The Appeal of Eastern Thought to Western Minds

The Appeal of Eastern Thought to Western Minds: Some Theories

I live in a country where a number of races mingle reasonably freely, and where racism, though it exists (I won't pretend otherwise), is not culturally endorsed. There is also a centuries-long tradition of "mixed marriage", going back to the early days of Maori-European contact, and there is no strong stigma attached to marriages between people of different races (in most of the population; indiviuals differ), so they are not particularly uncommon.

I have observed several things about such marriages, some of which may seem uncomplimentary to the people concerned, so please bear with me until I reach my point.

The first thing I have observed is that often (not always) the partner of European descent is not, by the standards of their own culture, particularly attractive. This may be true of the other partner also, by the standards of their own culture (not being part of those cultures, I can't tell), though usually they are attractive by European standards.

This is not my point. My point is that frequently, the European partner makes, by European standards, an excellent husband or wife. For example, European men married to Asian women often treat them with considerable respect, consideration and kindness and appear deeply devoted to them - probably a better deal than these women would get from many men in their own culture. (I am again being somewhat ethnocentric here, unavoidably.)

The fact that these outwardly unattractive men and women make, in all other ways, excellent spouses I think says more about the short-sightedness of the potential partners in their own culture than about shortcomings in them or their non-European counterparts.

I would like to suggest something similar about the attraction of Eastern thought for some Western minds. Perhaps it is not so much that these people are rejecting their intellectual, cultural and religious heritage as that this heritage is rejecting them - that is, rejecting some of the things they value and strive after as not valuable or worthy. Hence, they turn to non-Western thought, where those things are valued.

I myself am an orthodox Christian, with considerable respect for the Western intellectual, cultural and artistic tradition. However, I believe that we can be greatly enriched by the contributions of non-Western cultures, and can learn from non-Western (and non-Christian, which is not the same thing) insights and philosophies.

Of all the non-Christian religions, I personally find Buddhism has the most to teach me, and within Buddhism, Zen. This is not to say that I wish to adopt Zen or that I think Christianity and Zen are fundamentally similar. They are, often, fundamentally dissimilar in what they consider true, right and worthy, and since a large part of each is concerned with truth, rightness and worth, to say that they are two paths to the same goal would be palpably ridiculous (which hasn't prevented people from saying it).

However, when their perspectives do coincide (which is perhaps five percent of the time, depending on what you look at), I find some of the insights of Zen can help my own understanding and growth by giving a different perspective on a truth I already accept from a Christian viewpoint. It is for this reason that I have included some material from Zen sources in this book.

My hope is that by enriching my Christianity with those parts of Eastern thought which are compatible with its basic truths, I will produce something which may fulfill the longings of some, at least, of those who otherwise would go after non-Christian solutions to the issues they encounter - because they don't find the solutions within Western Christianity.

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