This book is a collection of ten shorts talks on Buddhism by Japanese Zen Master Gudo Nishijima. In the first part, Master Nishijima talks about his theory of three philosophies and one reality - his interpretation of Gautama Buddha's Four Noble Truths. Each talk is followed by a lively discussion and questions and answers. The second part contains translations of three talks given by Master Nishijima on NHK Radio in Japan in 1994. The talks are titled: Buddhism & Action, Action & Daily Life, and Buddhism & Zazen. ..".If we look at the many Sutras written about the Buddha's realization we can conclude that he reached that viewpoint or state because he revered action. Action cannot exist at any other time or place than the present moment here and now. Another way of looking at this is in terms of past, present and future: no matter what mistakes we have made in the past, although we may regret them, we can never return to the past to put things right. At the same time, although we want to attain our dream or reach some aim in the future, we can never go into the future to reach our dream or aim. But if we look at life as centered on acting, we see that we can only really exist in the present. We can never return to the past, and we cannot go into the future. This is the essence of what Gautama Buddha taught-real existence is the present moment..."

Buddhist masters of the past have explained the relationship between Buddhist theory and the Truth by way of a simple metaphor. The Truth, they say, is like the distant moon. Ideas, theories, and explanations are merely fingers pointing at that far-away goal. They are not, and can never be, the moon itself. So this book is one such finger, a finger pointing at the moon, but the moon itself can be touched by you alone... The Buddhism which emerges from To Meet the Real Dragon is Buddhism for real people: ordinary human beings with ordinary human problems. It is humanistic Zen--Zen for human beings. Here are a few of the topics covered by this very readable book: What is Religion, Meeting a True Master, Master Dogen, Science and Buddhism, Idealism and Materialism, Gautama Buddha, The Four Noble Truths, The Transmission of the Truth, Cause and Effect, Not Doing Wrong, Action: The Center of Buddhism, Zazen, The Four Philosophies.

Translation of selected essays from Shobogenzo, the masterpiece written by Dogen, the 13th-century Japanese philosopher and religious figure.

Zen and the Art of Sleep offers a surprising discovery for insomniacs. The problem isn't sleep. The problem is trying to capture and control sleep. Readers new to Zen Buddhism are gently guided down this reflective path. Along the way, emotional baggage and misguided endeavors that feed insomnia fade away. Each chapter builds upon previous insights and ends with Zen Practice exercises that reveal awake and asleep to be part of the same moving stream. Unblocking that flow allows the inevitable bedtime moment of drowsiness, a moment not so different from any other, to proceed naturally and without effort. Illustrated by Zen artist Andy Lee.

The power and simplicity of the Korean Zen tradition shine in this collection of teachings by a renowned modern master, translated by Martine Batchelor. Kusan Sunim provides a wealth of practical advice for students, particularly with regard to the uniquely Korean practice of "hwadu," or sitting with questioning. An extensive introduction by Stephen Batchelor, author of "Buddhism without Beliefs," provides both a biography of the author and a brief history of Korean Zen.

In this treasury of Zen wisdom based on his talks, the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York, explores the eight areas of study that are the focus for training in his community: meditation, study with the teacher, liturgy, art practice, body practice, the study of scriptures, work practice, and the moral and ethical teachings. John Daido Loori also covers such topics as koans, the martial arts, and illness and healing, and he makes intriguing observations about the spirit and requirements of Zen in America.

When Roshi Philip Kapleau returned to the United States in 1966, after thirteen years of training in Japan with two of the country's greatest masters of Zen, he "did not come home empty-handed -- he brought us a living word of Zen," Kenneth Kraft has said. The first Westerner fully and naturally at home with Zen, Roshi Kapleau has made it his life's work to translate Zen Buddhism into an American idiom, to take Zen's essence and plant it in American soil. Four decades later, the seeds of Zen that Roshi Kapleau planted have blossomed. Zen flourishes and Roshi Kapleau continues to help people find enlightenment and fulfillment "within, " not outside, their daily lives. "True awakening," Roshi Kapleau has said, "is not a 'high' that keeps one in the clouds of an abstract oneness, but a realization that brings one solidly down to earth into the world of toil and struggle."

Kapleau has written a number of books in his lifetime, "The Three Pillars of Zen" the most well known among them, but the heart of his work, his teachings to his students, has never before been made available. "Awakening to Zen" extracts the vital threads of Roshi Kapleau's teachings and braids them into a strong yet supple cord that readers may follow toward a deeper understanding of the enlightened life. Roshi Kapleau's warm, sometimes humorous but always grounded lessons touch on every aspect of daily reality; they capture his power, too, to transform the lives of not just practicing Buddhists, but all people who seek to experience in a more authentic way the bond they share with the world around them. One way or another, Roshi Kapleau has spent the past forty-three years of his life helping make Zen practice and its fruits accessible to anyone of sincere intent. "Awakening to Zen" offers a crucial and never-before-published aspect of his life's work.

