solii',.,.¡J/JoJ· _F,r A!odt-rlt f,tpdlli'SI' PJ,i/osopf,¡
(.\l:L' tn.Jin ciifiT in "( ;,·¡¡-
c:r.d bclc'kgroutlll" \L'Ltiotr), \\·hiJ1 UHll.ÚIJ\ thrn: tr.lil\l.ttnl c"avo,
hr TatLdK.
Studies About Tanabe
1-kisig. JamL·, \V. "l~ul.thc's l ogiL ,¡¡' thc \¡JL'LiliL .md thL· Critique of
thc· Cluh,d Vill.tgc ... 1:,/S/rm l!wld!usr 2k. nu. 2 IAutumn l')')'i),
l ')k -22'1.
Kiyo;.lWCl ,\bmhi. "'lhL· c.rc,ll l',llh o!' ¡\h,olutc l )¡hc:r-l'own." ln iJ,e
!iudrlhi! FJ'I': /J11 /1tt!l'o!ogy o( ¡J,e Kyow Sd,ool. ni. hnlcriLk h,mk.
252-.l'i. \kw Y<Jrk: Crm,ro.ld. ]')k2.
Ouki. ~ bkuto. lmlwirlitli/11, ,)ocil'ly, 1hmuntki/1(/: l/"' lritirlil' Lo,~ ir o()j,e-
l'ies /ilcorrling w 1/<t¡ime /,wt~!Jt'. LciLkn: (_ia¡J.llll''l' Studic' l.ihr.u-; 1.
lhill. 200 l.
Sumki 'lcit.lro [),¡i,L'll. "Apropm ol '>Ir in." In TI}[' l!wlr//Jd Lyc: .~Jt ,·il!il'o!-
ogy o(¡¡,,. !\voto .\d"w!, nL Frnicrick lT.IIJk. 211-·20. Ncw Y"rk:
C:ro.,,ro.ld. !'Jk2.
lJnno, T.JitLlsll. clllll J.utlC\ \\'. 1 ki,ig. nk iJ,e Ncli.~iow l'f,ifosop/1¡• o{
ittltilf;e J-ldjlllli': ¡¡,,. J!etdt!lh'tf( lmpndtil'L hcclllolll. CA: (N,l!ll<ln
StudiL·o, in Rcligiotr .md Culture). Asi.u1 1-lumclllitics Prc\\, 19')0.
Nishitani Keiji
Translations of Nishitani's Writings
( )¡¡ Bwlrlf,i.'ltl. Tr,lll\. Y.llll.llll(J[ll '>ci,aku .l!ld !Zohc:n L. C,nrL·r. :\lh.mv:
Sute l. tliVLI\ity ol !\e\\ York l'rL·'·'· 2()()(J .
1
.........
204 1 Selected Bibliography
~ Selected Bibliography 1 205
"rn1c l'cr:-orJal and rhc lmpcr-,urul in Rcligion," l'an 1, in Eastern Bud-
dhist5, no. 1 (1')70): 1-1~; Parr 2, in vol. 5, no. 2 (I'J70J: 7k
~~-
"Rcl1ccriom 011 Two Addrcs'>cs by ,\!arrin Hcideggcr." In Heidegger and
Asitltl 'Jl,ollgl,t, ed. Craham Parkes. 1-fonolulu: Univcrsity of Hawai'i
Pn:s.'>, 1 ')~7.
Re!igion mul Nothingncss. TLrrJs. Jan Van Bragr. f\erkdcv ami Los Angd.:s:
L:nivnsirv of Cdit(mJia T'n::-:,, 1')~2.
"Science and Z.:n." In 7he Bucld/'ti Fye: An Al!/l){)!og_y o/ the Kyoto Schoo!,
cd. Frcdnick FLmck, 1 11-57. New York: Crossroad, 1')~2.
'ff,e Se!rozmHmling o/ Nihi!i.,J/1. Ti·am. Cr,lham Parkc:- witb Sctsuko
AihaLJ. Albanv: Srarc Univcr:-iry of 1\cw York Press, I'J'JO.
"Tl1e 1-'llwu Rclation in Zcn Brrddhio,nl.'' In Tlll' Buddf,rt Eyc: An Aw/10 !-
ogy o( fi,e A"roto Sd1oo!. e d. Frcdcrick Franck, 1¡ 7-60. Nnv York:
Crmsroad, 1')~2.
Studies About Nishitani
Dallmayr, Frcd ... Nothingncs:, ami 'Sunyara': ;\ Compari.-,on of Heidegger
and Nishicmi." Phi!osoph)' Emt tille! 'Xht 42. no. 1: 37-4~.
Horio T,uromu. "Nishirani's Phi]o:,ophy: ·rhc Lncr Period." Zm Bud-
dhism iiJdil¡' 14: 1 9-32.
