Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی
Authors
1 Persian literature group, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
2 PHD student of Persian Language and Literature, Persian literature group, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
3 Department of Language and Literature, Persian literature group, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
Abstract
Awakening means the annihilation of ignorance, and it is one of the most important concepts in Islamic mysticism, which Rumi has discussed and analyzed many times in the stories of Masnaviye Maʾnavi. The concept of Satori has the same meaning in Zen Buddhism texts, and understanding and experiencing it is central to meditation and spiritual journey. Hence, the goal of the present essay is to analyze awakening as reflected in Rumi's Masnaviye Maʾnavi as a prominent work of literature concerning Islamic-Iranian mysticism, alongside Satori narratives as presented in The Gateless Barrier and One Hundred and One Zen Stories, which are both famous texts in Zen mystical tradition. The demonstration of similarities and difference between these two philosophical traditions is done using a descriptive-analytical method. Upon analyzing the research data, it becomes evident that there is an overlap between features of awakening in Masnaviye Maʾnavi and Satori in Zen Buddhism; features such as being sudden, enlightening, and reproducibility, although the suddenness is reflected more in Satori narratives. Also, astonishment, which is a subfeature emerging from the audience's perspective, is reflected abundantly in Zen Buddhism texts, because of its irrationality and Incomprehensibility. Conversely, stories about wakefulness in Masnaviye Maʾnavi, which follow firm logical premises compared with Satori narratives, lack this feature.
Highlights
Extended Abstract
An Epistemological Analysis of Spiritual Awakening in Persian
Mystical Literature and Satori in Zen Buddhism Narratives
(case study: Rumi's Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi and stories of The Gateless
Barrier and One Hundred and One Zen Stories)
Introduction
In Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi, the word "awakening" has been used multiple times, in technical and spiritual sense. In Rumi's view, most people are inflicted by a slumber of ignorance which is Satan's deceitful invention. According to him, negligence in worldly matters causes the awakening of heart in spiritual matters. Therefore, in most cases that the word awakening is mentioned, the awakening of soul is ultimately intended. In Japanese language, Satori means "internal awakening". In contrast with pure rationality, this important term signifies intuition and Illuminationism, and it is so important that the truth of Zen is only an illusion without it. However, this contrast is not essential to satori, and is merely used for analytic purposes within the context of academic research and reasoning. The truth of Zen and Satori is beyond any contrast and its impetus is to annihilate any dualism within the territory of the mind.
Discussion
Features of awakening and satori
suddenness
Awakening is a form of wisdom that is acquired by a different understanding of the subject. Suddenly, the traveler's perception undergoes a fundamental transformation which is not comparable to his previous perception. In Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi, this feature is reflected in every story about awakening, such as The Merchant and the Parrot and The Old Harpist. The same thing applies to Satori narratives. For example is the dialogue between Daijo and Baso, Baso asks "why searching outside, when you have your own treasure?" Then Daijo asks "Where is my treasure?", and Baso responds: " your treasure is what you ask!" and Daijo is enlightened.
Being Enlightened
Awakening is only achievable through enlightenment and has no significance outside it. Here, enlightenment means a fundamental change in the traveler's understanding of the truth, and the resolution of their mental and spiritual problems and complexes in an extraordinary way and with such a decisiveness that warrants no doubt. The old man's awakening in the story of the The Old Harpist is so enlightening that it causes him to break his harp and leave his 70-years-old occupation. And the Shepherd's enlightenment after awakening is so profound that bestows on him the best spiritual achievements. In the dialogues between Huineng and Myo and Daijo and Baso, there are narratives based on enlightenment that show the fundamental and marvelous transformation that is achieved by enlightenment.
Repeatability
Examining the entirety of these narratives shows that the behavioral characteristic of this experience is based on repetition and may occur again or multiple times and be upgraded to a higher level each time. Also, even though the traveler attains enlightenment by experiencing awakening, the level of this experience and the quality of each traveler's experience is different. Rumi's description of the spiritual conditions of the old harpist shows that he attains awakening twice, the latter much more profound and marvelous than the former. Moreover, in Zen Buddhism, Dogen attributes different levels and degrees to awakening which span the level of the Buddha to the lowest levels.
Wonderfulness
Mystic experiences are unique and incredible events which, depending on their level and depth, make incredible impacts. Although it is possible that the spiritual traveler, themselves, are struck by wonder, wonderfulness signifies the mental state of the audience. The structure of awakening narratives in Zen Buddhism always follows this principle. It seems that this feature of Zen is unique and prominent among other mystic schools of thought. The stories of Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi are no exception to this principle, and apparently unrelated events that lead to awakening are not seen in them.
Conclusion
Analyzing the stories of Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi and those of the books The Gateless Barrier and One Hundred and One Zen Stories, shows that the important features of awakening, namely suddenness, repeatability, wonderfulness, and being enlightened, are mostly the same and completely consistent with each other in Sufism and Zen Buddhism. Although the feature, suddenness is more apparent in Zen narratives, it seems that one of the reasons is the brevity and lack of explanation in these narratives. The enlightening feature is manifested in Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi and Zen narratives with the same quality, and all stories based on awakening reflect this fundamental feature. The behavioral characteristic of awakening experiences is their repeatability, which shows different levels and degrees of awakening and is based on the belief that the spiritual traveler must experience many transient awakenings to reach the final one. The feature, wonderfulness that is always seen in the narratives of Zen Buddhism, is so unique and powerful that it is apparently not rivaled by any other intellectual-spiritual school of thought, and it is mainly due to the inherent superrationality of Zen Buddhism and the invalidity of the writing system in this school of though. This feature is not seen in the stories of Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi with the intensity and significance that is seen in Zen Buddhism, and the main reason is the presence of explanations and illustrating interpretations on the awakening experience, as well as the influence of rational and logical structures, though not in philosophical sense, in Islamic mysticism. Thus the written and oral narratives of Islamic mystics possess a rational order, unlike Zen Buddhism's supernaturality. Repeatability, which results from a historical view of the awakening narratives, and wonderfulness, that signifies the understanding of the audience, are the external and second-hand features of Awakening. The similarity of the concept of awakening in Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi and Zen Buddhism narratives shows that the structure of mystical experiences in two seemingly different intellectual-spiritual schools that have emerged in two far away lands can be the same. This reflects the uniform essence of human mind and spirit, and consequently the uniformity of spiritual paths, despite the various religious affiliations.
References
Abd alrazagh Kashani, Abd alrazagh ibn Jalal aldin (2017), Estelahat al-Sufiyeh, tr. Mohammad Khajavi. Tehran: Mola.
Aflaki, Shams aldin Ahmad (2017), Managheb-al-Arefin,ed, Tahsin Yazici, ed in Persian by Tofigh Sobhani, Tehran: Doostan.
Al-Hakim, Suad (2015), Sufi Encyclopedia, tr. Naser Tabatabaii, Tehran: Mola.
https://doi.org/10.22034/perlit.2023.55825.3465
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