2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A Study in Comparative Philosophy on Dying and Care between Christianity and Zen Buddhism - Philosophical Ground and Practice

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21520089
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	History of thought
Research Institution	Notre Dame Seishin University
Principal Investigator	SUZAWA Kaori ノートルダム清心女子大学, 文学部, 教授 (50171195)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Keywords	死 / 臨床 / ケア / キリスト教 / 仏教
Research Abstract	his research dealt with the comparative studies concerning dying and terminal care between Christianity and Zen Buddhism on a philosophical and practical level. In Christianity the reality of death is acknowledged as part of the human condition. In the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:2) "There is a time to be born and a time to die". Eternal life and resurrection is the goal of dying, and therefore, in Christian view one is called to care for the dying and to face personally their own death in faith and hope. Zen Buddhism stresses the importance of death and understands death as a breaking apart of the material of which we are composed. In Buddhism death is merely a path to rebirth in another realm of a pure land. Nirvana is not a transcendental state apart from birth and death. Therefore, when one is facing with death, a caring person may help the person to achieve a peaceful state of mind.

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