La circuminsessione di universale-fenomenico e il sé nell’insegnamento zen di Hakuin

Abstract

This contribution aims to analyze the notion of mutual interpenetration of the universal and the phenomenal within the teaching of Hakuin, a reformer of the Japanese Rinzai Zen school, especially in relation to the self-awakening experience, called kenshō or satori, metaphorically represented by a mirror. In order to explain the relationship between the universal and the phenomenal within the self, I present two particular teachings, to which Hakuin frequently refers: the Five Placement of Tōzan, one of the categories of kōan currently used in Rinzai Zen after the systematization of kōan by Hakuin's disciples, and the Four Wisdoms, a doctrinal element of the Yogācāra school. The Four Wisdoms especially are intrinsically related to the soteriological paradigm that characterizes Hakuin's thought. Ultimately, the universal and the phenomenal exist in a relationship of mutual interpenetration within the self reminiscent of the theological concept of the Trinitarian circuminsession.