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Following his translation of just over half the original text in
2014, Norman Waddell presents the complete teaching record of Zen
master Hakuin, now available in English with extensive
explanations, notes, and even the wry, helpful comments that
students attending Hakuin's lectures inscribed in their copies of
the text With this volume, Norman Waddell completes his acclaimed
translation of the teaching record of one of the greatest Zen
masters of all time, Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1769). Hakuin lived at a
time when Japanese Buddhism as a whole and his own Rinzai sect in
particular were at low ebb. Through tremendous force of character
and creative energy, he initiated a reform movement that swept the
country, and today, all Rinzai Zen masters trace their lineage
through him. This outcome is all the more extraordinary because
Hakuin's base of operations was a small temple in the country town
of Hara, where he grew up, not in one of the nation's political,
cultural, or commercial centers. This book represents the first
full publication of the Keiso Dokuzui in any foreign language.
Inspired by the enthusiastic reception that greeted his 2014
selections from the text, Waddell returned to work and now gives us
the opportunity to examine the entirety of Hakuin's record and to
benefit as never before from the example and instruction of this
exuberant personality and remarkable teacher. Poison Blossoms
contains a highly diverse set of materials: formal and informal
presentations to monastic and lay disciples, poems, practice
instructions, inscriptions for paintings, comments on koans,
letters, and funeral orations. While most items are brief, easily
read in a quick sitting, the book also includes extended
commentaries on the Heart Sutra, one of Mahayana Buddhism's central
texts; on the famously difficult Five Ranks of Tung-shan; and on
the accomplishments of his eminent predecessor Gudo Toshoku. Having
devoted himself for more than three decades to the study and
translation of Hakuin's works, Norman Waddell is peerless when it
comes to conveying into English the vital, sometimes elegant, often
earthy voice of this outstanding teacher. His command of the
subject enables Waddell to elucidate the vast array of idioms and
images that Hakuin employed to enliven his poetry and
prose-historical and mythological elements, street slang, doctrinal
and cultural allusions that would otherwise place these writings
beyond the grasp of anyone but a specialist. Waddell's five
previous Hakuin translations, each important in its own right, can
now be recognized as stepping stones to this towering achievement.
"Enlightenment Unfolds" is a sequel to Kaz Tanahashi's previous
collection, "Moon in a Dewdrop," which has become a primary source
on Dogen for Western Zen students. Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is
unquestionably the most significant religious figure in Japanese
history. Founder of the Soto school of Zen (which emphasizes the
practice of "zazen" or sitting meditation), he was a prolific
writer whose works have remained popular for six hundred years.
"Enlightenment Unfolds" presents even more of the incisive and
inspiring writings of this seminal figure, focusing on essays from
his great life work, "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye," as well as
poems, talks, and correspondence, much of which appears here in
English for the first time.
Tanahashi has brought together his own translations of Dogen with
those of some of the most respected Zen teachers and writers of our
own day, including Reb Anderson, Edward Espe Brown, Norman Fisher,
Gil Fronsdal, Blanche Hartman, Jane Hirschfield, Daniel Leighton,
Alan Senauke, Katherine Thanas, Mel Weitzman, and Michael Wenger.
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