Overview
Liberating Intimacy dramatically reevaluates the teachings and practice of Ch'an Buddhism. Considering Buddha's insight that everything is empty or absent of a permanent and independent "self nature," Hershock argues that not only is suffering without any essence and so dependent on time and place, so is end of suffering or enlightenment. He shows that the tradition need not entail a quietistic withdrawal from social life. Far from being something privately attained and experienced, Ch'an enlightenment is best seen as the opening of a virtuosic intimacy through which we are continually liberated from the arrogance of both "self" and "other." That is, enlightenment in Ch'an must be understood as irreducibly social - it can never be merely "mine" or "yours," but is only realized as "ours." Including new translations from the teachings of Ma-tzu, Pai-chang, Huang-po and Lin-chi, Liberating Intimacy reconciles the almost fierce individualism that characterizes the mastery of Ch'an and its unwavering embrace of the ideal of compassionately saving all beings.Synopsis
Liberating Intimacy dramatically reevaluates the teachings and practice of Ch'an Buddhism. Considering Buddha's insight that everything is empty or absent of a permanent and independent "self nature," Hershock argues that not only is suffering without any essence and so dependent on time and place, so is end of suffering or enlightenment. He shows that the tradition need not entail a quietistic withdrawal from social life. Far from being something privately attained and experienced, Ch'an enlightenment is best seen as the opening of a virtuosic intimacy through which we are continually liberated from the arrogance of both "self" and "other." That is, enlightenment in Ch'an must be understood as irreducibly social - it can never be merely "mine" or "yours," but is only realized as "ours." Including new translations from the teachings of Ma-tzu, Pai-chang, Huang-po and Lin-chi, Liberating Intimacy reconciles the almost fierce individualism that characterizes the mastery of Ch'an and its unwavering embrace of the ideal of compassionately saving all beings.
Stephen Heine
[A]n interesting, thought-provoking philosophical study of the social implications of Ch'an Buddhist thought. Its main aim is to defeat the stereotypical view that Ch'an is elitist....[T]he critical comments expressed in this review do not necessarily imply either disagreement or agreement....Rather, they point out that the basic claims of Liberating Intimacy, although articulated in a highly original and evocative philosophical style, may begin to unravel as so much wistful, wishful thinking. -- Journal of Buddhist Ethics