Cultivating the Empty Field

Cultivating the Empty Field PDF

Author: Taigen Dan Leighton

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2000-08-01

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 146291652X

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Cultivating the Empty Field is a modern translation of the core of Chinese Ch'an master Hongzhi's Extensive Record. First to articulate the meditation method known to contemporary Zen practitioners as shikantaza ("just sitting") Chinese Zen master Hongzhi is one of the most influential poets in all of Zen literature. This translation of Hongzhi's poetry, the only such volume available in English, treats readers to his profound wisdom and beautiful literary gift. In addition to dozens of Hongshi's religious poems, translator Daniel Leighton offers an extended introduction, placing the master's work in its historical context , as well as lineage charts and other information about the Chinese influence on Japanese Soto Zen. Both spiritual literature and meditation instruction, Cultivating the Empty Field is sure to inspire and delight.

Cultivating the Empty Field

Cultivating the Empty Field PDF

Author: Zhengjue

Publisher:

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 91

ISBN-13: 9780865474741

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These rich and dense teachings might be read most usefully as one reads poetry. Hongzhi employed a style more holographic than the rational, expository style of Western thought; each of his paragraphs encapsulates the whole teaching.

Silent Illumination

Silent Illumination PDF

Author: Guo Gu

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2021-03-09

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0834843498

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Our natural awakening—or buddha-nature—is inherent within all of us and waiting to be realized. Buddha-nature has the qualities of both silence and illumination, and by working with silent illumination meditation you can find your own awakening. Distinguished Chan Buddhist teacher Guo Gu introduces you to the significance and methods of this practice through in-depth explanations and guided instructions. To help establish a foundation for realizing silent illumination, he has translated twenty-five teachings from the influential master Hongzhi Zhengjue into English, accompanied by his personal commentary. This book will be an indispensable resource for meditators interested in beginning or deepening their silent illumination practice.

No Beginning, No End

No Beginning, No End PDF

Author: Jakusho Kwong

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2010-06-08

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1590308115

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In No Beginning, No End, Zen master Jakusho Kwong-roshi shows us how to treasure the ordinary activities of our daily lives through an understanding of simple Buddhist practices and ideas. The author’s spontaneous, poetic, and pragmatic teachings—so reminiscent of his spiritual predecessor Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind)—transport us on an exciting journey into the very heart of Zen and its meaningful traditions. Because Kwong-roshi can transmit the most intimate thing in the most accessible way, we learn how to ignite our own vitality, wisdom, and compassion and awaken a feeling of intimacy with the world. It is like having a conversation with our deepest and wisest self. Jakusho Kwong-roshi was originally inspired to study Zen because of zenga, the ancient art of Zen calligraphy. Throughout this book he combines examples of his own unique style of calligraphy, with less-known stories from the Zen tradition, personal anecdotes—including moving and humorous stories of his training with Suzuki-roshi—and his own lucid and inspiring teachings. All of this comes together to create an intimate expression of the enlightening world of Zen.

The Art of Just Sitting

The Art of Just Sitting PDF

Author: John Daido Loori

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2005-06-10

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0861719492

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Shikantaza--or "just sitting"--is one of the simplest, most subtle forms of meditation, and one of the most easily misunderstood. This peerless volume brings together a wealth of writings, from the Buddha himself to Bodhidharma and Dogen and many of modern Zen Buddhism's most influential masters, all pointing directly to the heart of this powerful practice. Edited by one of America's pre-eminent Zen teachers, this book is a rich resource for wisdom seekers and scholars alike.

What More Do You Want?

What More Do You Want? PDF

Author: Albert Low

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2013-04-09

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1462911919

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All readers, both novice and longtime practitioners, will encounter in this book new answers, and new questions, to the what, why and how of Zen practice. We've all had moments in our lives when we've thought, "Something is missing. There must be more to life than this." It is this sense that often brings people to the practice of Zen. By turning to Zen, they acknowledge that this "something" lies not in externals, but rather in seeking to transcend desire and attachment. The journey toward that transcendence begins with questioning, and questions will be part of the path until awakening is attained. In What More do You Want? a fascinating new book by renowned Zen master Albert Low, he addresses some of the questions students have posed about the practice of Zen: Why do we practice? Why should we seek to understand our reasons for practicing? How can we distinguish between true and false practice? What is awakening? In addition, Low shares with his readers four teishos—talks that comment on a text or koan in order to enhance meditation practice—on zazen or seated meditation, on pain and suffering, and on the very nature of practice itself. Finally, Low shares with readers an experience of satori, a glimpse into Buddha nature.

