FINAL PAPER LBRL STUDIES 272 MARK FERGUSON The study of Zen, it seems, became a main preoccupation of the Japanese, something never seen elsewhere. Embracing it with gusto, allowing it to mingle with old tales and myths, the Japanese raised Buddhism to a new height. Students of the ways of Buddhism found they could, if diligent, attain a measure of spiritual freedom or self-fulfillment, which may well be lacking in other forms of thinking, certainly in …showed first 75 words of 339 total…

…showed last 75 words of 339 total…The stories are colorful and greatly descriptive, more so than most any other belief I’ve ever seen or delved into. They even exceed the myths of the Greeks, which paints pictures in the minds of those who listened to them. Woven in and around the myths of creation already extent in Japan when it reached its shores. Buddhism takes on new life in Zen and propels the Japanese into an extremely unique cultural development.