The title says it all. Accessibly written, Zen Explained describes the mystery that lies at the heart of Zen Buddhism. It clearly and concisely says what nirvana (enlightenment) actually is, then goes on to outline in plain English how the individual can attain nirvana. This is a radical departure. Most Zen books are faithful to the spirit of Zen as it was understood and written about in Japan centuries ago. As a consequence they often have to be deciphered more than read. Zen Explained is different. It speaks using concepts and ideas familiar to Westerners. Poetic language and culturally foreign allegory are avoided in favour of the more direct and down-to-Earth descriptive style of writing that is more usual in the West. Something is lost in terms of literary style because of this, but something is also gained by it: clarity.

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi founded the San Francisco Zen Center in 1962, and after fifty years we have seen a fine group of Zen masters trained in the west take up the mantle and extend the practice of Zen in ways that might have been hard to imagine in those first early years. Susan Murphy, one of Robert Aitken's students and dharma heirs, is one of the finest in this group of young Zen teachers. She is also a fine writer, and following on the teaching of her Roshi she has engaged her spiritual work in the ordinary world, dealing with the practice of daily life and with the struggles of all beings.
We know that our earth is in crisis, but is the situation beyond repair? Are we on a path of planetary disaster where the only proper response is to prepare for our melancholic dystopian future? Is there a way out of our suspicious cynicism?
In the tradition of Thomas Berry, using this spiritual opportunity to change the very nature of our crisis, Susan Murphy offers a profound message, subtly presented with clarity and assurance, showing that engaged Buddhism provides a possible path to the necessary repair and healing.

An exploration of the life of the Zen priest-poet Ryokan is interwoven with memoir of the author as she observes Ryokan's life during her own training as a Zen priest in Japan and encounters Ryokan in contemporary life as a model for learning and renewal. Ryokan loved the game Hide-and-go-Seek, Kakurenbo in Japanese, and this provides a metaphor as the author seeks to uncover the mysterious pathway of the hermit priest who seems to defy description. Ryokan had no plan to promote himself in any way or to encourage popularized stories about his life. He simply continued to live, not as a unique figure, but as someone authentic to his vow, living the Dharma somewhat hidden away as a hermit priest, as he climbed up and down the slope of his mountain refuge bearing the cold in winter and enduring the mosquitos in summer. Yet nearly 200 years after his death, Ryokan is known globally and we hold him in high esteem. Our wish to know him might suggest our hunger in these difficult times to touch a rare sainted life that is unabashedly simple. Perhaps we long to live fully in the courageous way that Ryokan did, to help us withstand with some grace the frictions and challenges that beset us. Translations of Ryokan's poems by the acclaimed Nobuyuki Yuasa highlight each chapter, and appear throughout the book; they serve to express Ryokan's teachings in the Dharma and his wisdom as a guide in the 21st Century. The memoir gives a personal glimpse into Zen training today where the author was the only woman and the first foreigner in the history of the 700-year-old temple. This creative medley-biography of Ryokan, author's memoir, poetry of Ryokan, and teachings in the Dharma-opens us to a new interpretation of Ryokan as a profound teacher, scholar, poet, hermit, and priest. The book includes an appendix with practice to honor Ryokan and to hold him throughout time as a true friend and guide in the Buddha Dharma. The book is for general readership as well as for seasoned meditators.

Published originally as biweekly columns, the fifty essays in this collection bring the age-old practice of Zen to bear upon contemporary life. Whether their immediate subject be shoveling snow or baking bread, the virtues of solitude or the emotional dimension of social media, these lucid, graceful essays explore the manifold ways by which we might take the backward step, shifting our orientation from ego-centered thinking to selfless awareness. Wise and true, writes Roshi Joan Halifax of The Backward Step, this wonderful book transmits the essence of practice realization.

A collection of dharma talks by Zen teacher Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei touching on topics from koans to poetry, ancient Buddhist masters to contemporary issues. Challenging yet accessible, will be of interest to those new to Zen as well as seasoned practitioners.

This is an excellent summary of ten original yoga systems, in which the Author, Ernest Wood, who speaks from more than forty years of experience in Eastern Philosophy, tells us in a very well written and easy to understand language about the teachings and philosophy of these major yoga systems. At the same time, he has also endeavored to preserve the perfect authenticity and clearness of the original teachings of these ten different well-known Oriental schools of yoga teaching and practice. The ten yoga systems are: Raja Yoga, Gita-Yoga, Gnyana-Yoga, Hatha and Laya Yogas, Bhakti and Mantra Yogas, Buddhist Yoga, The Chinese Yoga or Zen, and finally the Sufi Yogas, which includes discussions on Maulana Rumi, Omar Khayyam and other well-known Sufi poets and mystics.

Don't think of what you left behind. And don't think too far ahead. For how can one leave something to which one is tied? And how can one feel accomplishment in something never attained? One should set a destination that is within one's reach. As one reaches that point another slightly higher goal can be set - and so on, as one travels up the path. In this way the mountain can be climbed in increments. Look not at the vast mountain as a whole. Rather look minutely and scrutinize each individual step. There will thus be no discouragement, for every step is a success.

"Zen Foot-Notes: Upon the Unknown Passage" is the journal of an expedition's ascent of the highest mountain in the world - not Everest, as everyone assumes, but Pochen Point - the fabled summit of the nether world. The expedition to climb the highest mountain in the nether world is a symbol for mankind's journey through life. The summit is different for each member of the expedition. And yet, because it also symbolizes death, it is essentially the same. The expedition members discover that what matters is not the goal, but merely the path. And some realize that it is not even the path that matters, but rather the passage - the pathless path.

