Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture: Wes Jackson: 9781582437804: Amazon.com: Books
Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture Paperback – October 4, 2011
by Wes Jackson (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 8 customer reviews
Locavore leaders such as Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Barbara Kingsolver all speak of the need for sweeping changes in how we get our food. Also a longtime leader of this movement is Wes Jackson, who, for decades, has taken it upon himself to speak for the grasses and the land of the prairie, to speak for the soil itself. Here, he offers a manifesto toward a conceptual revolution: Jackson asks us to look to natural ecosystems — or, if one prefers, nature in general — as the measure against which we judge all of our agricultural practices.
Wes Jackson believes the time is right to do away with monocultures, which are vulnerable to national security threats and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs. Soil erosion, overgrazing, and the poisons polluting our water and air — all associated with our contemporary form of American agriculture — foretell a population with its physical health and land destroyed.
In this eloquent and timely call to arms, Jackson asks us to look to nature itself to lead us out of the mess we’ve made. We do this by consulting with the natural ecosystems that will tell us, if we listen, what should happen to the future of food. (less)
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Product details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Counterpoint (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
8 customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
Showing 1-8 of 8 reviews
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stephanie barnhizer
5.0 out of 5 starsI'd say "genius" applies to the writer, as wellJanuary 6, 2019
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All involved with research and applications discussed in this easy-to-read (and understand) book are experts. There's a history here of American land use and conservation which I find interesting, invaluable, crucial.
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CHARLIE R. MACMILLAN
5.0 out of 5 starsOutstanding book. As a culture we have so much ...October 18, 2015
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Outstanding book. As a culture we have so much to learn about how we have destroyed our precious resource (soil). But Wes Jackson does offer some solutions. A long road, yes, and perhaps possible if we can do away with industrial farming practices. And of course proper caring leadership in the right places. True for most everything wouldn't you say?
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timothy
5.0 out of 5 starsHope for the futureAugust 26, 2017
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Wes Jackson is a leader in describing what has happened to our soil, our agriculture and our food system-- his discussion perennial grain varieties and how that is a hope for our planet is one to be read by all
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Vic
5.0 out of 5 starsConsulting the Genius of the Place:September 21, 2013
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Wes Jackson's research on food production suitable to the water scarce great plains of (Kansas) the "bread basket" of the USA that would not destroy the soil nor deplete the fossil water aquifer necessary to human life there is what earned him a MacArthur "genius grant" and an Atlantic Magazine cover story more than just a few years ago. This book gave me a glimpse of his philosophy and his soul; well worth my time and money.
6 people found this helpful
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Cissy48
5.0 out of 5 starsFive StarsAugust 4, 2015
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Great book.
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Sten
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a profound, powerful book. The lengthy ...December 2, 2015
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This is a profound, powerful book. The lengthy section on developing perennial grains will not be to everyone's taste, but that's just one section. A must read for anyone thinking about humanity's place in nature.
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R.A.E.
3.0 out of 5 starsWhere are your solutions?January 22, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is an easy/enjoyable read, it is not dry or boring. However, Jackson discusses in depth one possible solution to the agricultural problems he presents. I needed more complete and specific suggestions for solutions to today's issues in agriculture.
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JAY BREMYER
5.0 out of 5 starsThis PlaceFebruary 5, 2012
Format: Paperback
I've read many of these essays or heard them delivered, in other contexts, but applaud again and reaffirm how important I believe Wes Jackson is to our chance as a species to make adjustments that will improve our performance as an ecologically benign and perhaps even helpful character in the over all experience of the places on earth where we dwell. Various sections are also filled with sweet biographical material and loving references to his mentors and friends. He's also providing a significant history of the thinking and individuals who lay the groundwork for the Cartesian / Industrial world-frame, agriculture and ultimately agribusiness. as well as those great :thinkers who have re-recognized the essential importance of soil and worked to reverse the industrial view.
p. 244: "A primary purpose of this book has been to argue for the necessity and now the possibility of making the perrenial grains available for agronomists and ecologist to bring the process of the wild to the farm." p. 249: " By starting where our split with nature began, we can build an agriculture more like the ecosystems that shaped us, thereby preserving ecological capital, the stuff of which we are made, and guaranteeing ourselves food for the journey ahead." Like all of Wes Jackson's books, this is one to be read, treasured, and incorporated into how we see the world and act.
19 people found this helpful
ECOCIV KOREA - Institute for Ecological Civilization
ECOCIV KOREA
EcoCiv Korea works with partners in Seoul and around the world to promote a new paradigm for ecological civilization, connecting with scholars, activists, governments, and politicians, in Korea and beyond.