"The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation" is a classic Buddhist meditation instruction manual deeply rooted in the Indian Buddhist "calming-and-insight" meditation tradition. Within its tradition, it is the universally-acknowledged standard beginning-to-intermediate meditation manual, one which offers perhaps the most reliable, comprehensive, and practically-useful Buddhist meditation instruction currently available in English. The author of "The Essentials" is the sixth-century monk and meditation master, Shramana Zhiyi (Chih-i), one of the most illustrious figures in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Master Zhiyi is famous for his role in the founding of the Tiantai teachings lineage and for his authorship of a quartet of meditation manuals of which this is one. The translator of this volume is the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a translator of numerous classic works from the Indian and Chinese Buddhist traditions.

It's easy to regard time as a commodity--we even speak of "saving" or "spending" it. We often regard it as an enemy, when we feel it slipping away before we're ready for time to be up. The Zen view of time is radically different than that: time is not something separate from our life; rather, our life "is" time. Understand this, says Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and you can live fully and freely right where you are in each moment.
Katagiri bases his teaching on "Being Time," a text by the most famous of all Zen masters, Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), to show that time is a creative, dynamic process that continuously produces the universe and everything in it--and that to understand this is to discover a gateway to freedom from the dissatisfactions of everyday life. He guides us in contemplating impermanence, the present moment, and the ungraspable nature of past and future. He discusses time as part of our inner being, made manifest through constant change in ourselves and our surroundings. And these ideas are by no means metaphysical abstractions: they can be directly perceived by any of us through meditation.

IN THICH NHAT HANH'S MOST EXCITING and provocative book in years, he offers a dramatic vision of the future of our planet and links his contemplation of environmental destruction to the Buddhist teachings of interconnectedness and the impermanence of all things. Rather than seeing impermanence as an excuse for disengaging from the world, he argues passionately that engaging with the world is the key to our individual and collective survival. The World We Have is above all a hopeful book. Thich Nhat Hanh offers a clear vision of the road ahead and models conviction and courage that we will need to stay on that path.

This 20th anniversary edition of Thich Nhat Hanh's classic commentary offers new insights into one of the Buddha's most important teachings. According to the Anapanasati Sutra, maintaining awareness of our breathing is a means of awakening to the true nature of all things and arriving at spiritual liberation. Breathe, You Are Alive! outlines the Buddha's exercises of conscious breathing along with commentaries and further exercises for daily life. Thich Nhat Hanh gently walks the reader through a progression of exercises that focus on the physical, mental, and spiritual planes. This new edition includes Thich Nhat Hanh's most recent commentaries.

Based on a series of dharma talks, Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains explores the life of passionate commitment that lies at the heart of the formal practice of Zen meditation. Reb Anderson draws on over 30 years of experience as a Zen priest with stories covering a range of topics and concerns, from what it feels like to be a father, to the simple task of cleaning up a desk. At once inspirational and practical, Anderson bows to an ancient tradition as he helps to forge a modern-day Buddhism that urges us "to sit still in the middle of all living beings." This third edition adds two new chapters: "Suzuki Roshi's Teaching on Shikantaza" and "September 11: Letting Go of Hatred."

The Universe for Breakfast chronicles a journey of transformation in verse. Joy Magezis has been ordained as a member of the Core Community of the Order of Interbeing, established by Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. She was part of his official delegation to Vietnam, when Thich Nhat Hanh returned after 39 years of exile. A series of poems about the trip appear in this collection, as well as poems about her experiences practicing with the Sangha community in Britain and in Plum Village. Joy is an Usui Reiki Master and a UK Reiki Federation Master Teacher Member. She documents her experiences learning, using and teaching Reiki through a number of poems in this book. An international author and college lecturer, Joy's classic Women's Studies text has been translated into various languages including Russian and Chinese. Her novels have been published in both English and German

"An opportunity to peer even more deeply into Suzuki Roshi's Zen mind and ponder the true meaning and value of recognizing the non-dual in our ordinary lives. The repartee with his students is by itself a great and unexpected gift, reviving that charming voice and warm wisdom we grew to know and love so well through "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"--Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of "Wherever You Go, There You Are and coauthor of "Everyday Blessings

"Suzuki Roshi's gentle wisdom shines through these intimate talks on the Sandokai. I am grateful to Mel Weitsman and Michael Wenger for their labor of love."--Robert Aitken, author of "Taking the Path of Zen and Original Dwelling Place

"Buddhists and lovers of Buddhism who have read and reread Suzuki Roshi's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind over the years, as well as those who are just discovering the wisdom of this wonderful, profound teacher for the first time, will welcome this new book of lectures on Zen training as a gift we did not expect to receive. "Branching Streams should be read slowly and savored."--Rita M. Gross, author of "Buddhism After Patriarchy

