FOREWORD
When one examinestheZen textattentively,onecannot
escapetheimpressionthat,withall thatisbizarreinit,satori
is,in fact,a matterofnatural occurrence,ofsomethingsovery
simple^thatonefailstoseethewoodforthetrees,andinattempt-
ing to explain it, invariably says thevery thing that drives
others intothegreatestconfusion.Nukariya*thereforeisright
whenhesaysthatanyattempttoexplainoranalysethecontents
ofZenvs-ithregardtoenlightermaentwouldbeinvain.Never-
theless,thisauthordoesventuretosayofenlightenmentthatit
embracesaninsightintothenatureofself,andthatitisaneman-
cipation of the conscious from an illusionary conception ofself.'Theillusionregardingthenature ofselfis thecommon
confusionoftheegowithself.Nukariyaunderstandsby"self"
theAll-Buddha, i.e.simplya totalconsciousness {Bewtisstsein-stotalitdl) oflife. He quotesPanShan,whosays, "The world
ofthemindencloses thewholeuniverseinitslight,"adding,
"Itisacosmiclifeandacosmicspirit,andatthesametimean
individuallifeandanindividualspirit."*Howeveronemaydefineself,itisalwayssomethingother
thantheego,andinasmuchasahigherunderstandingofthe
egoleadsontoselfthelatterisathingofwiderscope,embracing
theknowledge oftheegoand thereforesurpassingit. Inthesamewayastheegoisacertainknowledgeofmyselfsoisthe
selfaknowledgeofmyego,which,however, isno longerex-
periencedin theformofabroaderorhigherego,butinthe
formofanon-ego{Nichi-Ich).
Such thoughts arezdso familiarto the authorofDeutscheTheologie^: "Anycreaturewhois tobecome consciousofthis
perfection must first lose all creaturelikeness (Geschopfesart),something-ness{Etwasheit)amdself."IfItakeanygoodtomy-
*Amastersa>'s:"BeforeamanstudiesZen,mountainsaremountainsto
him,andwatersjircwaters.Butwhenheobtainsaglimpseintothetruthof
Zenthroughtheinstructionofagoodmaster,mountauisarenolongermoun-
tains,norwaterswaters;later,however,whenhehasreallyreachedtheplace
ofRest(i.e.hasattainedsatori),mountainsareagainmoimtains,andwaters
%witers."(Suzuki:Essays,I,p.12.)
*ReligionoftheSamurai,p.123.
*"Erdightenmentincludesaninsightintothenattireofself.Itisalibera-
tionofthemindfromdeceptionregardingself."
*L.C.p.132.
*DasBucMeinvomoollksmmtnLeben.PublishedbyH.Buttner,1907.
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