'Let Us Give up Our Meditation Cushions!': A Confucian-Buddhist Conversation on the Power of Mental Cultivation
Leah Kalmanson, University of North Texas
The impact of Buddhism on Song-dynasty Confucianism is well known, and the Song Confucian practice of "quiet sitting" (jingzuo 靜坐) seems to have been influenced by contemporaneous Chan discourses and especially the practice of seated meditation (zuochan 坐禪). That said, Confucian quiet sitting has roots in pre-Buddhist discourses, as well. The syncretic Warring States text Guanzi, which reflects both Confucian and Daoist elements, is one prominent example of an early work containing instructions for contemplative practice. This presentation will compare and contrast Buddhist and Confucian approaches to meditation to explore (1) how these traditions have influenced each other over time and (2) the relevance for our understanding of mindfulness today. As we will see, although Buddhism undoubtedly leaves its mark on Confucianism, the qi-based philosophy indigenous to the Chinese context in turn influences Buddhism via an understanding of meditation as a type of energy-work. In contrast to these traditional Confucian and Buddhist approaches, popular understandings of "meditation" are overly influenced by the contemporary mindfulness movement, which itself owes much to perceptions and misperceptions of Japanese Zen. Via our Confucian-Buddhist dialogue, this presentation seeks to recover a richer understanding of mental cultivation that may, in turn, both challenge and supplement mindfulness in its current form in popular culture.