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Korean society has been rapidly urbanized since 1960s. As more than 80% of Korean people are living in urban areas, South Korea is the highest urbanized country in the world. In particular, the four cities in the Northeast that have a long history as a residential area in Seoul have undergone urban decline (86.4% of urban decline exceeding 65.9% of the nation and 79.4% of Seoul average). Therefore, not only The urban regeneration projects that rebuild the citizens’ residential zones have implemented in various places, but also the economy-based urban regeneration project, so called ‘Changdong-Sangye Project’ to develop this area into one of the economic hubs of Metropolitan Seoul. Read More
International Conference on Ecozoic Culture
“Ecological Transformation on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia”
October 12-14, 2018
Recently, the world witnessed the Korean Peninsula taking a huge first step toward a peace regime. With the inter-Korean summit and the US-North Korea summit that address agendas left from the 20th century, there is already a sense of peace and hope that can be felt on the Korean peninsula. However, right now, far into the 21st century, great shadows loom over our world. The climate change is taking effect all over the globe and we hear of many new diseases every year. These are just a few of the signs that point to the destruction of our global ecosystem amidst wary forecasts of an era of “machine-fused humans” and “genetic manipulation” enabled by artificial intelligence technology. Read More
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Our Work
Agenda of sustainable society
increase green energy, industry & agriculture
build social economy, local community
solve unemployment, aging problem
reform competitive, biased education
For sustainable society, Ecological Civilization in Korea is going to
1.Study and introduce Whiteheadian process thought, John Cobb’s process theology and it’s environmental implication. Also, we research modern Korean ecological theories and thoughts.
2.Visit local communities like Pilgrim Place and Uncommon Good, to collect materials to learn from their challenges and successes.
3.Provide policy model of social economy, local community and make educational courses based in ecological civilization philosophy.
4.Cooperate with church and university, local government to support community.
5.Publicize our activities in website, seminars & books.
Ecological Civilization in Korea
Humanity is facing a dreadful threat of current catastrophe. Merely changing social and cultural patterns, which are based on the mechanical understanding of ecology and civilization, will not be enough; nothing less than civilizational paradigm change is necessary if humanity is to avert the predicted consequences in the near future. Even though we seem to be aware of the approaching crisis, we are hesitant to think and act differently because we feel that we are not ready to radically change or we do not know where to go.
Each sector of society must be analyzed for its potential contribution. EcoCivKorea seeks to lay the groundwork for civilizational change in Korea. That requires clarifying the problems that have led us to the brink of catastrophe, engaging in research on possible alternatives, advocating practical long-term solutions, and supporting the implementation of changes on both large and small scales.
EcoCivKorea seeks to promote the Ecological Civilization which is related to the common good by means of the relational approach found in process thought. Process thought is based on the work of philosophers Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and John B. Cobb, three contemporary examples of a long standing philosophical tradition that emphasizes becoming and change over static being.
Process thought is a philosophical system that describes the world in fundamentally relational terms. According to process thought, every unit of reality is in an ongoing process of change, and everything that occurs is a confluence of one’s inherited past, contextual possibilities and individual agency.
Thus Process thought helps to harmonize moral, aesthetic, and religious intuitions with scientific insights. EcoCivKorea follows the great thought in Process philosophers to develop and enhance the discussion between Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions, especially in Western societies and Korea. Process thought offers an approach to the social, political, and economic order that brings issues of human justice together with a concern for ecology and sustainability. Our wide range of interests includes multicultural, feminist, ecological, inter-religious, political, and economic concerns. Our ultimate vision, what we hope to achieve, is to research and advocate the policies required for an ecological civilization in Korea.
인류는 현재 가까운 미래에 다가올 환경적인 위협에 직면하고 있습니다. 이것을 해결하는데 생태와 문명의 기계적인 이해에 근거한 사회적, 문화적 패턴을 바꾸는 것만으로는 충분하지 않습니다. 가까운 미래 우리가 직면하게 될 환경적 대참사를 피하기 위해서는 인류의 문명 패러다임의 변화가 필요합니다. 우리가 다가오고있는 위기를 인식하고있는 것처럼 보이지만 근본적으로 변화 할 준비가되어 있지 않거나 어디로 가야할지 모르기 때문에 우리는 생각이나 행동에 주저하고 있습니다.
EcoCivKorea는 한국의 생태학적 문명으로 변화를 위한 토대를 마련하는 것을 목표로하고 있습니다. 그러기 위해서는 우리의 문명이 재앙의 위기에 이미 이르렀다는 문제의식을 명확히하고, 가능한 대안의 연구에 매진하고 장기적이고 실용적인 해결책을 찾기위해 노력해야 합니다. 이를 위해서는 거시적이고도 미시적인 실행 대책이 필요합니다.
EcoCivKorea는 프로세스적 사고(Process Thoughts)에서 발견되는 관계적 접근 방식을 통해 공동의 이익과 관련된 생태 문명을 촉진하는 것을 목표로하고있습니다.프로세스적 사고의 개념은 철학자 Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, John B. Cobb의 연구에 기초하고 있습니다. 이 세명의 현대적인 연구자들이 서 있는 철학적 전통은 ‘변함의 과정’과 변하지 않는 존재가 아닌 변해가는 존재에 강조점을 두고 있습니다.
프로세스적 사고는 근본적인 관계성으로 세계를 설명하는 철학적 시스템입니다. 프로세스의 사상에 의하면, 현실의 모든 개체는 진행중인 변화의 과정에 있습니다. 모든 발생하는 사건들은 한 시점에서 그 이전의 과거로부터 받은 기본적인 현실적 요소들과, 문맥적으로 어울리는 가능성들과 개별 행위자들의 선택의 조화합니다.
