ABSTRACT
The worlds of religious naturalism and Zen Buddhism are wide-ranging geographies, offering diverse journeys to wisdom and insight. This chapter explores the insights of Zen Buddhism relevant to religious naturalism, particularly as developed in recent Western scholarship focused on thirteenth-century Japanese Zen philosopher Eihei Dogen. Dogen's form of Zen stressed direct awakening through single-minded practice, often requiring many long hours of zazen meditation in silent retreat. Sansui-Kyo, or the Mountains and Waters Sutra, was written in 1240, during a very active period of teaching and writing for Dogen. At the core of Dogen's teaching is a consistent pointing to nonduality as the awakened view of reality. This teaching of nonduality is particularly relevant in exploratory cross-philosophical dialogue, as so much of Western ethical thinking is predicated on dualistic categories. The chapter considers nature and morality in Dogen's Zen in relation to religious naturalism, as these understandings might inform human choices regarding the environment.
