In "Infinite Circle, "one of America's most distinctive Zen teachers takes a back-to-basics approach to Zen. Glassman illuminates three key teachings of Zen Buddhism, offering line-by-line commentary in clear, direct language:
1. " The Heart Sutra: "the Buddha's essential discourse on emptiness, a central sutra of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
2. "The Identity of Relative and Absolute": an eighth-century poem by Shih-t'ou His-ch'ien, a key text of the Soto Zen school.
3. The Zen precepts: the rules of conduct for laypeople and monks.

His commentaries are based on workshops he gave as Abbot of the Zen Community of New York, and they contain within them the principles that became the foundation for the Greyston Mandala of community development organizations and the Zen Peacemaker Order.

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."

CLASSIC ZEN TEXT THAT INCLUDES THE ESSENCE OF INNER BEING AND MEDITATION

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.

Koans are enigmatic spiritual formulas used for religious training in the Zen Buddhist tradition. Arguing that our understanding of the koan tradition has been extremely limited, contributors to this collection examine previously unrecognized factors in the formation of this tradition, and highlight the rich complexity and diversity of koan practice and literature.

This is the first detailed English-language study of the Obaku branch of Japanese Zen. Beginning with the founding of the sect in Japan by Chinese monks in the seventeenth century, the volume describes the conflicts and maneuverings within the Buddhist and secular communities that led to the emergence of Obaku as a distinctive institution during the early Tokugawa period. Throughout the author explores a wide range of texts and includes excerpts from important primary documents such as the Zenrin shuheishu and the Obaku geki, translated here for the first time. She provides an impressive portrait of the founding Chinese leadership and the first generation of Japanese converts, whose work enabled the fledgling sect to grow and take its place beside existing branches of the closely related Rinzai Zen sect. Obaku's distinctive Chinese practices and characteristics set it apart from its Japanese counterparts. In an innovative investigation of these differences, the author uses techniques derived from the contemporary study of new religious movements in the West to explain both Obaku's successes and failures in its relations with other Japanese Buddhist sects. She illuminates the role of government support in the initial establishment of the main monastery, Mampuku-ji, and the ongoing involvement of the bakufu and the imperial family in Obaku's early development. Hers is a thorough and well-governed analysis that brings to the fore a religious movement that has been much neglected in Japanese and Western scholarship despite its tremendous influence on modern Japanese Buddhism as a whole.

Koans are enigmatic spiritual formulas used for religious training in the Zen Buddhist tradition. This innovative religious practice is one of the most distinctive elements of this tradition, which originated in medieval China and spread to Japan and Korea. Perhaps no dimension of Asian religious has attracted so much interest in the West, and its influence is apparent from beat poetry to deconstructive literary critisism. The essays collected in this volume argue that our understanding of the Koan tradition has been severely limited. The authors try to undermine stereotypes and problematic interpretations by examining previously unrecognized factors in the formation of the tradition, and by highlighting the rich complexity and remarkable diversity of Koan practice and literature.

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"

In this study, based on both historical evidence and ethnographic data, Paula Arai shows that nuns were central agents in the foundation of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century. They were active participants in the Soto Zen sect, and have continued to contribute to the advancement of the sect to the present day. Drawing on her fieldwork among the Soto nuns, Arai demonstrates that the lives of many of these women embody classical Buddhist ideals. They have chosen to lead a strictly disciplined monastic life over against successful careers and the unconstrained contemporary secular lifestyle. In this, and other respects, they can be shown to stand in stark contrast to their male counterparts.

This book is the first to engage Zen Buddhism philosophically on crucial issues from a perspective that is informed by the traditions of Western philosophy and religion. It focuses on one renowned Zen master, Huang Po, whose recorded sayings exemplify the spirit of the "golden age" of Zen in medieval China, and on the transmission of these writings to the West. While deeply sympathetic to the Zen tradition, it raises serious questions about the kinds of claims that can be made on its behalf.

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.

The principles of Zen philosophy have been applied to professions as varied as motorcycle maintenance and baseball. In "The Quest for Self" author Takeshi Iizuka shows how he has himself applied Zen principles in business. Iizuka starts from the realization that life is but a single existence, and this leads to his reflections about how best we should live our lives. Iizuka teaches a management style that does not stand in conflict with the fulfilled and meaningful life that is based on Zen principles. Drawing on both eastern and western philosophies, "The Quest for Self" strives to help others find meaning and purpose in life and business.

A modern and compelling analysis of the manner in which Zen Buddhism's ideals were reified in samurai swordsmanship throughout history. A thoughtful religious history and cultural critique of ancient and modern day Japan.

This book examines the heart of the samurai ethos known as the `cult of the sword' and its relationship to Zen Buddhism. Surveying the origins of the warrior class, the ancient traditions of swords and swordmaking, Zen meditation techniques, and aspects of the Japanese martial arts, King reveals how this surprising alliance came about, and its implications for Japanese society.