따라서 프로세스적 사고은 도덕적, 심미적 종교적 직관과 과학적 통찰력을 조화시키는 데 도움이됩니다. EcoCivKorea은 동아시아와 서양의 종교, 문화적 전통, 특히 서구 사회와 한국에서의 논의를 연결하고 발전시키기 위해 프로세스 철학자들의 생각을 따릅니다. 프로세스적 사고는 인간의 정의의 문제와 생태적 지속 가능성에 대한 우려를 가지고 사회적, 정치적, 경제적 질서에 대한 철학적이고도 현실적인 접근을 제공합니다. 우리는 다문화, 페미니즘, 생태, 종교간의 대화, 정치적, 경제적 문제들에 다양한 관심이 있습니다. 우리의 궁극적인 비전은 한국적 생태문명에 필요한 정책을 연구하고 그것을 옹호하는 것입니다.
people
Dongwoo Lee
Co-Director of Ecological Civilization in Korea Project at Center for Process Studies, Claremont School of Theology. Pastor of US Presbyterian Church.
Keunhwa Jung
Research Fellow of Ecological Civilization in Korea Project at Center for Process Studies, Claremont School of Theology. Economics Professor of Hanshin University, Korea.
Yunjeong Han
Research Fellow of Ecological Civilization in Korea Project at Center for Process Studies, Claremont School of Theology. Ph. D of Comparative Literature. Journalist.
Kiho Park
Photographer. Photojournalist. Lecturer of Yonsei University, Korea.
What Are People For?: Essays - Kindle edition by Wendell Berry. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
What Are People For?: Essays Second Edition, Kindle Edition
by Wendell Berry (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 55 customer reviews
Ranging from America’s insatiable consumerism and household economies to literary subjects and America’s attitude toward waste, here Berry gracefully navigates from one topic to the next. He speaks candidly about the ills plaguing America and the growing gap between people and the land. Despite the somber nature of these essays, Berry’s voice and prose provide an underlying sense of faith and hope. He frames his reflections with poetic responsibility, standing up as a firm believer in the power of the human race not only to fix its past mistakes but to build a future that will provide a better life for all.
ISBN-13: 978-1582434872
File Size: 557 KB
Print Length: 225 pages
Biography
Wendell E. Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. A prolific author, he has written many novels, short stories, poems, and essays. He is an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of The National Humanities Medal, and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012. He is also a 2013 Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Berry was named the recipient of the 2013 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. On January 28, 2015, he became the first living writer to be ushered into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Guy Mendes (Guy Mendes) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
55 customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
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4 star 16%
3 star 4%
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Showing 1-8 of 55 reviews
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Lori R. Dowell
5.0 out of 5 starsmy favorite being Hannah CoulterNovember 11, 2015
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I have read several of Wendell Berry's novels, my favorite being Hannah Coulter, but have never read his essays before. His message in Hannah Coulter is similar to his message in this book, which is for us to think about the meaning of our lives, exactly as the title says. What is important to us and what should be important to us? This is an excellent book that I recommend to everyone. I will be buying several copies of this book for my friends for Christmas and Birthday gifts.
7 people found this helpful
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Kyle Gardner
5.0 out of 5 starsEssential Reading!March 14, 2014
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Wendell Berry is a national treasure. His contributions are monumental. This collection of essays is especially worthy of reading again and again – insightful brilliance throughout! I especially enjoyed his essay about Ed Abbey (who we lost 25 years ago today) and the piece entitled “Nature as Measure.” There is no better indictment of industrial agriculture and the cultural mindset which seeks only profit.
Only Berry could say this: “There is no sense and no sanity in objecting to the desecration of the flag while tolerating and justifying and encouraging as a daily business the desecration of the country for which it stands.” And that was 1989!
If you’re a fan of Wendell Berry you know and you nod in agreement. Now, can we spread the word? Berry’s wisdom, which is rooted in the land and his experience working the land, is critical for retaking the moral and political high ground from the corporate destroyers of the land. People are becoming aware and are willing to speak out. Can this tip the balance favorably?
We couldn’t do it without Wendell Berry!
Kyle Gardner, author, Momentary Threshold
5 people found this helpful
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Jim Wilder
5.0 out of 5 stars"This successful life we're livin' got us feuding ..."March 7, 2009
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This book inspired me to believe individuals and community can mutually enhance each other, and that God intended for us to enjoy our time on Earth much more than we generally do. It's full of inspiring quotes, e.g. "The more coherent one becomes within oneself as a creature, the more fully one enters into the communion of all creatures." The author is a philosopher, and his unique voice of exhortation is not overly preachy.
Mr. Berry touches on many far-ranging topics of quotidian life: the real values of education; the merits of decentralized control; the inherent biases toward, and the effects of, centralized control; the idea that language and writing should involve all senses; the concept that the future is faith based on all that we do now. The author delves into the most fundamental human motivations, and why we should be stewards of the Earth.
