Download or read book Hakuin on Kensho written by Albert Low and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2006-09-12 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kensho is the Zen experience of waking up to one’s own true nature—of understanding oneself to be not different from the Buddha-nature that pervades all existence. The Japanese Zen Master Hakuin (1689–1769) considered the experience to be essential. In his autobiography he says: "Anyone who would call himself a member of the Zen family must first achieve kensho-realization of the Buddha’s way. If a person who has not achieved kensho says he is a follower of Zen, he is an outrageous fraud. A swindler pure and simple." Hakuin’s short text on kensho, "Four Ways of Knowing of an Awakened Person," is a little-known Zen classic. The "four ways" he describes include the way of knowing of the Great Perfect Mirror, the way of knowing equality, the way of knowing by differentiation, and the way of the perfection of action. Rather than simply being methods for "checking" for enlightenment in oneself, these ways ultimately exemplify Zen practice. Albert Low has provided careful, line-by-line commentary for the text that illuminates its profound wisdom and makes it an inspiration for deeper spiritual practice.
Download or read book Hakuin on Kensho written by Albert Low and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2006-09-12 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kensho is the Zen experience of waking up to one’s own true nature—of understanding oneself to be not different from the Buddha-nature that pervades all existence. The Japanese Zen Master Hakuin (1689–1769) considered the experience to be essential. In his autobiography he says: “Anyone who would call himself a member of the Zen family must first achieve kensho-realization of the Buddha’s way. If a person who has not achieved kensho says he is a follower of Zen, he is an outrageous fraud. A swindler pure and simple.” Hakuin’s short text on kensho, “Four Ways of Knowing of an Awakened Person,” is a little-known Zen classic. The “four ways” he describes include the way of knowing of the Great Perfect Mirror, the way of knowing equality, the way of knowing by differentiation, and the way of the perfection of action. Rather than simply being methods for “checking” for enlightenment in oneself, these ways ultimately exemplify Zen practice. Albert Low has provided careful, line-by-line commentary for the text that illuminates its profound wisdom and makes it an inspiration for deeper spiritual practice.
Download or read book Kensho written by and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1997-01-21 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kensho is the transformative glimpse of the true nature of all things. It is an experience so crucial in Zen practice that it is sometimes compared to finding an inexhaustible treasure because it reveals the potential that exists in each moment for pure awareness free from the projections of the ego. Among the traditional Zen works are a number of important texts focusing on the profound subtleties of this essential Zen awakening and the methods used in its realization. The selections here are taken from: • Straightforward Explanation of the True Mind, by Korean Zen teacher Chinul (1158-1210), which provides the contextual balance needed to understand kensho by relating it to the broader teachings of the Buddhist scriptures and treatises. • Several works by Japanese Zen master Hakuin (1786-1769), whose teachings emphasize the techniques used in the cultivation and application of kensho and the importance of going beyond the experience itself to apply Zen insight to the full range of human endeavors. • The Book of Ease, a Chinese koan collection from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with commentary showing the practical dimension of classical koan practice. The translator provides extensive introductory notes and detailed commentary on each of the selections to help the reader understand the inner meaning of this essential experience of Zen.
Download or read book The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin written by Hakuin Ekaku and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010-07-13 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fiery and intensely dynamic Zen teacher and artist, Hakuin (1685–1768) is credited with almost single-handedly revitalizing Japanese Zen after three hundred years of decline. As a teacher, he placed special emphasis on koan practice, inventing many new koans himself, including the famous "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" As an artist, Hakuin used calligraphy and painting to create "visual Dharma"—teachings that powerfully express the nature of enlightenment. The text translated here offers an excellent introduction to the work of this extraordinary teacher. Hakuin sets forth his vision of authentic Zen teaching and practice, condemning his contemporaries, whom he held responsible for the decline of Zen, and exhorting his students to dedicate themselves to "breaking through the Zen barrier." Included are reproductions of several of Hakuin’s finest calligraphies and paintings.
Download or read book The Zen Master Hakuin written by Hakuin and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1971 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intoduction to the teachings of Hakuin and the study of Rinzai Zen.
