Tantra Ducks and Zen Bunnies

Abstract

This paper reconsiders the relationship between esoteric or tantric Buddhism and Zen in premodern Japan. Taking the teachings of Enni 圓爾 (1202–1280) and early modern Sōtō lore as its examples, as well as an adapted version of Wittgenstein’s concept of “seeing-as” as its methodological guideline, the paper argues that the categories of “esoteric Buddhism” and “Zen” themselves should be treated as discursively constructed. From this point of view, the scholarly desideratum is to undertake the genealogical elucidation of the process of their construction. The paper concludes that “esoteric Zen” should be considered a family of strategic, discursive practices predicated on acts of “seeing-as” and their subsequent sedimentation through repetition.