This book was a joy to read, and in these times of economic crisis it left me inspired that we can adapt and improve, and I feel sustained warm thoughts for the author. It was the first work of his I've read, and I'm eager to read more of his nonfiction and novels.
14 people found this helpful
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markfav
5.0 out of 5 starsBerry's insightful prose casts a light on our nature.December 15, 2014
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Wendell Berry's essays are far ranging and diverse in topic, but unified by his curiosity about the human condition. These are essays and reviews that you can read over and over, and likely will, because they resonate with an inner longing of the reader. Berry has a way of persuading the reader, not just telling him, about something of import - taking him from unaware to deeply affected. A very worthwhile read.
4 people found this helpful
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Andrew M. Gordon
4.0 out of 5 starsin the American grainJune 1, 2014
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
I first read Wendell Berry's novel Hannah Coulter. These reviews and essays explain the philosophy and ecology behind the fiction. While not as entertaining as a novel, his prose is very well crafted and a pleasure to read. Berry sometiems comes across as cranky, old-fashioned, or a Luddite (technophobe), but he is in the American grain of Thoreau. He emphasizes the values of community and loving the land and stresses all we have lost in the modern world.
4 people found this helpful
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JC_
5.0 out of 5 starsAs good as it getsMarch 19, 2014
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I gave this book a 5-star rating not because I agree with everything Berry has to say about economics or conservation. The 5-star rating comes from Berry's mastery of the English language. Even if you disagree with everything Berry has to say you will love his style.
Here is a sample: “Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.”
Beautiful.
6 people found this helpful
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JAY BREMYER
5.0 out of 5 starsWendell Berry Is a TreasureNovember 14, 2015
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I've been reading Wendell Berry for 55 years, many of the books several times, and never come away less than moved, informed, and inspired.
5 people found this helpful
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Joel Patrick Senkar
5.0 out of 5 starsEven though the essays were written many years ago, ...May 21, 2016
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Even though the essays were written many years ago, "What Are People For?" is a thought provoking read that I wish had been introduced to me earlier. Take the time to at least think about the messages contained within.
3 people found this helpful
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Masao Abe - Wikipedia
Masao Abe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Masao Abe
Title Professor
Author
Personal
Born 1915
Osaka, Japan
Died September 10, 2006
Religion Buddhism
Masao Abe (阿部 正雄 Abe Masao, 1915 – September 10, 2006) was a Japanese Buddhist and professor in religious studies, who became well known for his work in Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue, which later included Judaism. He wrote also on the experience of Zen.
Contents
1Life and career
1.1Training
1.2Academia
1.3Dialogue
5See also
6References
Life and career[edit]
Masao Abe was a Japanese academic in comparative religion (concluding as emeritus professor at Nara University), and a Buddhist philosopher.[1][2] His mature views were developed within the Kyoto School of philosophy founded by Kitaro Nishida. Hence his interest in, and ability to compare and contrast, Buddhism and Christianity. "Since the death of D. T. Suzuki in 1966, Masao Abe has served as the main representative of ZenBuddhism in Europe and North America."[3][4]
Training[edit]
Abe's father was a medical doctor, his mother a practitioner of Pure Land Jōdo ShinshūBuddhism, from whom his early faith in Amida Buddha.[5] Born in Osaka, Abe was the third of six children. His higher education began at Osaka Municipal University, where he studied Economics and Law. For four years during the late 1930s he worked in a business office at a private trading company in neighboring Kobe. Yet Abe was seriously troubled by an ongoing personal crisis, which stemmed from the perceived conflict: rationality versus faith in the Amida of Pure Land Buddhism. This conflict he thought he could conclusively resolve in favor of faith through the study of philosophy, by which he could overcome objections posed by reason.[6][7]
Abe entered Kyoto University in April 1942.[8] It was a courageous step, as he changed career direction in mid-stream, exceptional in Japanese life, yet even more so considering the current political situation. He studied Western philosophy under Hajime Tanabe. Also, Abe studied Zen under the direction of Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, a philosophy professor at Kyoto University and a lay practitioner of the Rinzai school. Guided by Hisamatsu,[9] Abe worked with others to revitalize Buddhist youth organization at Kyoto University throughout the 1940s.[10][11][12] Professor Hisamatsu challenged Abe's quasi-theistic faith in Amida Buddha; instead Hisamatsu became for Abe a vital religious model, of a rigorous adherent of Sunyata (which may be called emptiness) as an ultimate reality. In consequence, Abe came to understand Amida Buddha as a sacred fiction.[13][14]
Abe's spiritual progression under Hisamatsu was complex and dialectical. Hisamatsu taught that the revered image of Amida Buddha was but a stage on the way to realizing a "formless" Buddha, whereby one could awaken to one's True Self.[15] Nonetheless Abe first reacted to Hisamatsu by coming to discover and experience an infinite grace from the Amida Buddha. Abe's profound quest continued. In December 1951, during a group Zen sitting at the Reiun Temple of the Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, Abe personally challenged Hisamatsu, screaming to him, "Is that the True Self?" Hisamatsu replied, "That's the True Self." Thereafter Abe entered an intense phase and struggled with the view that "It's all a lie!" (which he cried out while dousing himself with a bucket of ice water at a subsequent group sitting). He agonized over the seeming proximity of the Deity and the devil, and with his own complicity. Finally, Abe told Hisamatsu, "I just cannot find any place where I can stand." Hisamatsu told him, "Stand right at that place where there is nowhere to stand."[16]
