Buddhism is simultaneously one of the world's major religions and one of its great philosophical systems. That we in the West tend to think of this as a self-contradictory state is true only because of the historical division in the West since the late Middle Ages between philosophical enquiry (which has allied itself with secular disciplines) and religious inquiry. However, while it is certainly true that we must consider Buddhism to be a religion (because it like all religions it offers a way for the individual to link himself or herself to the divine and the eternal) we should also understand that it is an epistemological system. By this I mean that in additional to providing a way for the individual to understand the divine, Buddhism also provides those who study its teachings with ways of understanding this world. This paper explores this epistemological facet of Buddhism - and specifically of Zen Buddhism - by focusing on the ways that Buddhism is intimately linked to specific means of interacting with and particular ways of understanding the world. Many of these basic ideas are set forth in Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, although to acquire a more fully developed understanding of Buddhist epistemology I have examined a number of other sources as well. Of course, coming to anything like a complete appreciation of Zen thought (from either a religious or a philosophical basis) would require a lifetime of study; this must be seen as only a preliminary foray.
However, before beginning an analysis of the ways that Zen Buddhism can be understood not only as a religion but also as a method to perceive and know reality, it will useful briefly to describe the history of Buddhism and especially of Zen Buddhism. As is true of Christianity, Islam or Judaism, there are a number of different branches within Buddhism that - while appearing to be similar to outsiders - are entirely distinct to adherents. Zen Buddhism is an offsho...