Dogen's Great Doubt
Both exoteric and esoteric Buddhism teach the primal Buddha-nature [or harma-nature] and the original self-awakening of all sentient beings. If this is the case, why have the buddhas of all ages had to awaken the longing for and seek enlightenment by engaging in ascetic practice? [Masao Abe, A Study of Dogen, 19]
How did Dogen's "Great Doubt" influence his approach to the philosophy and practice of Zen? How is this approach reflected in his conception of zazen (seated meditation) as "just sitting" (shikan taza)? Contrast Dogen's "just sitting" with the koan style of zazen that developed in the Rinzai school of Zen.
To understand his primal Buddha-nature, the Buddha of all ages paradoxically had to stand outside of the material world...
Great Awakening in America The Great Awakenings refer to several waves of interest in religion in America. These waves have coincided with increases in economic prosperity and materialism that have caused people to view religion with less interest. It began in the 1930s as disunited attempts at religious revival and in the 1940s had matured into "the remarkable Revival of Religion" (Lambert, p. 6). During the 1740 sThe Great Awakenings aimed
Using Tennents' strategy, the clergymen of Presbyterian, Puritan and Baptist churches were conducting revivals in their regions by the 1740s. Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards stirred up flamboyant and terrifying images of the absolute corruption of the human nature in their emotionally charged sermons. These preachers also described the terrors awaiting the unrepentant in hell in their powerful sermons. Some of the converts from the early revivals in the northern
American History The Battle over Political Influence: Dominance of the 'New Lights' (Evangelist) Movement in the Great Awakening After the England colonies have established themselves in their newfound territory, New England, they started establishing a new society that will be governed under the Puritanist moral code. This is vital in understanding New England society, whose step towards self-governance is implementing laws and norms in the society adherent to the teachings of Puritanism,
great awakening was a religious revival that swept across America in the 1730s to 1740s that saw the restructuring of the society in general within America. For the very first time, this religious revival managed to bring the Native Americans and the blacks into the organized churches as opposed to the prior diverse ways of their worship to their various gods. It also brought the new colonialists into the
Great Awakening and the Enlightenment The Great Awakening, was not, as many believe a continuous spiritual awakening or revival in colonial America, instead it was a several revivals in a variety of locations (Matthews). However, The Great Awakening is an appropriate name. The new Americans had found their lives much different from their lives in England. In England the communities were compact, but in America people lived in great expanses
The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers (Brannan 1998). Franklin, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and a true Democrat, saw both Whitefield's democratic tendencies and the threat that he posed to the Established Church. He noted that
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