Here is a book on a topic of increasing interest among American students of Buddhism. "Dzogchen", the direct experience of enlightenment, is a practice from Tibetan Buddhism that is being explored by teachers of many different schools, from the Dalai Lama to best-selling author Lama Surya Das, to the popular leaders of the Insight Meditation Soceity such as Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein. Without claiming that dzogchen is easy to understand - much less to achieve - the authors present this seemingly esoteric idea in down-to-earth terms that anyone who is interest can understand. While remaining assiduously true to their Tibetan Lamas' precise instructions, the authors present these ancient teachings with directness, humor, and gentleness. "Roaring Silence" walks the reader through the meditation techniques that "enable us to side-step the bureaucracy of intellectual processes and experience ourselves directly". Surprisingly, the approach is very pragmatic. Offering an investigation of the necessary steps, the authors begin with how to prepare for the journey: the lama is essential, as is a sense of humour, inspiration, and determination.They continue by describing the path to realisation of dzogchen: from sitting meditation to the direct perception of reality. The chapters include exercises for exploring, for example, the presence of our awareness, a simple visualisation, the feeling of trying to "remain uninvolved" with mental activity for a period, with follow-up guidance on how to view our experiences - all with the caveat, "be kind to yourself, don't push yourself beyond your limits."

This collection of essays and lectures by D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966) covers a wide range, from Mahayana Buddhism generally and the Zen school in particular, to Japanese art and culture, to the relationship between Zen Buddhism and Western psychology. Suzuki, whose work has had a profound and lasting influence, communicates his insights clearly and energetically. The clarity of his presentation makes "The Awakening of Zen " a book for novice and scholar alike.

The Prajnaparamita ("perfection of wisdom") sutras are one of the great legacies of Mahayana Buddhism, giving eloquent expression to some of that school's central concerns: the perception of "shunyata," the essential emptiness of all phenomena; and the ideal of the bodhisattva, one who postpones his or her own enlightenment in order to work for the salvation of all beings.
The Prajnaparamita literature consists of a number of texts composed in Buddhist India between 100 BCE and 100 CE. Originally written in Sanskrit, but surviving today mostly in their Chinese versions, the texts are concerned with the experience of profound insight that cannot be conveyed by concepts or in intellectual terms. The material remains important today in Mahayana Buddhism and Zen.
Key selections from the Prajnaparamita literature are presented here, along with Thomas Cleary's illuminating commentary, as a means of demonstrating the intrinsic limitations of discursive thought, and of pointing to the profound wisdom that lies beyond it.
Included selections from:
"The Scripture on Perfect Insight Awakening to Essence" "The Essentials of the Great Scripture on Perfect Insight" "Treatise on the Great Scripture on Perfect Insight" "The Scripture on Perfect Insight for Benevolent Rulers" "Key Teachings on the Great Scripture of Perfect Insight" "The Questions of Suvikrantavikramin"

Cultivate a mindful new habit in 2023 with Be More Bonsai, and discover how the art of growing bonsai trees can lead to a happier, more mindful way of life Amid the chaos of modern life, the ancient art of tending to bonsai can bring calm and perspective. The central tenets of this beautiful, meditative practice teach us patience, focus, calmness, perspective, planning, mindfulness and many more traits that can help us in our busy, challenging everyday lives. This calming companion will guide you through: * Caring for your own bonsai tree * Applying the mindfulness of cultivating bonsai to everyday life * The ancient Eastern philosophy of tending to bonsai From the shedding of leaves representing the letting go of material possessions, to carefully tending to the bonsai roots just as we should our own core values, Be More Bonsai is filled with wisdom that you'll cherish every day. Through the pages of this unique book, drawing on thousands of years of wisdom, elegant philosophy and a simpler, ancient way of life, we can all learn to Be More Bonsai.