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

The author, one of the foremost writers in the history of religions, intended this book to be the starting point for those searching for a personal religious experience and begins with an examination of the nature of mystical states and their differentiation from drug-induced states. He proceeds to the question of whether there is religious experience to either state. He offers those impatient with a traditional Christianity alternate routes to explore, by examining Zen, the Upanishads, Huxley, Bonhoeffer, Leary, Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and commenting upon each with his ascerbic wit. This reprint of the 1972 American edition published by Pantheon contains a new foreword by one of Zaehner's former Oxford students, William L. Newell.

Spiritual practice is not some kind of striving to produce enlightenment, but an "expression" of the enlightenment already inherent in all things: Such is the Zen teaching of Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) whose profound writings have been studied and revered for more than seven hundred years, influencing practitioners far beyond his native Japan and the Soto school he is credited with founding. In focusing on Dogen's most practical words of instruction and encouragement for Zen students, this new collection highlights the timelessness of his teaching and shows it to be as applicable to anyone today as it was in the great teacher's own time. Selections include Dogen's famous meditation instructions; his advice on the practice of "zazen, " or sitting meditation; guidelines for community life; and some of his most inspirational talks. Also included are a bibliography and an extensive glossary.

In Zen Buddhism, the concept of freedom is of profound importance. And yet, until now there has been no in-depth study of the manifestation of this liberated attitude in the lives and artwork of Edo period Zen monk-painters. This book explores the playfulness and free-spirited attitude reflected in the artwork of two prominent Japanese Zen monk-painters: Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) and Sengai Gibon (1750-1837). The free attitude emanating from their paintings is one of the qualities which distinguish Edo period Zen paintings from those of earlier periods. These paintings are part of a Zen ink painting tradition that began following the importation of Zen Buddhism from China at the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185-1333). In this study, Aviman elaborates on the nature of this particular artistic expression and identifies its sources, focusing on the lives of the monk-painters and their artwork. The author applies a multifaceted approach, combining a holistic analysis of the paintings, i.e. as interrelated combination of text and image, with a contextualization of the works within the specific historical, art historical, cultural, social and political environments in which they were created.

This title explains how to live your life genuinely, honestly, and happily in the face of the inevitable difficulties that arise. Ezra Bayda is the kind of Zen teacher whose teaching works for just about anyone - you don't need to practice Zen to get it. In this book he focuses on how to live a life of honesty, integrity, and compassion - providing practical advice for doing that in the midst of the difficulties that are 100 percent certain to arise. It's not only possible to live an authentic life in the midst of them - it's the only place an authentic life can ever be lived

Beyond Zen: D. T. Suzuki and the Modern Transformation of Buddhism is an accessible collection of multidisciplinary essays, which offer a genuinely new appraisal of the great Zen scholar-practitioner, D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966). Suzuki's writings and lectures continue to exert a profound influence on how Zen, Buddhism more broadly, and indeed Japanese culture as a whole, are understood in the U.S., Europe, and across the globe. With the publication of Beyond Zen, we have at last in a single volume a comprehensive assessment of Suzuki that locates him and his legacy in the context of the turbulent age in which he lived. Now is the perfect moment for reflection and stock-taking. The fiftieth anniversary of Suzuki's death passed just a few years ago, the copyright on his literary output has expired, and his selected works have recently been published by a major American university press. The work comprises twelve essays by some of the best Zen scholars in the world, Anglophone and Japanese, seasoned and young. They take a fresh look at Suzuki, his life and legacy, and their themes range broadly. Readers will find here explorations of Suzuki as he engaged with Zen and Mahayana Buddhism; nationalism and international relations; war and peace; religion, literature, and the media; the individual and society; and family, friends, and animals. Beyond Zen is structured chronologically to reveal the development in Suzuki's thought during his long and eventful life. All in all, this collection offers a compelling, provocative, and multidimensional reappraisal of an extraordinary man and his times.

Koshiki (Buddhist ceremonials) belong to a shared ritual repertoire of Japanese Buddhism that began with Tendai Pure Land belief in the late tenth century and spread to all Buddhist schools, including Soto Zen in the thirteenth century. In Memory, Music, Manuscripts, Michaela Mross elegantly combines the study of premodern manuscripts and woodblock prints with ethnographic fieldwork to illuminate the historical development of the highly musical koshiki rituals performed by Soto Zen clerics. She demonstrates how ritual change is often shaped by factors outside the ritual context per se--by, for example, institutional interests, evolving biographic images of eminent monks, or changes in the cultural memory of a particular lineage. Her close study of the fascinating world of koshiki in Soto Zen sheds light on Buddhism as a lived religion and the interplay of ritual, doctrine, literature, collective memory, material culture, and music. Mross highlights in particular the importance of the sonic dimension in rituals. Scholars of Buddhist and ritual studies have largely overlooked the soundscapes of rituals despite the importance of music for many ritual specialists and the close connection between the acquisition of ritual expertise and learning to vocalize sacred texts or play musical instruments. Indeed, Soto clerics strive to perfect their vocal skills and view koshiki and the singing of liturgical texts as vital Zen practices and an expression of buddhahood--similar to seated meditation. Innovative and groundbreaking, Memory, Music, Manuscripts is the first in-depth study of koshiki in Zen Buddhism and the first monograph in English on this influential liturgical genre. A companion website featuring video recordings of selected koshiki performances is available at https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/dq109wp7548.