Sounds of Valley Streams

Sounds of Valley Streams PDF

Author: Francis H. Cook

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1989-01-01

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9780887069246

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Sounds of Valley Streams is a study of Zen Buddhist enlightenment in nine chapters of Shōbōgenzō Dōgen. Francis H. Cook has translated the nine chapters and has preceded them with four chapters of discussion. These essays show Dōgen bringing his religious intensity, philosophical depth, and poetic power to bear on a number of different facets of enlightenment. Using striking images and poetical expressions such as "one bright pearl," "dragon song," "beyond Buddha," and "a painting of a rice cake,"Dōgen explores such fundamental matters as the relationship between enlightenment and compassion, the dynamic nature of the enlightened life, the need to go beyond enlightenment, the nature of illusion and enlighten-ment, and what it is like to live the awakened life. The centerpiece of the translation is Genjōkōan ("Manifesting Absolute Reality"). It is a manifesto of the Zen life in which Dōgen proclaims the religious insight that stands at the core of everything he wrote subsequently. Cook's translation of Genjōkōan is as accurate as possible, faithful to the original, and readable.

Bring Me the Rhinoceros

Bring Me the Rhinoceros PDF

Author: John Tarrant

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2008-11-11

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9780834823495

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Bring Me the Rhinoceros is an unusual guide to happiness and a can opener for your thinking. For fifteen hundred years, Zen koans have been passed down through generations of masters, usually in private encounters between teacher and student. This book deftly retells more than a dozen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. Koans show that you don’t have to impress people or change into an improved, more polished version of yourself. Instead you can find happiness by unbuilding, unmaking, throwing overboard, and generally subverting unhappiness. John Tarrant brings the heart of the koan tradition out into the open, reminding us that the old wisdom remains as vital as ever, a deep resource available to anyone in any place or time.

The Art of Stillness

The Art of Stillness PDF

Author: Pico Iyer

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-11-04

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 1476784728

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Explores why modern-day technology is making people more likely to retreat into solitude and quiet, with growing numbers of people practicing yoga, meditation and tai chi and even taking an “Internet Sabbath” where online connections are shut down for a day. 50,000 first printing.

How to Live a Good Life

How to Live a Good Life PDF

Author: Jonathan Fields

Publisher: Hay House, Inc

Published: 2018-03-13

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1401946321

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Seriously . . . another book that tells you how to live a good life? Don’t we have enough of those? You’d think so. Yet, more people than ever are walking through life disconnected, disengaged, dissatisfied, mired in regret, declining health, and a near maniacal state of gut-wrenching autopilot busyness. Whatever is out there isn’t getting through. We don’t know who to trust. We don’t know what’s real and what’s fantasy. We don’t know how and where to begin and we don’t want to wade through another minute of advice that gives us hope, then saps our time and leaves us empty. How to Live a Good Life is your antidote; a practical and provocative modern-day manual for the pursuit of a life well lived. No need for blind faith or surrender of intelligence; everything you’ll discover is immediately actionable and subject to validation through your own experience. Drawn from the intersection of science, spirituality, and the author’s years-long quest to learn at the feet of masters from nearly every tradition and walk of life, this book offers a simple yet powerful model, the “Good Life Buckets ” —spend 30 days filling your buckets and reclaiming your life. Each day will bring a new, practical yet powerful idea, along with a specific exploration designed to rekindle deep, loving, and compassionate relationships; cultivate vitality, radiance, and graceful ease; and leave you feeling lit up by the way you contribute to the world, like you’re doing the work you were put on the planet to do. How to Live a Good Life is not just a book to be read; it’s a path to possibility, to be walked, then lived.