Zen Awakening and Society

Zen Buddhism has traditionally focused on monastic practice and the artistic expression of satori (awakening); it has paid little explicit attention to social ethics. Certain Zen teachers have even admonished their students to avoid such "mundane" arenas as ordinary social life and politics. As a result, many observers have construed Zen to be ethically weak, or even subversive of ethical engagement in society.
Zen Awakening and Society considers the relationship between Zen and social ethics by examining ethical facets of Zen practice and satori, as well as the traditional socio-political role of Zen in Japan, ethical reflection by key Zen thinkers, those resources and pitfalls in Zen relevant to ethics, and possible avenues along which Zen Buddhists could begin to formulate a self-critical, systematic social ethic.