This essay shows that the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno was much closer to the thought of the Oriental world than is generally believed. This influence is expressed in Unamuno’s interest in Origami—the Japanese art of paper-folding. The author argues that these paper figures and the very concept of paper (as manifest Japanese folk customs) are associated with Unamuno’s basic philosophical preoccupation, death, and with the question of a Creator and the Creator’s purpose (paralleling our purpose as creators of paper figures); the making of paper birds was, then, for Unamuno a reenactment of creation. Further evidence that Unamuno was significantly influenced by Oriental philosophy is found in the fact that his personal library contained quite a lot of books on Japanese and Indian (Hindu and Buddhist) philosophy. Also, Schopenhauer (who was himself much influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism) had a great impact on Unamuno’s thinking. As concrete examples of similarities in Eastern thought and Unamuno, the author mentions the interest in paradox shared by both Unamuno and Zen, and the fact that both Buddhism and Unamuno take their starting point from the inner person. The essay concludes cautiously that while it is certainly true that not all of Unamuno’s work may have been influenced by Oriental thought, at least some of his work was so influenced, such that a consideration of a relationship between Unamuno and Oriental thought should be pursued further.

cocotologia, religion, Origami, death, Oriental, philosophy Zen, Schopenhauer, Buddhism, Japanese folk customs, Spanish