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Samurai Zen: The Warrior Koans brings together 100 of the rare riddles which represent the core spiritual discipline of Japan's ancient Samurai tradition. Dating from thirteenth-century records of Japan's Kamakura temples, and traditionally guarded with a reverent secrecy, they reflect the earliest manifestation of pure Zen in Japan. Created by Zen Masters for their warrior pupils, the Japanese Koans use incidents from everyday life - a broken tea-cup, a water-jar, a cloth - to bring the warrior pupils of the Samurai to the Zen realization. Their aim is to enable a widening of concsiouness beyond the illusions of the limited self, and a joyful inspiration in life - a state that has been compared to being free under a blue sky after imprisonment.
SAMURAI ZEN: the Warrior Koans brings together 100 of the rare riddles which represent the core spiritual discipline of Japan's ancient Samurai tradition. Dating from the thirteenth-century these records of Japan's Kamakura temples, are traditionally guarded with a secrecy, and they reflect the earliest manifestation of pure Zen in Japan. Created by Zen Masters for their warrior pupils the Japanese koans use incidents from everyday life - a broken tea-cup, a water-jar, a cloth - to bring the warrior pupils of the Samurai to the Zen realization.
This book, first published in 1994, brings together the rich and
complementary traditions of yoga and Zen. The lessons they contain
serve always to guide and inform, never to lecture or preach. From
accounts of long-ago kings and sages to stories of contemporary
businessmen and students come timeless, universal precepts that
speak directly to the modern reader.
When Zen Buddhism crossed from China to Japan in the twelfth
century, it entered a phase of development that was not only to
inspire a magnificent range of artistic achievement but also to
exert a tremendous influence upon Japanese life itself and,
eventually, to bring to the attention of the West a religious
philosophy both unique and challenging in its power. 'Yet', as one
of the contributors to this book (first published in 1960)
expresses it, 'if asked what Zen is, to reply is very difficult.'
It is the purpose of this anthology to suggest an approach to such
a reply. The texts here translated will give a general idea of Zen
theory and practice, and are outstanding selections from the
treasury of Zen literature. To these, the anthologist has added a
valuable 'Note on the Ways', in which he points out how 'the
student keeps his Zen practice in touch with his daily life'. The
exceptional interest of the text is further enhanced by twenty
illustrative plates.
Expression of Zen inspiration in everyday activities such as
writing or serving tea, and in knightly arts such as fencing, came
to be highly regarded in the Japanese tradition. In the end some of
them were practised as spiritual training as themselves; they were
the n called 'Ways'. This book, first published in 1978, includes
translations of some rare texts on Zen and the Ways. One is a
sixteenth-century Zen text complied from Kamakura temple records of
the previous three centuries; others are translated from the
'secret scrolls' of fencing, archery, Judo and so on.
The Japanese texts translated here give a fascinating picture of
actual Zen life - the life of the traditional temple training, with
many stories and a number of historical incidents connected with
Zen masters. The main text is the important commentary by a
contemporary Soto Zen abbot on the Heart Sutra - the shortest and
most difficult sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. Then comes a translation
of the Yasen Kanna, a short autobiographical piece by Hakuin, the
Japanese Zen teacher, monk and poet who revitalized Rinzai Zen in
the eighteenth century. The remaining texts show what Zen means in
Japan today.
Every page of this profoundly erudite book is written with
compelling insight. There are five sections, each reflecting in
depth a different emphasis by a particular Master or School of Zen.
The most important section is the first, an inspired and inspiring
commentary on a sutra considered by some to be the very kernel of
Mahayana Buddhism: the Heart Sutra.
In this volume, Trevor Leggett presents three texts translated from
Japanese and compiled to illuminate the three ages of Zen in Japan:
the warrior Zen of crisis and war in the thirteenth century; the
feudal Zen of eighteenth-century samurai officials and finally the
modern Zen found in 20th-century Japan.
Originally published in 1978, Zen and the Ways is the first
publication in a series of books published by the Buddhist Society
in association with the Trevor Leggett Trust. In Japanese Zen,
every activity in life, including the martial arts, flower
arrangement and serving tea, are considered a field for practicing
inner control, mediation and inspiration, and can be termed the
'Way' when practised in this manner. In this book, Leggett collects
together translation of texts relating to this phenomenon and
offers his own thoughts and observations on the subject.