Along this way Abe confronted, and managed to distinguish and overcome, a "positive nihilism" associated with the secular, irreligious philosopher Frederich Nietzsche.[17]Reflecting on his life development, Abe acknowledged the crucial role of Shin'ichi Hisamatsu in his spiritual formation. "Without him I am not what I am."[13]
Academia[edit]
Among Abe's chief academic influences would be the aforementioned Shin'ichi Hisamatsu(1889–1980) and also Keiji Nishitani (1900–1990), as well as Hajime Tanabe (1885–1962), key professors for Abe at Kyoto University, and Kitaro Nishida (1870–1945), teacher of Hisamatsu and Nishitani, and teacher of his own successor Tanabe. Abe follows Nishida's Kyoto school of philosophy. During the 1950s and early 1960s Abe was in communication with the well-known Buddhist scholar Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870–1966), e.g., at Columbia University in New York City; Abe is said to have later assumed Suzuki's rôle as academic transmitter of Buddhism. Also in New York City, at the Union Theological Seminary, Abe encountered the Christian professors and teachers Paul Tillich (1886–1965) and Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971).[18][19]
From 1952 to 1980, Abe served as professor of philosophy at Nara University. Before he had been professor at Kyoto Women's College (1946–1948) and Otani University (1948–1950). Thereafter, while at Nara, Abe was concurrently professor at Kyoto University from 1955 to 1958, and from 1964-1980 professor at Hana Zono University. Also in the mid-1950s he studied Christian theology in New York City at the Union Theological Seminaryand at Columbia University. Then in 1980 he left Nara University and moved to California, to the Department of Religion at the Claremont Graduate School, and later in 1983 to the University of Hawaii where he served as Professor of Japanese Philosophy. From 1965 Abe participated and made presentations at many universities and colleges throughout the U.S.A. while serving as a visiting professor in residence (with his wife Ikuko).[18][20][21]During these years Abe shared in the Buddhist-Christian dialogue while at universities in Europe.[22]
Abe contributed to and led many conferences on comparative religion, Buddhism, and related subjects. He was perennially involved with: the East-West Philosophers' Conference at the University of Hawaii; and the International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter (the "Abe-Cobb group") which, along with Professor John B. Cobb, Jr., Abe directed.[23][24]
In addition to his contributions of creative insight and scholarship, Masao Abe also brought to interfaith meetings a serenity and a quiet charm. Here, for example, his fellow academic Arvind Sharma recalls a moment with Abe at a conference in 1986:
Abe broke into a smile. I still remember it vividly because it had a compelling ineffable quality about it. It was so totally unencumbered. It seemed curiously and totally detached from the environment, a happening complete in itself, with a childlike simplicity beguiling in its guilelessness. When his face assumed its normal expression, one was left with the feeling of something very precious—found fleetingly and then lost irretrievably—until he smiled again.[25]
Apparently, the source of this "giving gift" had passed through spiritual trials. Abe earlier was required to walk down a path of terrifying dread, and to make a leap into the abyss, in order to find "that place where there is nowhere to stand."[26][27]
Dialogue[edit]
Abe sought to advance the interreligious dialogue while serving in his widespread teaching assignments; he led many seminars on Buddhism and western religions, particularly Christianity.[28] A frequent procedure followed by the convened representatives of different religions was: first to attempt to understand the other's faith perspective from the inside (without compromising each one's own faith), to the extent of being able to "see" how things may look from the other's point of view; second, there would follow a period during which each would "return" to their own faith; thereafter, a more fruitful discussion might commence. Abe further sought to encourage dialogue through his various philosophical and spiritual writings.[29][30]
Generally Abe has received praise for his efforts. Professor Jürgen Moltmann found that the Buddhist scholar's presentation was profound and precise concerning a central topic of Christian theology. "Here reciprocal understanding is not only furthered, but Christianity and Buddhism in their immiscible difference are led into a common reality. In light of this common reality, perhaps a mutual transformation does not yet begin, but certainly a reciprocal liking and opening for each other."[31]
In 1983 Professor Abe disclosed aspects of his inner motivation. He wrote that, in addition to his abiding interest in Buddhism, he was profoundly concerned with the spiritual foundation for all of "humanity in a global age. To provide this foundation, a comparative and dialogical study of Buddhism and Western thought, Christianity included, is absolutely necessary."[32]
An essay with responses[edit]
Abe's essay is entitled "Kenotic God and Dynamic Śūnyatā", which discusses emptiness in Christianity and Buddhism. Abe refers to St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians 2:5-11, especially the verses stating that "Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Abe eventually extrapolates to posit an emptying of God the Father, and hence an ontological resemblance between Christianity and the Buddhist concept of sunyata or emptiness as an ultimate reality. In the process, Abe discusses Buddhist social ethics and social responsibility. Also, he addresses the Shoah; here, he raises the difficult issue of a "collective karma" manifested in guilt felt by those far removed from the time and locale of these genocidal crimes. Abe writes for an educated multi-religious readership, with keen awareness and observation, informed to a certain extent by Process theology developed within modern Christianity, and from a perspective nurtured in the Kyoto school of Buddhist philosophy. His essay has been published as follows.
