Suzuki tells us that a proper personal experience is needed in order to make what is unintelligible about Zen Buddhism intelligible and vise versa. Mere analytical analysis as well as scholarly research can not provide an individual with what they seek. Without this strong personal connection, Suzuki argues, vast misunderstandings can be made about Buddhism as a whole. Misunderstandings that very well may case individuals to considered Buddhism as nothing more than absurd and farcical practices. Without this crucial feature, in Suzuki's eyes, one could not hope to obtain the necessary foundation needed for achieve a higher level of thinking. The heavily obscured vision which manifest in one's mind cannot be completed nor anything related to the subject matter at hand be truly grasped in its entirety.
Is Buddhism a religion? …show more content…
The object or goal of Buddhism is to provide a framework in which Buddhist can attain enlightenment. This in itself is by no means religious. Nevertheless, with a understanding of Zen we can see how many would argue for such a classification. Zen is simplification, spiritual awareness, nothingness and formless. It is an ideal that cannot be accessed through logic nor reason all the while relying on the crux of most religious institutions: personal experience. Like all forms of religion, personal experience is tantamount to understanding the true essence of what the over all message is within a religion. Though one could argue that a religious script or book will serve just as well, only personal experience can be somewhat measured, albeit