ABSTRACT
In this respect Buddhism functions as a perceptual psychology. Alterations in perception engender a liberating knowledge of reality as a result of a clearing away of the perceptual distortions. e alteration of attention in meditation allows insight into the false perception of reality that is grounded in subject/object dichotomies, distortions that engender endless grasping, greed, envy, exploitation, and at the extreme, the horrors of war, genocide, terrorism, and holocaust. Perception interacts with
attention. is relationship between perception and attention renders Zen master Ikkyu’s enigmatic response to his student’s queries understandable. e systematic training of attention to the present moment is central to Zen practice.