The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis 1990), edited by John B. Cobb, Jr., and Christopher Ives. Professor Cobb was a leader in Process theology. Herein Abe's essay "Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata" appears, which is addressed by one Jewish (Eugene Borowitz) and six Christian (Thomas J. J. Altizer, John B. Cobb, Jr., Catherine Keller, Jürgen Moltmann, Schubert M. Ogden, and David Tracy) theologians. Then follows a "Rejoinder" by Abe. Several subsequent responses and replies appear in the journal Buddhist-Christian Studies (Honolulu: Univ.of Hawaii).
Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness. A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe (Valley Forge: Trinity Press 1995), edited by Christopher Ives. Abe's essay "Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata" appears again (Part I) and is addressed afresh by eight new scholars. Two Jewish responses by Richard Rubenstein and Sandra B. Lubarsky are followed by four Christian, i.e., by Heinrich Ott, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Hans Waldenfels, and Christopher Ives (Part II). Abe then replies (Part III). The conclusion presents the two responses of Hans Küng, and of Wolfhart Pannenberg, to each of which Abe replies (Part IV).
Book Review by Edward L. Shirley
Book Review by Harold Kasimow
Previously Abe had authored a forerunner of this essay, entitled "Buddhism and Christianity as a Problem of Today". It appeared in the periodical Japanese Religions in 1963, here also followed by Western responses.[33][34]
A Zen view of time[edit]
By realization through Zen practice of the Buddhist teaching of the impermanence of all things (Skt: anitya) (Jpn: mujō),[35] we come to experience that we are living-dying at each and every moment. "If we grasp our lives not objectively from without but subjectively from within, we are not moving from life to death but are in the midst of this process of living-dying."[36] By a careful reading of Dōgen (1200–1253) and a watchful understanding of the inner sense of time, Abe learns and teaches how the objectification of time can alienate us from our own experience of its impermanence.[37]
Dōgen puzzled over a seeming contradiction in Buddhism. All sentient beings are originally enlightened, yet Buddhist teachings "arouse the longing for enlightenment" in those who hear it. If we do religious practice we may become enlightened due to an "acquired awakening" yet "original awakening" is ours "before our parents were born". Dōgen rejects as naturalistic fallacy a theory of "original awakening" that would equate a given human self-consciousness with genuine enlightenment. Also Dōgen rejects the idea that practice is a means to the goal of enlightenment. The epistemological process of enlightenment is undertaken by zen practice, but the process itself becomes enlightenment, i.e., the path is the way of awakening. Abe quotes Dōgen: "In the Buddha Dharma, practice and realization are identical. [O]ne's initial negotiating of the Way in itself is the whole of original realization. Thus, even while directed to practice, one is told not to anticipate a realization apart from practice, because practice points directly to original realization."[38]
Instead of waiting for the time of awakening while sitting in meditation, one is "directly knowing temporal conditions" for the "time has already arrived". "There is no time that is not the right time."[39] "Dōgen denies continuity of time and emphasizes the independence of each point of time... ." Prof. Abe then quotes Dōgen to illustrate:
"[I]t being an established teaching of Buddhism not to speak of life becoming death, Buddhism speaks of the unborn. It being a confirmed Buddhist teaching that death does not become life, it speaks of non-extinction. Life is a stage of time and death is a stage of time, like, for example, winter and spring. We do not suppose that winter becomes spring, or say that spring becomes summer."[40]
Subjectively from within, "the process of our living-dying [is] being without beginning and without end." For Buddhists, there is no beginning of the universe (no creation), and there is no end (no last judgment). "We must realize the beginninglessness and endlessness of samsara, that is, the transmigration of living-dying."[36] Prof. Abe mentions several experiences:
"[E]ach and every moment can be a beginning and an end in itself: time begins and ends with each moment. Accordingly, time is not understood to be a unidirectional movement but is seen as a sheer series of moments that can move reciprocally. Here a sort of reversibility of time is realized."
"[I]f we clearly realize the beginninglessness and endlessness of living-dying at this particular moment, the whole process of living-dying is concentrated within this moment. In other words, each moment embraces the whole process of beginningless and endless time within itself. Thus, one can in fact transcend time at this very moment."
"The Buddhist view, based on full immersion in the depth of the moment, is that there is no difference between past and future. The temporal distinction belongs to the observer's perspective on the horizontal and historical plane. In the vertical or depth dimension, Buddhists insist, time is overcome."[41]
"Although karma works deterministically on the horizontal dimension of time, once the vertical, or transtemporal, dimension is opened up as one awakens to the truth of no-self, that person is no longer a slave to karma but becomes its master. This means that on the basis of the realization of the true self as no-self at the bottomless depth of the vertical dimension of time, the present act can emancipate one's self from past karma and create new karma that will affect the future as, for instance, in the form of a vow."[42]
Selected bibliography[edit]
Author[edit]
Zen and Western Thought (London: Macmillan; Univ.of Hawaii 1985), edited by William R. LaFleur, with foreword by John Hick.
