Martin Heidegger and Oriental thought: confrontations

Abstract

Heidegger became interested in Eastern thought, due to his attempt to overcome the conceptual expression characteristic of the Western metaphysical tradition. Everything suggests, however, that this attempt derives from the Christian experience of his early years, which would decisively influence his thinking. In fact, the conception of the human essence as relation to the Being, in terms of comprehension in his Existential Analytic and in terms of thinking in his later work,– has a striking structural analogy to the relationship between the biblical God and his creature. In both cases, the human being is freedom and openness to a gift. In this sense, Heidegger's mature thought displays more differences from than similarities to the Zen-Buddhist mysticism and Eastern thought in general: being X nothingness, finite X infinite, on the way X at the end, acceptance of a gift X identification with the absolute foundation. Key-words: trans-conceptual thinking, Christian experience, Zen-Buddhism, finitude, absolute, gift.