Download or read book Beating the Cloth Drum written by Hakuin and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1769) is one of the most influential figures in Zen Buddhism. He revitalized the Rinzai Zen tradition (which emphasizes the use of koans, or unanswerable questions, in meditation practice), and all masters of that school today trace their lineage back through him. He is responsible for the most famous of all koans: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" He is also famous for his striking and humorous art, which he also regarded as teaching. This book provides a rare, intimate look at Hakuin the man, through his personal correspondence. Beating the Cloth Drum contains twenty-eight of Hakuin's letters to students, political figures, fellow teachers, laypeople, and friends. Each letter is accompanied by extensive commentary and notes. They showcase Hakuin's formidable, thoughtful, and sometimes playful personality—and they show that the great master used every activity, including letter-writing, as an opportunity to impart the teachings that were so close to his heart.
Download or read book Hakuin s Precious Mirror Cave written by Norman Waddell and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two great streams of Zen Buddhism are the Soto sect, known as the School of Silent Illumination, and the Rinzai school of rigorous koan study. Dogen established Soto Zen in Japan, and his work is widely known in the West with many of his books translated into English. Hakuin is credited with the modern revival of the Rinzai sect and is its most important teacher. His life has been a great inspiration to the students and practitioners of Zen in the West, and his writings offer great authority and practical application. Norman Waddell has devoted a large part of his life to translating and publishing work by and about Hakuin. This collection of six diverse and independent works contains five pieces never before translated into English, some of which have been—until quite recently—unknown, even in Japan. A rich and various gathering, the offerings here will be important to seasoned practitioners as well as attractive to newcomers to Zen and spiritual seekers of all faiths.
Download or read book Wild Ivy written by Hakuin Ekaku and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010-07-13 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fiery and intensely dynamic Zen teacher and artist, Hakuin (1685–1768) is credited with almost single-handedly revitalizing Japanese Zen after three hundred years of decline. As a teacher, he placed special emphasis on koan practice, inventing many new koans himself, including the famous "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" This English translation of Hakuin’s intimate self-portrait includes reminiscences from his childhood, accounts of his Zen practice and enlightenment experiences, as well as practical advice for students.
Download or read book Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record written by Thomas Cleary and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2002-12-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Blue Cliff Record is a classic text of Zen Buddhism, designed to assist in the activation of dormant human potential. The core of this extraordinary work is a collection of one hundred traditional citations and stories, selected for their ability to bring about insight and enlightenment. These vignettes are known as gongan in Chinese and koan in Japanese. Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record is a fresh translation featuring newly translated commentary from two of the greatest Zen masters of early modern Japan, Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) of the Rinzai sect of Zen and Tenkei Denson (1648–1735) of the Soto sect of Zen. This translation and commentary on The Blue Cliff Record sheds new light on the meaning of this central Zen text.
Download or read book Practical Zen written by Julian Daizan Skinner and published by Singing Dragon. This book was released on 2017-06-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner guides the reader through a sequence of meditation techniques that can safely lead even a complete novice through to advanced levels. Based on his own long experience of the Rinzai Zen tradition, as taught by the great seventeenth-century masters, Hakuin and Bankei, Daizan highlights the key points for success and addresses the pitfalls. Structured around a traditional teaching framework called "The two wings of a bird," Daizan clearly lays-out how these methods build and combine to create a transformative and sustaining practice. The book contains an extremely useful section describing the experiences of western practitioners who have successfully applied this framework within the pressures of modern life. The final section features key source texts in translation, making the book a complete introduction and guide to Zen meditation. The work of a master, the book speaks at a deep level, with utmost simplicity.
Download or read book To Know Yourself written by Albert Low and published by Boston. : C.E. Tuttle. This book was released on 1997 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albert Low, teacher and director of the Montreal Zen Centre and dharma heir of Roshi Philip Kapleau, here provides an engaging collection of talks, stories, and articles on Zen. Though the entries range from dharma talks on koans to discussions on Buddhism and Christianity, they all address concrete concerns of our lives and reveal the author's profound insights.