When Zen Buddhism crossed from China to Japan in the twelfth
century, it entered a phase of development that was not only to
inspire a magnificent range of artistic achievement but also to
exert a tremendous influence upon Japanese life itself and,
eventually, to bring to the attention of the West a religious
philosophy both unique and challenging in its power. First
published in 1960, the purpose of this anthology is to suggest an
approach to answering the perennial question 'What is Zen?'.
Trevor Leggett examines and discusses the issues raised in this
Hindu book of law as it pertains to the notion of yogic practice
leading to the realisation of the Universal Self ( tman-br hman),
closely referencing the great Indian sage Shankara.
This book, first published in 1982, collects a fascinating
selection from the many traditional Japanese and Indian stories
used by teachers in the Eastern spiritual schools to assist
students in their training. The author, who spent many years
training in both yoga and Zen, has collected the stories from a
variety of sources: conversations with teachers, reminiscences in
temple magazines of teachers of the past, folk tales used to make a
training point, and personal experiences of training. The stories
often relate to incidents from ordinary life: a monk in a Buddhist
temple attacking another and how the abbot reacts; what an Indian
judge, a yogin, says to a thief who pleads that what he did was the
will of god; a magnificent new altar-cloth is donated, but never
used; or an enthusiast for service sweeps the garden in the early
morning while others stay in bed. These are incidents round which a
student's doubts are likely to crystalize, and knowledge of them
forms an important part of the background of a tradition. The aim
of the stories is to find realization and inspiration in daily
life. They are ordinary, but the traditional presentation given by
Trevor Leggett catches at the heart of an attentive reader and
reveals something of the inner lines of the currents of life. The
book includes pictures specially brushed by Jacques Allais in what
is called the Suiboku style. His work has been praised by the doyen
of Japanese Suiboku painters, Nanpu Katayama. Suiboku is eighty
percent suggestion: a Suiboku artist would not show both ends of a
bridge, only one. The style gives a hint for the focusing of
meditation practice, and thus provides a perfect complement to
Trevor Leggett's text.
Learn and master the fascinating game of Japanese Chess or "Shogi"
with this expert guide and chess set. Japanese Chess: The Game of
Shogi is the ultimate strategy guidebook for players of any skill
level to improve their game and winning strategies. Played by
millions around the world, Shogi is the uniquely Japanese variant
of chess. It is the only version in which an opponent's captured
piece can be dropped back onto the board as one's own. This makes
for extremely exciting, dynamic gameplay in which momentum can
quickly shift back and forth between players. Trevor Legett, expert
player and longtime resident of Japan, gives you all the
information you need to play the game, form its basic rules to
winning tactics. Also included in this book are: Sample game and
commentary Discussion of various opening strategies and game
positions Explanation of how to read a Japanese score Fold-out
Shogi board Sturdy paper playing pieces Japanese Chess features
everything you need to get started playing this challenging and fun
game!
Stories, parables, and examples have been a favoured way of
conveying spiritual insights and truths since time immemorial, and
Trevor Leggett was a master at it. He had the knack of pointing out
the spiritual implications of practical events which everyone can
relate to. This volume contains stories based on Buddhism and
referring to martial arts, music, chess and incidents in ordinary
life. He describes this as a freewheeling book: I am trying to give
a few hints which have helped me and which can be of help to
others,' he said. For those who know nothing of Buddhism or Zen in
particular, this is an ideal introduction, but is nevertheless
relevant to long-term practitioners. As the author points out,
occasionally a new slant, a new angle or a new illustration -
especially if it is an unexpected one - can be a help in absorbing
practice, study and devotion. Trevor Leggett (1914-2000) lived for
a considerable time in Japan. He was the first foreigner to obtain
the Sixth Dan (senior teachers degree) in judo from Kodokan and has
written several well-known books on the subject. He has also
written extensively on Zen, including A First Zen Reader, The
Warrior Koans, Zen and the Ways, Yoga and Zen, Fingers and Moons,
and this final work The Old Zen Master.
The well-known Zen Buddhist phrase 'the finger pointing at the
moon' refers to the means and the end, and the possibility of
mistaking one for the other. Trevor Leggett says, 'the forms are
the methods and they are very important as pointing fingers, but if
we forget what they are for and they become, so to speak, the goal
in their own right, then our progress is liable to stop. And if it
stops, it retrogresses.' On the other hand there are those who say
'with considerable pride, "I don't want fingers or methods. I want
to see the moon directly, directly . . . to see the moon directly .
. . no methods or pointing." But in fact they don't see it! It's
easy to say.'With many varied analogies, stories and incidents,
Trevor Leggett points to the truth behind words, behind
explanations and methods. Indeed, the book itself is like 'a finger
pointing at the moon'.
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