ANINTRODUCTION TO ZENBUDDHISM
uponaserious attempt tobringsuchhappeningswithinthe
realmofscientificunderstanding.EarlieronIraisedthequestionofwhetherwehaveanything
likesatoriintheWest.IfweexceptthesayingsofourWestern
mystics, a superficial glance discloses nothingthat could be
likened to it in even thefaintest degree. According to our
thinking,thepossibilitythattherearestepsinthedevelopmentofconsciousnessdoesnotexist.Themerethoughtthatthereisa
tremendouspsychological differencebetween theconsciousness
oftheexistence ofan objectand the"consciousnessofthecon-
sciousness"ofanobjectbordersonasubtletywhichcanscarcely
beanswered. One couldhardlybringoneselftotake sucha
problemso seriouslyas to takeaccount ofthe psychological
conditionsofthesettingofanysuchproblem.Itischaracteristic
thattheposingofsuchandsimilarquestionsdoesnotasarule
arisefromanyintellectualneed, butwhere itexistsisnearly
alwaysrootedinaprimitivereligiouspractice.InIndiaitwas
YogaandinChinaBuddhismwhichsuppliedthemotivepower
fortheseattemptstowrestoneselffromthebondsofacertain
stateofconsciousnesswhichwasfelttobeincomplete.Asfaras
Westernmysticismisconcerned,itstextsarefullofinstructions
astohowmancanandmustreleasehimselffromthe"I-ness"
(Ichha/tigkeit)ofhisconsciousness, so that through the know-ledgeofhisbeinghemayraisehimselfaboveitandreachthe
inward(godlike)man.Ruysbroeckmakesuseofanimagewhich
is alsoknown to Indian philosophers, namely the tree that
hasitsrootsaboveanditstopbelow,^"Andhemustclimbup
intothe treeofbelief,which growsdownwards, sinceit has
its rootsin the godhead."^ Ruysbroeck also says, like Yoga,
"Manshallbefreeandwithoutimages,freedfromallattach-
mentsandemptyofallcreatures."^"Hemustbeuntouchedby
lustandsuffering,profit andloss, risingandfalling, concern
'"Thereistheoldtree,herrootsgrowupwards,herbranchesdown-
wards....ItiscalledBrahman,andhealoneistheundying."{Kalha-Upanishad,
IIAdhyaya, 6 Valli,i.)
ItcannotbesupposedthatthisFlemishmystic,whowasbominI973>
borrowedthisimagefromanyIndiantext.
*JohnofRuysbroeck:TheAdornmentoftheSpiritualMarriage.Transl.from
theFlemishbyC.A.WynschckDom,igi6,p.47.
»Op.cit.p.51.