Maurine Stuart who died in 1990, was one of the few American women to practice Buddhism and become a Zen master. This book is a collection of her talks, drawing on her friendship with Japanese Zen teachers, earthy Zen stories, and her experiences as a concert pianist, to show how the inner meanings of Buddhism are clarified through practising nowness, unselfishness, compassion and goodwill. Stuart teaches that the Zen path is ruled by the experience of direct insight into the reality of the present moment.

This work is Storlie's memoir of growing up through the upheavals of the 1960s, a portrait of a generation that turned away from traditional culture and embraced a world of drug-induced states of consciousness, alternative lifestyles, and Eastern spirituality. It begins in Berkeley, experimenting among friends with Zen meditation and LSD. But when chemical enlightenment failed to ignite, Storlie retreated to the wilderness where he realized the importance of meditation practice. For many years Storlie studied under Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri, both Zen masters. His intimate portraits of these men combine with accounts of three decades on the Dharma trail, to provide a vivid account of one man's search for meaning in modern America.

The best collection of Zen wisdom and wit since Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: koans, sayings, poems, and stories by Eastern and American Zen teachers and students capture the delightful, challenging, mystifying, mind-stopping, outrageous, and scandalous heart of Zen.

Throughout Zen history, stories and anecdotes of Zen masters and their students have been used as teaching devices to exemplify the enlightened spirit. Unlike many of the baffling dialogues between Zen masters preserved in the koan literature, the stories retold here are penetratingly simple but with a richness and subtlety that make them worth reading again and again. This collection includes more than one hundred such stories--many appearing here in English for the first time--drawn from a wide variety of sources and involving some of the best-known Zen masters, such as Hakuin, Bankei, and Shosan. Also presented are stories and anecdotes involving famous Zen artists and poets, such as Sengai and Basho.

This widely praised book presents the nature, technique and practice of Zen with exceptional clarity, wisdom and frankness.

Buddhism

Zen Buddhism is perhaps best known for its emphasis on meditation, and probably no figure in the history of Zen is more closely associated with meditation practice than the thirteenth-century Japanese master Dogen, founder of the Soto school. This study examines the historical and religious character of the practice as it is described in Dogen's own meditation texts, introducing new materials and original perspectives on one of the most influential spiritual traditions of East Asian civilization. The Soto version of Zen meditation is known as "just sitting," a practice in which, through the cultivation of the subtle state of "nonthinking," the meditator is said to be brought into perfect accord with the higher consciousness of the "Buddha mind" inherent in all beings. This study examines the historical and religious character of the practice as it is described in Dogen's own meditation texts, introducing new materials and original perspectives on one of the most influential spiritual traditions of East Asian civilization.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an extraordinary story of redemption in the darkest of places. Jarvis Jay Masters's early life was a horror story whose outline we know too well. Born in Long Beach, California, his house was filled with crack, alcohol, physical abuse, and men who paid his mother for sex. He and his siblings were split up and sent to foster care when he was five, and he progressed quickly to juvenile detention, car theft, armed robbery, and ultimately San Quentin. While in prison, he was set up for the murder of a guard - a conviction which landed him on death row, where he's been since 1990. At the time of his murder trial, he was held in solitary confinement, torn by rage and anxiety, felled by headaches, seizures, and panic attacks. A criminal investigator repeatedly offered to teach him breathing exercises which he repeatedly refused, until desperation moved him. With uncanny clarity, David Sheff describes Masters's gradual but profound transformation from a man dedicated to hurting others to one who has prevented violence on the prison yard, counselled high school kids by mail, and helped prisoners -and even guards - find meaning in their lives. Along the way, Masters becomes drawn to the Buddhist principles - compassion, sacrifice, and living in the moment -and gains the admiration of Buddhists worldwide. And while he is still in San Quentin and still on death row, he shows us all how to ease our everyday suffering, relish the light that surrounds us, and endure the tragedies that befall us all.

