The Psychologized Zen of HARA Tanzan : His Thought and Historical Influences

Abstract

HARA Tanzan (1819-1892), a scholar priest of Soto Zen, was a forerunner of the modernization of Japanese Buddhism. He was the first to absorb natural science, especially physiology of brain and tried to mix it with Zen Buddhism. He claimed both bodily illness and mental suffering were the product of a kind of mucus called Dana which he thought was running up from the hipbone through the spinal column up to the brain. According to his theory, if this flow of mucus were to be shut up by the power of Zen, brain would be cleared away and complete health would be gained. It is true his theory was modeled on the anatomical knowledge, but the flow of Dana could not be detected objectively, so medical scientists ignored his theory. One of his pupils, HARADA Genryu, modified Tanzan's method and invented the method called Nikon Endu Ho. This method had some effects on a few healers of alternative medicine, which prospered in Japan from 1910 to 1930. In this paper I discussed the thought and method of Tanzan's Zen and its influences on those healers.