Wayne Omura lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of "Movies and the Meaning of Life: The Most Profound Films in Cinematic History."

'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961, this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of all times have tried to put words to.

2013 Reprint of 1955 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This collection of essays reprints seven articles or lectures written by Suzuki beginning in 1906. The are: The Zen Sect of Buddhism Zen Buddhism An Interpretation of Zen-Experience Reason and Intuition in Buddhist Philosophy Zen: A Reply to Dr. Hu Shih Mondo The Role of Nature in Zen Buddhism Index

"Extraordinary Zen Masters: A Maverick, a Master of Masters, and a Wandering Poet" tells the life stories of Ikkyu (1394-1481), Hakuin (1686-1768), and Ryokan (1758-1831). Each was an outstanding figure who manifested Zen in his own way. Ikkyu was unconventional and uncompromising, a relentless enemy of the sham and hypocrisy that pervaded the religious circles of his day. Hakuin underwent a lengthy and strenuous apprenticeship to become a Master Teacher of Zen, training hundreds of disciples and insisting that they endure the same trials and surmount the same massive barriers that he had. Ryokan, in contrast, was a gentle, self-effacing recluse who never became an abbot but lived in quiet hermitages, savoring nature and writing poetry. All three were artists of the highest order, employing brush, ink, and paper as a means of transmitting Zen teachings and creating unique works of art.

These are three of the greatest Zen masters in history-each unique, each an outstanding artist, and each a teacher of future generations. The biographies of these three men, in one volume, constitute an enlivening reading experience, full of insight on leading a meaningful life.

John Stevens lived in Japan for thirty-five years, where he was a professor of Buddhist studies at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. Stevens is a widely respected translator, an ordained Buddhist priest, a curator of several major exhibitions of Zen art, and an aikido instructor. He has authored more than thirty books and is one of the foremost Western experts on aikido, holding a ranking of 7th dan Aikikai. Stevens has also studied calligraphy for decades, authoring the classic "Sacred Calligraphy of the East." Other John Stevens titles that are likely to be of interest include "The Philosophy of Aikido, " and "The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei.""

The object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view of life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism, which is generally taken as Buddhism by Westerners, to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the spiritual life of modern Japan.

Traditionally in China and Japan, drinking a cup of tea would offer the opportunity for contemplation, meditation, and an elevation of mind and spirit. This text distils what is singular and precious about tea culture, and explores the fascinating connection between Zen and tea drinking.

Much of the teaching many Buddhists receive doesn't really get to the core of our suffering. After years of practice, nothing much really changes. As the 17th century Zen Master Benkei said, "the feeling I get is that of scratching an itchy foot with my shoe on. The teachings don't strike home to the center, to the real marrow." Scratching the Itch: Getting to the Root of Our Suffering seeks to do just that. Scratching the Itch is based on teaching received from two Vietnamese Zen monks. They faced the power of our ego...the source of all our suffering...head on and urged us to surrender our ego to our true Buddha nature. Recognizing the difficulty of doing this, they developed a rigorous teaching, which I explain and expand upon in light of my personal practical experience of walking the path. The resulting teaching I call "The Fourfold Path to Freedom." While enlightenment may not be a very practical goal for most of us walking the Buddhist path, attaining a state in our practice that is close to enlightenment...and experiencing the peace and contentment that flows from that state...is a goal that every person committed to the path can attain.

WALK LIKE A MOUNTAIN is the definitive guide to walking as Buddhist practice, not just for the serious practitioner but for anyone who wants to bring more contemplative depth to their everyday walks. From kinhin during zazen sessions to pilgrimage and beyond, this handbook offers the "how-to" with clarity and insight. Posture, hand positions and foot mechanics are merely the beginning. Other topics that are addressed in this comprehensive book include: Preparations and aids Prayer walking Purification and dedication Kaihogyo (marathon contemplative walking) Leading a walking practice Walking for change Walking as daily life Walking the symbolic landscape Alms rounds Mandalas Circumambulation Labyrinths Walking Nembutsu Alternatives in contemplative walking. Innen Ray Parchelo has studied, taught and practiced Buddhism for more than 40 years and acts as both the Priest to the Red Maple Sangha and Director of Tendai Canada. He began his formal dharma practice in 1974 and has been a member of several Buddhist centres, first taking refuge in 1994. In 2008, he renewed his refuge- vows as a student of Ven. Monshin Paul Naamon, and, in 2010, was ordained a Tendai priest. Innen is has lived and worked as a clinical social worker in the Ottawa Valley since 1975. He regularly uses walking and mindfulness techniques in a social work setting. He has degrees in Comparative Religion and Social Work and has published general and scholarly articles on dharma and social work topics and is a popular conference speaker. He is the regular Buddhist contributor to the Ottawa Citizen's "Ask the Religion Experts" column. He and his wife, Judy, live with their three dogs in a old log schoolhouse, near Renfrew, Ontario.

2012 Reprint of 1956 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The "Book of Tea" by Okakura Kakuz is a long essay linking the role of tea (Teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English Tea classics. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuz argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters. This edition contains a new forward and a biographical sketch augmenting the original 1906 edition.

"This may sound strange" is Christopher Taylor's second collection of poetry. It brings together a wide range of poems that are always in motion - in sound and subject, in image and tone. Simple in syntax, these poems remain in the reader's mind long after the book is closed and set aside.

This classic Zen Buddhist collection of 49 koans with commentary by Mumon was originally published in 1934, and later included in Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki's popular anthology Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Due to non-renewal it is currently in the public domain in the US (although other parts of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones are not).