J\1ar,lldo, John C. "Emprine:,:,, Hiswry. Accoulllahilirv: A Critica! Exami-
nation of Ni:,hiLmi Kciji's Standpoinr." 7.m Buddhism Todti]' 1 5:
'J7-II ~-
Marra, ,\1ichacl. /'viorlem }tjJfltli'Je Aestlwtin: 11 Re11der (chaptcr ~ deals wirh
'"Ihc Kyoro Sclwol aml 1\ishiuni Kciji"). Horwlulu: Univer-,iry of
1--!awaii PrL·:,s, 1')')')_
Parkcs, Craham. "Nietzsche ami 1\ishitani on rhc Sdf-Overcoming of
Nihilism." lntomztiuiJ,z! Studies in f'J,i!osoph)' 2 'i, no. 2: 51-(,0.
L!nno, Tai rcr,u, .:d. !he Rel<~ÚJLJS l'hilosophy of, Visllltrlfli Kei¡i: En<"ountcr
Vnth Fmptiness. Berkclcy: Asian Humaniric:, Pres:-, 1')~9.
Sce the "lr1 ;\lcmoriam" volumc t(>r 1\i:,hir,mi Kciji, Eutern Buddf,ist X...XV.
no. 1 (Spring 1')'J2).
Sec Sourceúook jin· /v!odem /tzpt!!Jcse !'hi!osop/Jy (scc nuin ciHry in "Cen-
er;d Background'' :,ccrion), \\ hich corllaim rhrL·c rranslatcd cssays
hy 0lishirani.
"""""'-
Watsuji Tetsuró
Translations of Watsuji's Writings
Climrltl' flml Cu!wre: A f'f,i!osophi<"t!l Stud¡'. ·r¡,lll,. Ccollrey BowiL!.'>.
Tokyo: lloku.'>cido l'rc:,:,, 1')(J 1. Rcprinred hy Crccnwdod !'res:,,
We:,rport, CT, 1')~~-
"_lapan.::-c Ethical Tlmughr in rhe Noh l'Lty' uf rhe t'\1uromachi l'niod."
Trans. Dc~vid A. Dilwonh ,rml Umcyo Hirano. !violllltllel/lil Nip-
prmú·tl 24 (DLnmher I'J(,')¡; 4'i7-'J~.
Purif)'ing /.m: mw11¡i Ti·ts11rli; Shtnloll [)fi¿~,m. h,ms. Sreve Bein. 1 lorw-
lulu: Univcrsiry of t-law.li'i !'re::,,, 2011.
R.inrigilkll: f:'tf,¡<'S j¡¡ }tjhlll. ·¡ r.l!JS. Yrnunwro Sá-,aku ;md Roben F. Crrlll'
Albany: Sute Univcr,ity ol Ncw York !'res:-, 1')')(,_
Studies About Watsuji
Bcllah, Rohcrr 0!. "_l,¡p,ur\ Crdmral ldemirv: Somc Rcllcuiom on rhc
Work of Wat,uji 'lc·tsur<->." lhe joun~tt! o//lsútn Srudiu 24, no. 4
(1%5): 573-lJ"Í.
Bcrnicr, Bnnard. "1')1¡2-N.uional Communion: \var:,uji Tct:,un-,\ Con-
cqHioii or Fthic:,, l'ower .. lite! tlre _lapa!H.':-e Imperial Sr.rre." f'f,i/uso-
p/J¡, f:(¡st fl/1{1 \.\'~·st 'i(J. \lo. 1 (_i;muarv 20()(,): W!-l O'i.
C:outc.ru. l'aulinc. "\X'ar:,ttji lctsun-,·, Fthic-, of Milieu." In Froni!IT\ of
/iljJtiiU'SI' PJ,i!omp/1¡', cd. ialllL'' W. 1-fci,ig, 2(,')-')0. N,tguy.r, j;tpan:
N.!nt.an lmtitufL' 1(11· 1\cligion ;md Culture, 2()1)(,_
LtFkur, \X'illiatn R. "An Lthic uL-\,-b: St.nc and Socictv i11 thL N.inrig11ku
o!" \\'ar.suji "!CL'>Lll"l-l." In !.11 socih/ oui!ejt/(1' ti !ltill dam Ln· llitrli-
tions cf,j¡¡oise, _!lif'OIIii/St, I'OIÚ'Illtt' l'f l'iellltlt!Útllttt. ni. Lcun V.m-
dcrmcnsch, 'i'i_l-(,¡_ l',ui,: l:rmlc:, drém,lliquc·s, .l tcuk !"t,tlh,,ti"·
d' Ext réme-Orienr, 1')') 11.
"I'>Ltddhi,r LmpritlL'" in thc bhiL:- ,md ;\csrhetic:- uf \\'.usuji
TL·tsun->." N.eli?JOW Stwftt'-' ]q (]'Ji~;: 2.37-'ill.
,\l.tylcla, C.r.rh.un. iillll', .)J'dl'l' ,/1/rl rtf,¡<"-' /¡¡ tl~t' !'hdmopll)' o( \\":zt,llfi
"li-f_,I/I'Ú, A"uki ,)'J,r);:ú, t!wl l'>!tZrtitt 1leir/,g~tr. :\L'\\ York: Ruurlcdgc.
2()0(>.