Nicholas Dease: Outside reading Blog 5

Myth of Sisyphus and Zen

During my research for my paper on the Last Samurai and Zen, I noticed a number of similarities to Albert Camus's essay, the Myth of Sisyphus. Both philosophies aim to improve the quality of human experience and both conduct their message in a similar way. Interestingly, however, one is considered a religion and the other is not. For this outside reading blog, I will explore the similarities between the two to discover the essential religion-making quality that Zen has and Absurdism lacks.

To start, the research I conducted on Zen Buddhism led to a realization of one significant similarity between the two, suffering. According to Zen, suffering is a result of one's state of mind. We are all deluded, it communicates to us, by our individuality. As simple as one can put it, our ego separates us from all of existence, but Zen makes the argument that all beings are fundamentally united as one ultimate reality. The notion that the self is separate is “unreal” and leads to suffering through attachment to that which is transient. Like other forms of Buddhism, the attainment of the highest mental state, or in this case, Kensho, leads to a freedom from attachment and thus happiness follows.

In the myth of Sisyphus, suffering is the perpetual state of human existence. This suffering is ultimately the result of the inherent meaninglessness of the universe and humanity's desperate need for meaning to sustain life. The combination creates the standard paradoxical relationship which bears a marked resemblance to Zen, as they use paradox to gain an understanding of “real” existence. Further, Camus' suggestion to humanity is a similar one of detachment. He invites the reader to “rebel” against this absurdity and detach one's self from the crude facsimiles of meaningful structure. He remarks that an Actor's profession allows just that. An actor may “roleplay” myriad characters in his life and he through this he essentially lives them. Having experienced the condition of so many lives, the actor may detach himself from his own existence and thus experience a form of peace, like Kensho.

I suppose the the most glaring difference between the two is the belief that all beings are one in Zen. This quality definitely has a characteristically “spiritual” effect. However, the believe that the universe is completely meaningless or better yet, outside of humanity's ability to understand, may also have a similar effect. Ultimately, whether one is a religion or isn't becomes simply a matter of interpretation...