Download or read book Hidden Zen written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover hidden practices, secretly transmitted in authentic Zen lineages, of using body, speech, and mind to remove obstructions to awakening. Though Zen is best known for the practices of koan introspection and "just sitting" or shikantaza, there are in fact many other practices transmitted in Zen lineages. In modern practice settings, students will find that Bodhidharma's words "direct pointing at the human mind" are little mentioned, or else taken to be simply a general descriptor of Zen rather than a crucial activity within Zen practice. Reversing this trend toward homogeneous and superficial understandings of Zen technique, Hidden Zen presents a diverse collection of practice instructions that are transmitted orally from teacher to student, unlocking a comprehensive path of awakening. This book reveals and details, for the first time, a treasury of "direct pointing" and internal energy cultivation practices preserved in the Rinzai Zen tradition. The twenty-eight practices of direct pointing offered here illuminate one's innate clarity and, ultimately, the nature of mind itself. Over a dozen practices of internal energetic cultivation galvanize dramatic effects on the depth of one's meditative attainment. Hidden Zen affords a small taste of the richness of authentic Zen, helping readers grow beyond the bounds of introspection and sitting to find awakening itself.
Download or read book Unborn written by Bankei and published by North Point Press. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1633, at age eleven, Bankei Yotaku was banished from his family's home because of his consuming engagement with the Confucian texts that all schoolboys were required to copy and recite. Using a hut in the nearby hills, he wrote the word Shugyo-an, or "practice hermitage," on a plank of wood, propped it up beside the entrance, and settled down to devote himself to his own clarification of "bright virtue." He finally turned to Zen and, after fourteen years of incredible hardship, achieved a decisive enlightenment, whereupon the Rinzai priest traveled unceasingly to the temples and monasteries of Japan, sharing what he'd learned. "What I teach in these talks of mine is the Unborn Buddha-mind of illuminative wisdom, nothing else. Everyone is endowed with this Buddha-mind, only they don't know it." Casting aside the traditional aristocratic style of his contemporaries, he offered his teachings in the common language of the people. His style recalls the genius and simplicity of the great Chinese Zen masters of the T'ang dynasty. This revised and expanded edition contains many talks and dialogues not included in the original 1984 volume.
Download or read book The Koan written by Steven Heine and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-04-20 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Koans are enigmatic spiritual formulas used for religious training in the Zen Buddhist tradition. Arguing that our understanding of the koan tradition has been severely 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.
Download or read book The Rinzai Zen Way written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first accessible beginner's guide to Rinzai Zen practice. The recognition of the true nature of oneself and the universe is the aim of Rinzai Zen—but that experience, known as kensho, is really just the beginning of a life of refining that discovery and putting it into practice in the world. Rinzai, with its famed discipline and its emphasis on koan practice, is one of two main forms of Zen practiced in the West, but it is less familiar than the more prominent Soto school. Meido Moore here remedies that situation by providing this compact and complete introduction to Zen philosophy and practice from the Rinzai perspective. It’s an excellent entrée to a venerable tradition that goes back through the renowned Hakuin Ekaku in eighteenth-century Japan to its origins in Tang dynasty China—and that offers a path to living with insight and compassion for people today.
Download or read book The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu written by Zhaozhou (Shi) and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 1998 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full English translation gives the odd, outrageous, and illuminating replies of this founding Zen (Ch'an) master from North China to the questions of 8th and 9th century Buddhist monks. It is said of Joshu that 'his lips emitted light, ' evoking clearly his own experience and enlightenment. His teachings are a keynote in the official koan of Zen
Download or read book Keep Me in Your Heart a While written by Dosho Port and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the great pioneers of Zen in America, Dainin Katagiri had a teaching style that was at once powerful, gentle, and sometimes even casual. For his student, Dosho Mike Port, some of Katagiri's most profound teachings came in the simple moments of everyday interactions. Keep Me in Your Heart a While is built around a series of these vivid, truth-revealing incidents that evoke the feel of ancient Zen koans. Each chapter starts with an encounter with Katagiri and unfolds from there, touching on subjects such as the nature and the purpose of Zen, the dynamic and working of realization, and the evolving relationship between teacher and student. In sharing what it was like to train with one of the first generation of American Zen teachers, Dosho Mike Port preserves and revitalizes this incredible path, making it available to the next generation of seekers.