In this guide, Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the most renowned Zen meditation masters, explains the essence of Buddhist practice and demonstrates how mindfulness can transform lives by awakening individuals' spirits, healing their emotional wounds, and improving their relationships with others--in short, helping individuals break the chains that tie them to the circle of birth and death. The book also serves as a guided meditation, as the author describes practices for cultivating mindfulness, including awareness of walking and breathing, deep listening, and skillful speech. "En esta guia, Thich Nhat Hanh, uno de los maestros de meditacion Zen mas conocidos, explica la esencia de la practica budista y demuestra como la atencion plena puede transformar vidas al despertar los espiritus de los individuos, curar sus heridas emocionales y mejorar sus relaciones con los demas--en suma, al ayudar a las personas a romper las cadenas que las atan a la rueda del nacimiento y la muerte. El libro sirve tambien como una meditacion guiada, mientras el autor describe practicas para cultivar la atencion plena, incluyendo el caminar y respirar conscientemente, escuchar a profundidad y hablar diestramente."

Attention, self-consciousness, insight, wisdom, emotional maturity: how Zen teachings can illuminate the way our brains function and vice-versa. When neurology researcher James Austin began Zen training, he found that his medical education was inadequate. During the past three decades, he has been at the cutting edge of both Zen and neuroscience, constantly discovering new examples of how these two large fields each illuminate the other. Now, in Selfless Insight, Austin arrives at a fresh synthesis, one that invokes the latest brain research to explain the basis for meditative states and clarifies what Zen awakening implies for our understanding of consciousness. Austin, author of the widely read Zen and the Brain, reminds us why Zen meditation is not only mindfully attentive but evolves to become increasingly selfless and intuitive. Meditators are gradually learning how to replace over-emotionality with calm, clear objective comprehension. In this new book, Austin discusses how meditation trains our attention, reprogramming it toward subtle forms of awareness that are more openly mindful. He explains how our maladaptive notions of self are rooted in interactive brain functions. And he describes how, after the extraordinary, deep states of kensho-satori strike off the roots of the self, a flash of transforming insight-wisdom leads toward ways of living more harmoniously and selflessly. Selfless Insight is the capstone to Austin's journey both as a creative neuroscientist and as a Zen practitioner. His quest has spanned an era of unprecedented progress in brain research and has helped define the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience.

Who are you? When are you? What were you conscious of a moment ago? This groundbreaking book sees acclaimed psychologist Susan Blackmore combining the latest scientific theories about mind, self, and consciousness with a lifetime s practice of Zen. Framed by ten critical questions derived from Zen teachings and designed to expand your understanding and experience of consciousness, Zen and the Art of Consciousness doesn t offer final - or easy - answers, but instead provides an inspiring exploration of how intellectual enquiry and meditation can tackle some of today s greatest scientific mysteries.

Explores how Soto monks between the 13th and 16th centuries developed new forms of monastic organization and Zen instructions and new applications for Zen rituals within lay life; how these innovations helped shape rural society; and how remnants of them remain in the modern Soto school, now the largest Buddhist organization in modern Japan.

Zen rituals--such as chanting, bowing, lighting incense before the Buddha statue--are ways of recognizing the sacredness in all of life. A ritual is simply a deliberate and focused moment that symbolizes the care with which we should be approaching all of life, and practicing the Zen liturgy is a way of cultivating this quality of attention in order to bring it to everything we do. Here, John Daido Loori demystifies the details of the Zen rituals and highlights their deeper meaning and purpose. We humans are all creatures of ritual, he teaches, whether we recognize it or not. Even if we don't make ritual part of some religious observance, we still fall into ritual behavior, whether it be our daily grooming sequence or the way we have our morning coffee and paper. We run through our personal rituals unconsciously most of the time, but there is great value to introducing meaningful symbolic rituals into our lives and to performing them deliberately and mindfully--because the way we do ritual affects the way we live the rest of our lives. The book includes instructions for a simple Zen home liturgy, as it is practiced by students of the Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen.

