A History of Zen Buddhism

by Heinrich Dumoulin

New

Genres: Philosophy

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Niklas Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good actually, if unexpected. If asked, I don't think I could recount to anyone the history of Zen Buddhism after reading this book. However, I could point to some key people at different parts of history that influenced Zen, which is really what this book is about. 75% is biographies of Zen pioneers over the hundreds of years in which it has existed, and 25% is explanation of Zen/Buddhist terminology, sutras, etc. A nice read.

[Malcolm Keating · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best read as an example of how Catholic theology informs historical and philosophical interpretations of other traditions. The concluding chapter is heavily focused on evaluation of Zen compared to the perfect truth of “the eternal Logos,” though with interesting use of Jung and James as foils for his hierarchy.

[mkmk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latter half is a bit weaker, but overall encompassing and contextual book.

[Mikhail Belyaev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Несколько поверхностная работа, особенно в первых ее частях, касающихся развития дзэн в Индии и Китае. Автор очень схематичен, излагает историческую информацию и не вдается глубоко ни в суть учения, ни в характеристики персонажей, ни в детали истории учения. Однако раздел, посвященный истории дзэн в Японии читается намного интереснее, в особенности главы, посвященные Басё и Хакуину, где автор более подробно излагает и комментирует как биографию, так и творчество своих персонажей.