ABSTRACT
It is difficult-and in a certain sense, impossible-to say what Zen is, but most writers on the subject are agreed that it is not a philosophy, for a philosophy is a rational inquiry into the nature of things and Zen, whatever it is, is certainly not that. For writers such as D. T. Suzuki, the (alleged) irrationality of Zen represents a (thoroughly 'Eastern') virtue. For many clearheaded Western thinkers, it is a (thoroughly 'Eastern') vice. But in neither case is Zen thought to have much in common with the philosophical inquiries that have preoccupied Western thinkers for millennia. To be sure, Zen Buddhists might sometimes address similar questions -concerning the nature of the self, for instance, or time, or the existence of objects - but they do not try to answer these questions by formulating rational arguments, nor do they express their insights systematically in the form of philosophical treatises. They sit in meditation, contemplate seemingly nonsensical riddles, and indulge in other non-philosophical activities, all with the aim of achieving a direct insight into the mysteries of the universe.