Sharing thirty years' experience as a Zen practitioner and teacher, Hamilton offers a variety of practical tools for Zen training to a wide audience. By practising to "untrain our inner parrot", we learn to quiet down - and not take so seriously - ongoing habitual mental chatter. In addition to helpful techniques for learning Zen practice, the author also presents what's at the heart of Zen - waking up to one's daily experience - in a clear, accessible, lighthearted, and humorous style. It's a usable manual for exploring and establishing a beginning sitting practice and includes simple instructions to clarify and elucidate the basics such as: how to develop physical, mental, and emotional awareness of one's mind and actions; how to experience "open" awareness - the objectivity of observing oneself in practice while allowing for a sense of spaciously accommodating whatever occurs; and how to understand and experience the esoteric Zen concept of full-empty awareness - a full appreciation of the primordial nature of all, which is the result of meditation.

"The sacred radiance of our original nature never darkens.
It has shined forth since beginningless time.
Do you wish to enter the gate that leads to this?
Simply do not give rise to conceptual thinking."
Zen Master So Sahn (1520-1604) is a towering figure in the history of Korean Zen. In this treasure-text, he presents in simple yet beautiful language the core principles and teachings of Zen. Each section opens with a quotation--drawn from classical scriptures, teachings, and anecdotes--followed by the author's commentary and verse. Originally written in Chinese, the text was translated into Korean in the mid-twentieth century by the celebrated Korean monk Boep Joeng. An American Zen monk, Hyon Gak, has translated it into English.

Offering an insight into the beauty and mystery of Zen, this collection of conversations includes many beautiful stories that highlight important points with absorbing clarity. Full of absurdities and humor, this book deals with sudden enlightenment--that supreme moment when people cease struggling to understand with their minds and jump wholeheartedly into the abyss--learning to love themselves as the first step toward loving the universe as a whole. Ofrece una perspectiva profunda del Zen, incluyendo historias que personifican los puntos mas importantes de manera interesante. Lleno de humor absurdo, este libro se trata de la ilustracion repentina--ese momento supremo donde dejamos de luchar con nuestras propias mentes y nos adentramos enteramente a lo desconocido, aprendiendo a amarnos a nosotros mismos.

"Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake" presents never-before published teaching stories by one of the most important Zen masters of our time. Born in Korea, Seung Sahn came to the United States in 1972 and soon established the Kwan Um School of Zen, with centres in Providence, Cambridge, New Haven, New York, Los Angeles and Berkeley. Today there are more than fifty centres of the Kwan Um School throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In his teaching, Zen Master Seung Sahn emphasized sitting meditation, koan study and compassionate action. He was known for his powerful teaching style, which was direct, surprising and often humorous. For example, Seung Sahn proclaimed to his students, "Enlightenment is a big mistake," meaning that in order to wake up they had to let go of all their preconceptions and ideas - including and especially those about enlightenment. He taught that Zen is not about achieving a goal, but about dwelling in the realm "before thought" and helping others. Zen Master Seung Sahn passed away in 2004, but one of his closest American students has assembled a new collection of teachings stories, dialogues and excerpts from the master's talks.;"Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake" will be cherished by students of the Kwan Um School and by the many Zen students of other schools who enjoyed his popular earlier collection of teaching stories, "Dropping Ashes on the Buddha" (Grove, 1976), and his book on Zen philosophy and practice, "Compass of Zen" (Shambhala, 1997).

Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi, one of the most highly regarded American Zen teachers, demystifies the experience of enlightenment, teaching that it is none other than the awakening to our true nature, which is ever present and inherent in all of us. Through the practice of meditation, one is able to turn the light of inquiry inward and discover this for oneself. Genpo Roshi lays out this journey of discovery for us-from the first tentative glimpses of Buddha Mind to the full flowering of realized life.
Always practical and down-to-earth, Genpo Roshi shows that following the Buddha Way does not require us to leave behind our ordinary lives. Instead it is a process of integration, learning to flow freely between the many dimensions of our lives so that our existence becomes more meaningful and joyous, and so that we are able to carry the wisdom and compassion we have realized into daily life.