著者

松田 央

出版者

神戸女学院大学

雑誌

論集 (ISSN:03891658)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.59, no.1, pp.79-93, 2012-06

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To talk of God means to talk of experience of God. Only those who have experience God can bear witness to God. Theologians themselves must deepen their experiences of God in everyday life. And it is necessary to construct a universal methodology so that more people may have experiences of God. I will suggest a methodology based on Christian Zen in this treatise. However, is it right to introduce the thought of Zen into Chistianity at all? Does not such a new attempt turn into a sort of syncretism? First of all, this issue should be discussed. Daisetsu Suzuki, a Japanese student of Zen, has already discussed this issue. I think that Christian Zen is not a syncretism but a new Christianity which contains both orthodox Chistology and a training of mind based on the tradition of Zen. But it is very difficult to convey the essence of Zen to ordinary people. The words of Zen transcend common logic. So I will introduce the thought of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen priest born in Vietnam. He also has a deep insight into Christianity. His keyword for thought is "mindfulness". Mindfulness means a deep awareness and a sort of energy which throws a light on all existences and acts. According to Hanh's view, Zen training aims to make the energy of mindfulness penetrate into each act in everyday life. He also suggests that the spirit of mindfulness and the Holy Spirit of Christianity are almost the same. The Holy Spirit is an invisible divine power or energy that emanates from God. The Holy Spirit is also a person(persona)of God. We can find a point of contact between Chritianity and Zen by thinking about the relation between the Holy Spirit and the spirit of mindfulness.