A Study of Dōgen. His Philosophy and Religion (SUNY 1992), a collection of his articles edited by Steven Heine.
Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue (Univ.of Hawaii 1995), a collection of his articles edited by Steven Heine (ISBN 0-8248-1751-6).
Zen and Comparative Studies (Univ.of Hawaii 1997), a collection of his articles edited by Steven Heine (ISBN 0-8248-1832-6).
Zen and the Modern World (Univ.of Hawaii 2003), a collection of his articles edited by Steven Heine.
"Buddhism" at 69-137, in Our Religions. The seven world religions introduced by preeminent scholars from each tradition, edited by Arvind Sharma (HarperOne 1994).
Collaborations[edit]
The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press 1990), edited by John B. Cobb, Jr., and Christopher Ives (ISBN 0-88344-670-7). Reprint 2005 by Wipf and Stock, Eugene, Oregon.
Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness. A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation with Masao Abe (Valley Forge: Trinity Press 1995), edited by Christopher Ives.
Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (Boston: Charles E. Tuttle 1998), edited by Donald W. Mitchell.
References[edit]
- ^ Fredericks, James. "In Memoriam: Masao Abe (1915-2006).", in Buddhist-Christian Studies Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine (Univ.of Hawaii 2007) Issue 27, at 139-140. Accessed on August 24, 2007.
- ^ In Japanese his name is Abe Masao. Abe has two syllables.
- ^ Christopher Ives, "Introduction" at xiii-xix, xiii, in The Emptying God. A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books 1990), edited by John B. Cobb, Jr.and Christopher Ives.
- ^ "Masao Abe has been the leading philosophical exponent of Zen to the West since the death of D. T. Suzuki." John Hick, in his "Foreword" at ix, to Masao Abe, Zen and Western Thought (Univ.of Hawaii 1975), edited by William R. LaFleur.
- ^ Amitābha (Skt), Amida (Jpn), means boundless light. "One of the most important and popular buddhas of the Mahayana [school], unknown in early Buddhism." "Amitābha is at the center of worship" in Pure Land Buddhism. Access to liberation becomes possible by such worship (or even by Nembutsu (Jpn), calling out the name). "The veneration of Amitābha represents... a new path to salvation... owing to help from outside through the liberating will of... Amitābha." Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Michael S. Diener, Lexikon der őstlichen Weisheitslehren (1986), translated as Shambala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen(1991), Amitābha entry, at 5-6. Such help from another or Tariki (Jpn) is often contrasted with Jiriki (Jpn), one's own power (as generally in Zen). Yet this distinction may be seen as artificial, due to each one being endowed with Buddha-nature. Cf., Jiriki entry, at 104. Abe, however, experienced this distinction as a source of personal turbulence; this spiritual crisis eventually led him to his own buddha-nature, under the guidance of his teacher Hisamatsu. See text here below.
- ^ Christopher Ives, "Introduction" at xiii-xiv, in The Emptying God (Maryknoll: Orbis 1990).
- ^ Jeff M. Shore, "The True Buddha is Formless: Masao Abe's Religious Quest" at 3-9, 3-4, in Masao Abe. A Life of Dialogue (Rutland VT: Charles E. Tuttle 1998), edited by Donald W. Mitchell.
- ^ In 1949 at Kyoto University, Abe would complete the graduate course (under the old Japanese system) in Buddhism and comparative religion. Donald W. Mitchell, "Preface" at xi-xxiv, xii, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Prof. Hisamatsu became known and admired in the West. In 1958 he visited Carl Jung, their conversation being transcribed. Young-Eisendrath and Muramoto (eds.), Awkening and Insight: Zen Buddhism and Psychotherapy (London: Routledge 2002), pp. 111, 116.
- ^ Specifically, Gakudo-Dojo [Place for study of the Way], which was followed during the war by the formation of the F.A.S. Society [Formless self, All humankind, Supra-historical].
- ^ Cf., Felix E. Prieto, "The F.A.S. Acronym in Masao Abe's Life Trajectory" at 35-40, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ The wartime government in Japan generally favored an ultra-nationalist version of Shinto, although all religious groups were compelled to support the war. William K. Bunce, Religions in Japan (C I & E 1948; reprinted 1954 by Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland VT) at 37-42.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Christopher Ives, "Introduction" at xiv-xv, in The Emptying God (Maryknoll: Orbis 1990).
