REL 444/544 Week 8 Notes

Natalie Goldberg (1948-  ), Writer and Lay Zen Buddhist Practitioner

Zen Master Dainin Katagiri, Goldberg's Zen teacher, is in the lineage of Dogen (1200-1253), one of the three major figures we studies from the Kamakura Period.

Some of the major themes that continue from our examination of Medieval Japanese Buddhism including Dogen's Zen include:

  1. The relation between practice and awakening
  2. The relation between form and emptiness, the world of words and the oneness beyond words
  3. The relation between individual practice and social transformation
Some themes to consider specifically in relation to this work:
  1. What does Golberg's cultural identity have to do with her writing practice and Zen practice? As a Jew, a woman, a left-wing activist?
  2. What are some of the key turning points in the story of her life that she tells? What do these turning points indicate about her view of Zen practice?
  3. What does she mean when she says: "And the difference between Zen and writing? In writing you bring everything you know into writing. In Zen you bring everything you know into nothing, into the present moment where you can't hold on to anything."


Guiding Questions: 

  1. In what ways does Goldberg’s Zen and her teacher's Zen (Katagiri) serve as an extension of Dogen’s Zen?
  2. In what ways does it represent a departure from Dogen’s Zen?
  3. What is the relation between writing practice and Zen practice for Goldberg?
  4. What is the significance of Goldberg's statement that she would give up writing to have just one more cup of tea with her teacher Zen master Katagiri? (237-8)