Monday September 21st, 2020
A dear friend of mine gave me a cute t-shirt in honor of both my birthday and my black belt test. I wanted to know what the Japanese said on the t-shirt. I texted a picture of the shirt to another close friend who is Japanese. She wrote back:
“The direct translation is tao of karate. I’m still thinking what is the best way to translate the word…”
A little while later, she came back with this:
“The best way I can describe is something like, pursuing the way of master in karate.”
That got me to thinking, what is the relationship between Zen and Daoism? (D says “Dao” sounds closer to the Chinese pronunciation than “Tao,” so I’ll go with that.) Certainly Daoism is older in China. Lao Tsu lived between the 4th and 6th centuries, B.C. Zen Buddhism originated with Bodhidharma. He journeyed from India to China in the 6th century C.E/A.D. Daosim, already prevalent in China by the time Bodhidharma arrived, would have influenced Zen, or, Ch’an, as it was referred to in China. I’ve included a link to a BBC article about Zen Buddhism.
So just as kempo is the “grandparent” of karate, so Dao is a grandparent of Zen Buddhism. I am sure religious scholars and monks have studied the relationship between the two. In fact, here’s an article from Buddha Weekly:
Some of the interesting points of the article regarding similarities between Dao and Zen:
* Concept of Emptiness or No-thing
* Interconnectedness of all living things
I’ll add a couple of my own observations:
* Emphasis on simplicity and direct experience
* Contradictions, or apparent contradictions, teach wisdom in each tradition
I’m sure there are more similarities between the two, as well as deeper examinations out there. Still, food for thought!
