Iris Murdoch between buddhism and christianity: moral change, conceptual loss/recovery, unselfing

Perception, Self, and Zen: On Iris Murdoch and the Taming of Simone Weil

“…This remark, and her various mentions of Buddhism in her philosophy and representations in the novels, have intrigued readers [30,31]. There is much in Buddhism that appeals to her project, as Beran and Marchal [32] have remarked: 'the zazen; meditation techniques as exemplified in mysticism without worshipping any deities; the compassionate and realistic 'metaphysics' directed towards the present; occasionally a bit of picturesque ritual and magic' (186). However, as they write, 'Hardly does any actual school of Buddhism properly impersonate all these traits' (186), and Murdoch's her discussions of Buddhism tend to be vague, often invoked as an alternative to Christianity which avoids rituals and personalised objects of devotion.…”

“…Nonetheless, she was not blind to the similarities between some Buddhist ideas and her interest in non-illusory perception, attention, and self-purification. While in her mentions of Buddhism, particularly in the novels, Murdoch often seems to be implying an understanding of Theravāda Buddhism [32] (p. 185), in MGM [2] her most sustained discussion concerns Zen Buddhism, to which she refers through her reading of Katsuki Sekida's Zen Training [33]. Here, Murdoch presents Zen as an alternative to Husserlian phenomenological reduction, and quotes Sekida on meditation as a discipline for 'root[ing] out the emotionally and intellectually habituated mode of consciousnes' and 'suspending every involvement of the personal ego' (Sekida in MGM 240) [2].…”

“…See e.g., GG 52: 'Suicide is probably never anything else [than imaginary], and that is why it is forbidden' [25]. 22 Murdoch's ultimate distancing from Zen has been acknowledged by commentators, such as Robjant [53] (p. 1005) and Beran and Marchal [32] (p. 183). The distancing of Murdoch from Weil was already apparent in her earlier discussions of Weil, her radio talk from 1951 [54] and her review of Weil's Notebooks from 1956 (KV) [55].…”