- ^ "Part of the strength of Abe's approach to Christianity is his uncompromising rejection of theism. ... Abe himself grew up in a quasi-theistic form of Buddhism and was converted away from that to what he is convinced is the true and pure form. Hence he understands theism from within and hopes to liberate from it those who are still attached to it. The contrast to the biblical faiths thus becomes stark." John B. Cobb, Jr., "Preface" at ix-xi, xi, to The Emptying God (1990)
- ^ "Abe was shocked to hear [Hisamatsu] use the same basic Buddhist terminology that Abe was used to, but with what seemed to be a completely opposite interpretation!" Jeff M. Shore, "The True Buddha is Formless: Masao Abe's Religious Quest" at 3-9, 5, in Mitchell (ed.), Masao Abe. A Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Jeff M. Shore, "The True Buddha is Formless: Masao Abe's Religious Quest" at 5-7, in Masao Abe. A Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Later, Abe would write of an alliance of "authentic religiosity" in order to counter various "anti-religious ideologies" in our societies. Abe, "Author's Introduction" at xxii, to his Zen and Western Thought (Univ.of Hawaii 1985).
- ^ Jump up to:a b Christopher Ives, "Introduction" at xvi, in The Emptying God (Maryknoll: Orbis 1990).
- ^ Abe received a Rockefeller grant in 1955 which he used to study in New York. Donald W. Mitchell, "Preface" at xi-xxiv, xiii, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Masao Abe, Zen and Western Thought (Univ.of Hawaii 1985), edited by Wm. R. LaFleur, at ii.
- ^ Abe has served at: Haverford College, Graduate Theological Union, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, Claremont Graduate School, Purdue University, University of Hawaii, Carleton College, and Gustavus Adolphus College (2000-2001).
- ^ Donald W. Mitchell, "Preface" at xv, to Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998). Abe's venues included the University of Oslo, the University of Bonn, the University of Tübingen, the University of Heidelberg, and the University of Munich.
- ^ Christopher Ives, "Introduction" at xvii, in The Emptying God (Maryknoll: Orbis 1990).
- ^ Donald W. Mitchell, "Preface" at xi-xxiv, xv, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Arvind Sharma, "A Chrysanthemum with a Lotus Stalk: Reminiscences from a Hindu Perspective" at 326-334, 328, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (Boston: Tuttle 1998).
- ^ Cf., Steven Antinoff, "The Fire in the Lotus" at 10-21, 20, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue (1998). Antinoff underscores Abe's indominable nature by relating the story that Abe had "been barred from the monastery where he trained for accusing the roshi in a sanzeninterview of acting." Antinoff (1988) at 13.
- ^ Jeff M. Shore, "The True Buddha is Formless: Masao Abe's Religious Quest" at 7, in Masao Abe. A Life of Dialogue (1998).
- ^ Abe defined the unique, universal character of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism as being based on conscious choice rather than ethnic birth as the ideal of membership. His focus was on the two religions he was most familiar with. Abe, "The End of World Religion" (The Eastern Buddhist 8/1 [c.1975]), reprinted in his Zen and Western Thought (Univ.of Hawaii 1985) at 261-275, 262-263, 265.
- ^ E.g., his essay "Kenotic God and Dynamic Sunyata" which appeared in The Emptying God(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis 1990) and again in Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness(Trinity Press 1995). This essay has been published several times together with responses by Christians and Jews.
- ^ Cf., Excerpt from Article by Charles B. Jones.
- ^ Jürgen Moltmann, "God is Unselfish Love" at 116-124, 116, in The Emptying God(Maryknoll: Orbis 1990), edited by Cobb and Ives.
- ^ Masao Abe, "Author's Introduction" to Zen and Western Thought (Univ.of Hawaii 1985) at xxiii.
- ^ Japanese Religions volume 3, issues 3-4 (1963), and following.
- ^ Abe's earlier essay is mentioned both in Cobb's "Preface" at x, and in Ives's "Introduction" at xvii, in the collaborative book The Emptying God (Maryknoll NY: Orbis Press 1990).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen on Buddha Nature" at 25-68, 48-49, 55, 56-57, in his Zen and Western Thought (University of Hawaii 1985).
- ^ Jump up to:a b Masao Abe, "A Response" at 371-409, 376, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue, Mitchell, editor (Boston: Tuttle 1998).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen's View of Time and Space" at 77-105, 99, in his A Study of Dōgen. His Philosophy and Religion (Albany: SUNY 1992).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen on Buddha Nature" at 25-68, 57, in his Zen and Western Thought(University of Hawaii 1985).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen on Buddha Nature" at 35-76, 70, in his A Study of Dōgen. His Philosophy and Religion (SUNY 1992).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen on Buddha Nature" at 25-68, 63, in his Zen and Western Thought(University of Hawaii 1985).
- ^ Masao Abe, "A Response" at 371-409, 376, 375-376, in Masao Abe. A Zen Life of Dialogue, Mitchell, editor (Boston: Tuttle 1998).
- ^ Masao Abe, "Dōgen's View of Time and Space" at 77-105, 103, in his A Study of Dōgen. His Philosophy and Religion (Albany: SUNY 1992).
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- 根源からの出発 法蔵館 1996.2
- カントにおける「批判」と「形而上学」 カント哲学入門 晃洋書房 1998.12
- 非仏非魔 ニヒリズムと悪魔の問題 法藏館 2000.8
- 虚偽と虚無 宗教的自覚におけるニヒリズムの問題 法藏館 2000.1
共著・翻訳[編集]
