I could offer more examples, but more might cloud the issues and             thus tell you less. The above statement is similar to a Zen koan, a             kind of puzzle Zen masters give to students to make them think             beyond their normal frame of reference--and to drive them crazy.

Chicago  Bulls coach Phil Jackson  has built a career  on    being different. From the Grateful Dead decal on the lamp    in his  office  to his  readings  of poetry  to his  team    before playoff games, his approach  provides a refreshing    contrast  to  the  steely,  tough-guy   persona  of  many    athletic  types.  As he explains  in his new book, Sacred    Hoops: Spiritual  Lessons of a Hardwood  Warrior, Jackson    uses a philosophy  based  in part on Zen Buddhism  to get    the most  out of his people.

This  ambitious   paper   should   be  taken   as  merelypreliminary and exploratory in nature.  I cannot obviously dojustice to such a multi- faceted subject in a single essay. Ishould therefore like to present in basic outline a frameworkin which Zen and Taoism  can be seen under a better  light soas to foster  proper perspectives  on each and thereby  theirultimate relationship.

WHEN  I READ Dr.  Ames's  able  and stimulating        article,"Zen and Pragmatism,"(1) I regretted  that  I        had  not  made  my  points  clear  enough  in  my Zen        articles, but at the same  time  I was  thankful  for        having  incited  him to prepare  such an illuminating        paper.  I  realize  that  I  make  many  inconsistent        statements   in   my   presentation   of  Zen,  which        unfortunately   cause  my  readers  some  trouble  in        understanding  Zen, In the following  I will  try  to        give--in  brief-as much light as I can on my views so        far made public.

In the Zen school  great significance  is attributed        to the realization of emptiness (`suunyataa) through        meditation  (zazen).  In this article I will discuss        the relationship  between  such realization  and the        concept  of  karman.

Freedom, as it has been propounded in the rich variety of theories to be found in Western philosophy, has seldom been conceived as an achieved quality of a person. In this article I would like to demonstrate that "freedom" can best be understood in this manner and that one of the most interesting expressions of this view may be found in the work of the Japanese "critic" Zeamia (1363-1443), the "founder" of the aesthetics of the traditional Nohb drama.

People often ask, "Is Zen a form of Buddhism?" The answer to this question is both yes and no. The answer should be "Yes" because, historically speaking, Zen is a form of Buddhism which was founded by Bodhidharma in China in the sixth century.

  American interest in Zen Buddhism is growing. This response to an Oriental outlook must answer to a need. Some people seem to feel that here is the whole answer to what ails the West. There is no hiding the fact that Western civilization, and the United States in particular, confronts not only problems which its science can cope with but also troubles for which more than science is required.

To understand Zen one must abandon all he has acquired by way of conceptual knowledge and stand before it stripped of every bit of the intellection he has patiently accumulated around him. When, for instance, Dewey talks of "the here and the now," as quoted by Dr. Ames, they both neglect to face the problem personally and sec what it experientially tells them.

Zen meditators train attention both during sitting and daily life practice. How else can we conceptualize the process of long-range Zen meditative training? One suggestion is that it involves a deconditioning, the kind that whittles away old maladaptive aspects of the egocentric self.