"Through the poetry of knowing and doing, Shunryu Suzuki points out a path of practical wisdom for Americans today, in a voice so close at hand it can touch their inner experience of the interdependence of existence, open their ears to hear its harmony of difference and sameness, and awaken their willingness to be true to its mystery."--Stephen Tipton, co-author of "Habits of the Heart

"A wonderful manifestation of Suzuki Roshi's fresh insights and teachings--small, pithy, wild nuts delicious to anyone who chooses to taste them."--Peter Matthiessen "Muryo Roshi," author of "Sal Si Puedes(Escape If You Can)

Ruth Fuller Sasaki, who died in 1967, was a pivotal figure in the emergence and development of Zen Buddhism in the United States. She is the only Westerner--and the only woman--to be made a priest of a Daitoku-ji temple and was mentor to Burton Watson, Philip Yampolsky, and Gary Snyder, and mother-in-law of Alan Watts. This is the first biography of her remarkable life.
Few devoted their lives to Zen Buddhism as Ruth Fuller did. As a senior student of Sokei-an Sasaki in New York, Ruth helped him develop the infrastructure of what would eventually become The First Zen Institute in New York City. She married Sasaki in 1944, and it was her mission to maintain The First Zen Institute and later, to establish The First Zen Institute of America in Japan. Her legacy remains today in the Zen facilities she helped build in New York and abroad and in the many texts she saw through translation, published from the 1950s to the 1970s. For the first time in book form, three of her writings are included here--"Zen: A Religion", "Zen: A Method for Religious Awakening", and "Rinzai Zen Study for Foreigners in Japan".

Zen is famous for koans (called kong-ans in Korean, and in this book), those bizarre and seemingly unanswerable questions Zen masters pose to their students to check their realization (such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"). Fear of koans keeps some people from ever giving Zen practice a try. But here, through the experience of seeing a modern Zen master work with his students, you can see what koan training is really like: It's a skillful, lively practice for attaining wisdom.This book presents the system of ten koans that Zen Master Seung Sahn came to call the "Ten Gates." These koans represent the basic types one will encounter in any course of study. Each of the ten gates, or koans, is illuminated by actual interchanges between Zen Master Seung Sahn and his students that show what the practice is all about: it is above all a process of coming to trust one's own wisdom, and of manifesting that wisdom in every koan-like situation life presents us with.
For more information on the author, Zen Master Seung Sahn, visit his website at www.kwanumzen.com.

This translation, supported by the Japan Foundation, makes a strong claim to be the definitive translation of the 95 chapter edition of Shobogenzo, the essential Japanese Buddhist text, written in the 13th century by Zen Master Dogen. The translation adheres closely to the original Japanese, with a clear style and extensive annotations. Book 1 presents translations of twenty-one chapters of Shobogenzo including Genjo-koan (The Realized Universe), Soku-shin-ze-butsu (Mind Here & Now is Buddha), Uji (Existence-Time), and Sansuigyo (The Sutra of Mountains & Water). Its several reference sections include a Chinese/English appendix of references to the Lotus Sutra, and an extensive Sanskrit glossary. 'At last I visited Zen Master Nyojo of Dai-byaku-ho mountain, and there I was able to complete the great task of a lifetime of practice. After that, at the beginning of the great Sung era of Shojo, I came home determined to spread the Dharma and to save living beings, it was as if a heavy burden had been placed on my shoulders....I will leave this record to people who learn in practice and are easy in the truth, so that they can know the right Dharma of the Buddha's lineage. This may be a true mission.'

This translation, supported by the Japan Foundation, makes a strong claim to be the definitive translation of the 95 chapter edition of Shobogenzo, the essential Japanese Buddhist text, written in the 13th century by Zen Master Dogen. Shobogenzo Book 4, the final book in this four volume set, contains chapters 73 to 95, plus two additional chapters in the Appendices. Well-known chapters include Dai Shugyo (Great Practice); Shukke (Transcending Family Life); and Shoji (Life and Death). Book 4 maintains the highest standards of translation, with a clear style that rigorously follows the original words of Master Dogen.

This translation, supported by the Japan Foundation, makes a strong claim to be the definitive translation of the 95 chapter edition of Shobogenzo, the essential Japanese Buddhist text, written in the 13th century by Zen Master Dogen. Following Shobogenzo Books 1 and 2, the third book in this four-volume set contains chapters 42 to 72 from the 95-chapter edition, including: Tsuki (The Moon); Kuge (Flowers in Space); Mujo Seppo (All Things and Phenomena Preach Dharma); Kajo (Daily Life); and Zanmai-O-Zanmai (Samadhi, King of Samadhis). Book 3 maintains the highest standards of translation, with a clear style that rigorously follows the original words of Master Dogen. 'The first Patriarch, the Venerable Bodhidharma, after arriving from the west, passed nine years facing the wall at Shorin-ji temple on Shoshitsu-ho peak in the Sugaku mountains, sitting in Zazen in the lotus posture. From that time through to today, brains and eyes have pervaded China. The lifeblood of the first Patriarch is only the practice of sitting in the full lotus posture.'