Download or read book The Religious Art of Zen Master Hakuin written by Katsuhiro Yoshizawa and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-09-07 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Religious Art of Zen Master Hakuin is a stunning volume containing many of Hakuin's finest calligraphies and paintings. Katsuhiro Yoshizawa, the leading Japanese expert on Hakuin, masterfully reveals the profound religious meaning embedded in each artwork, providing a richly detailed documentary of the life and lessons of one of Zen's most respected teachers.
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 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 Wild Ivy written by Hakuin Ekaku and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010-07-13 with total page 195 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 The Sound of One Hand written by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) is one of the most influential figures in the history of Zen. He can be considered the founder of the modern Japanese Rinzai tradition, for which he famously emphasized the importance of koan practice in awakening, and he revitalized the monastic life of his day. But his teaching was by no means limited to monastery or temple. Hakuin was the quintessential Zen master of the people, renowned for taking his teaching to all parts of society, to people in every walk of life, and his painting and calligraphy were particularly powerful vehicles for that teaching. Using traditional Buddhist images and sayings—but also themes from folklore and daily life—Hakuin created a new visual language for Zen: profound, whimsical, and unlike anything that came before. In his long life, Hakuin created many thousands of paintings and calligraphies. This art, combined with his voluminous writings, stands as a monument to his teaching, revealing why he is the most important Zen master of the past five hundred years. The Sound of One Hand is a study of Hakuin and his enduringly appealing art, illustrated with a wealth of examples of his work, both familiar pieces like “Three Blind Men on a Bridge” as well as lesser known masterworks.
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 The Zen Art Book written by Stephen Addiss and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When a Zen master puts brush to paper, the resulting image is an expression of the quality of his or her mind. It is thus a teaching, intended to compassionately stop us in our tracks and to compel us to consider ultimate truth. Here, forty masterpieces of painting and calligraphy by renowned masters such as Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) and Gibon Sengai (1750–1837) are reproduced along with commentary that illuminates both the art and its teaching. The authors’ essays provide an excellent introduction to both the aesthetic and didactic aspects of this art that can be profound, perplexing, serious, humorous, and breathtakingly beautiful—often all within the same simple piece."--Publisher description.
Download or read book Complete Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn written by Hakuin Zenji and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2017-12-20 with total page 1337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 Keisō 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 Gudō Tōshoku. 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.
Download or read book Zen Paintings in Edo Japan 1600 1868 written by Galit Aviman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Three Zen Masters written by John Stevens and published by Kodansha. This book was released on 1993 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Poison Blossoms From a Thicket of Thorn written by Hakuin Zenji and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2014-07-21 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hakuin Ekaku Zenji (1686–1769) was one of the greatest Zen masters ever to live. Originator of the famous koan "What is the sound of a single hand?" he is credited with reviving the Rinzai sect of Zen in Japan, and today all masters of that sect trace their lineage back to him. Through his numerous descendants, his influence is now felt worldwide, with his "Song of Zazen" chanted daily in temples around the globe. Norman Waddell has spent decades reading and translating Hakuin's vast writings. He has published several previous selections, all leading to his work on this monumental gathering, the Keiso Dokuzui, little known in Japan and never before translated into any foreign language. Interpreting such a text requires immersion in the material in its original language, as well as complete mastery of the available commentary. Probably no one alive is as fully prepared for this important and difficult task as Dr. Waddell. For this collection, Hakuin gathered together an enormous number and variety of pieces—commentaries, memorials, poems, koans, teisho (lectures), letters, and more. Having presented many of them live to the throng of students residing in and around his temple as well as to other audiences around the country,
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 Zen Masters written by John Stevens and published by Kodansha Amer Incorporated. This book was released on 1999 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the life stories of three of the greatest Zen masters in history--Ikkyu, Hakuin, and Ryokan
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 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 Zen at War written by Brian Daizen Victoria and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2006-06-22 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling history of the contradictory, often militaristic, role of Zen Buddhism, this book meticulously documents the close and previously unknown support of a supposedly peaceful religion for Japanese militarism throughout World War II. Drawing on the writings and speeches of leading Zen masters and scholars, Brian Victoria shows that Zen served as a powerful foundation for the fanatical and suicidal spirit displayed by the imperial Japanese military. At the same time, the author recounts the dramatic and tragic stories of the handful of Buddhist organizations and individuals that dared to oppose Japan's march to war. He follows this history up through recent apologies by several Zen sects for their support of the war and the way support for militarism was transformed into 'corporate Zen' in postwar Japan. The second edition includes a substantive new chapter on the roots of Zen militarism and an epilogue that explores the potentially volatile mix of religion and war. With the increasing interest in Buddhism in the West, this book is as timely as it is certain to be controversial.
