Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism by Toshihiko Izutsu

Zen experience defies all thinking and linguistic description and simply affirms what is evidently real. "The ordinary way — that precisely is the Way". After questioning the nature of reality, the Zen student discovers that what remains is what is. Although it seems that Zen would not lend itself to philosophical discussion, that all conceptualization would dissolve in light of this empiricism, in this volume, the author demonstrates that the "silence" of Zen is in fact pregnant with words.

A variety of topics are discussed: the experience of satori, ego and egolessness. Zen sense and nonsense, koan practice, the influence of Zen on Japanese painting and calligraphy and much more.

Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1993), was Professor Emeritus at Keio University of Japan who specialized in Islamic studies and comparative religion. He took an interest in linguistics at a young age, and came to know more than thirty languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindustani, Russian, Greek, and Chinese.

A world authority on Islamic thought,  he taught for ten years in Iran as the professor of philosophy at the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, and was active in promoting trans-cultural dialogue in philosophy up until the Iranian Revolution in 1979 when he returned to Japan. He is widely known for composing the first direct translation of the Qur’an into Japanese.