D. T. Suzuki on the Unconscious in Zen Art, Meditation, and Enlightenment

Steve Odin (Professor, University of Hawaii-Manoa)

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English

State University of New York Press
01 July 2025

Oriental & Indian philosophy; Philosophy of mind; Zen Buddhism; Psychotherapy

Series: SUNY series, Perspectives in Contemplative Studies

A comprehensive study of D. T. Suzuki's Zen philosophy and philosophical psychology in relation to his Buddhist understanding of the ""cosmic Unconscious.""

This book explores how the Japanese philosopher D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) developed an integral synthesis of Eastern and Western sources to establish a modern philosophical psychology of the ""cosmic Unconscious,"" which he in turn used as the basis to interpret every aspect of Zen art, meditation, and enlightenment. Beyond Freud's personal unconscious and Jung's collective unconscious, according to Suzuki, is the cosmic Unconscious of Zen, which as absolute nothingness is the fountain of inexhaustible creative potentialities and the source of all Zen-inspired arts. The book demonstrates that, like the Kyoto School of modern Japanese philosophy, Suzuki's Zen endeavors to overcome the existential problem of nihilism or relative nothingness by shifting to the openness of absolute nothingness wherein emptiness is fullness and all things are disclosed in the evanescent beauty of their suchness. Suzuki, however, formulates his scheme in terms of a depth psychology where the cosmic Unconscious is the encompassing locus of absolute nothingness. Ultimately, the book argues that, by integrating both Eastern and Western views of the unconscious psyche, including the different schools of Zen and Mahayana Buddhism, as well as American, French, and German theories of the unconscious, Suzuki's Zen concept of the cosmic Unconscious constitutes a significant original contribution to philosophical psychology.

By: Steve Odin (Professor University of Hawaii-Manoa)
Imprint: State University of New York Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 590g
ISBN: 9798855803044
Series: SUNY series, Perspectives in Contemplative Studies
Pages: 326
Publication Date: 01 July 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Steve Odin is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii. His previous books include The Social Self in Zen and American Pragmatism (also published by SUNY Press) and Tragic Beauty in Whitehead and Japanese Aesthetics.

Reviews for D. T. Suzuki on the Unconscious in Zen Art, Meditation, and Enlightenment

""This book presents a comprehensive study of D. T. Suzuki's Zen philosophy and philosophical psychology in relation to his Buddhist understanding of the unconscious. A major contribution to the field of Japanese philosophy, it gives a clear overview of Suzuki's central idea of Zen self-awareness while exploring its relativity to a number of great thinkers from the history of European philosophy."" — Takeshi Morisato, University of Edinburgh