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Zen Baggage

Author: Bill Porter

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2009-03-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1582439788

In the spring of 2006, Bill Porter traveled through the heart of China, from Beijing to Hong Kong, on a pilgrimage to sites associated with the first six patriarchs of Zen. Zen Baggage is an account of that journey. He weaves together historical background, interviews with Zen masters, and translations of the earliest known records of Zen, along with personal vignettes. Porter's account captures the transformations taking place at religious centers in China but also the abiding legacy they have somehow managed to preserve. Porter brings wisdom and humor to every situation, whether visiting ancient caves containing the most complete collection of Buddhist texts ever uncovered, enduring a six–hour Buddhist ceremony, searching in vain for the ghost in his room, waking up the monk in charge of martial arts at Shaolin Temple, or meeting the abbess of China's first Zen nunnery. Porter's previously published Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits has become recommended reading at Zen centers and universities throughout America and even in China (in its Chinese translation), and Zen Baggage is sure to follow suit.

Road to Heaven

Author: Red Pine

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2009-08-10

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1582439427

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In 1989, Bill Porter, having spent much of his life studying and translating Chinese religious and philosophical texts, began to wonder if the Buddhist hermit tradition still existed in China. At the time, it was believed that the Cultural Revolution had dealt a lethal blow to all religions in China, destroying countless temples and shrines, and forcibly returning thousands of monks and nuns to a lay life. But when Porter travels to the Chungnan mountains — the historical refuge of ancient hermits — he discovers that the hermit tradition is very much alive, as dozens of monks and nuns continue to lead solitary lives in quiet contemplation of their faith deep in the mountains. Part travelogue, part history, part sociology, and part religious study, this record of extraordinary journeys to an unknown China sheds light on a phenomenon unparalleled in the West. Porter's discovery is more than a revelation, and uncovers the glimmer of hope for the future of religion in China.

Zen Sand

Author: Victor Sogen Hori

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2003-02-28

Total Pages: 785

ISBN-13: 0824865677

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Zen Sand is a classic collection of verses aimed at aiding practitioners of kôan meditation to negotiate the difficult relationship between insight and language. As such it represents a major contribution to both Western Zen practice and English-language Zen scholarship. In Japan the traditional Rinzai Zen kôan curriculum includes the use of jakugo, or "capping phrases." Once a monk has successfully replied to a kôan, the Zen master orders the search for a classical verse to express the monk’s insight into the kôan. Special collections of these jakugo were compiled as handbooks to aid in that search. Until now, Zen students in the West, lacking this important resource, have been severely limited in carrying out this practice. Zen Sand combines and translates two standard jakugo handbooks and opens the way for incorporating this important tradition fully into Western Zen practice. For the scholar, Zen Sand provides a detailed description of the jakugo practice and its place in the overall kôan curriculum, as well as a brief history of the Zen phrase book. This volume also contributes to the understanding of East Asian culture in a broader sense.

Three Zen Sutras

Author: Red Pine

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2021-09-28

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1640094946

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A pocket-sized presentation of the 3 most venerated sutras of Zen Buddhism—the Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra, and Platform Sutra—from a legendary practitioner and translator of Buddhist teachings Three classic Buddhist sutras, often linked to form a trio of texts that have been revered and studied for centuries, are now available together in this single volume. Red Pine, whose acclaimed translations these particular Buddhist texts are considered canon, provides a sensitive and assured treatment of the classic triumvirate in a gift-sized volume, perfect for sharing with anyone seeking guidance and peace. The Heart Sutra, with its profound and wide-reaching influence on Buddhism, offers the Prajnaparamita teaching of emptiness. The Diamond Sutra, said to contain answers to all questions of delusion and dualism, outlines the bodhisattva path followed by the Buddha. The Platform Sutra is an autobiography of Hui-neng, the controversial 6th Patriarch of Zen. His understanding of the fundamentals of a spiritual and practical life has served as the introduction to the teachings of Zen that students have been putting into practice for the past 1300 years. In addition to new translations of all three texts, Red Pine has included an introduction that ties all three together and just enough footnotes to explain what needs explaining but not enough to get in the way.

Road to Heaven

Author: Bill Porter

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1994-01

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9780712662154

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Since the Chinese have, historically, always looked up to and encouraged their hermits, Bill Porter wondered whether these people still existed in China today. Roaming the landscape of the Chungnan Mountains, he discovered that they do indeed still flourish, and have extraordinary stories to tell.

Yellow River Odyssey

Author: Bill Porter

Publisher: Chin Music Press Inc.

Published: 2014-06-09

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 098876931X

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Bill Porter is the ideal travel companion. His depth of knowledge of Chinese history and culture is unparalleled. His wit is ever-present. And his keen eye for the telling detail consistently reminds us that China is not what you think it is. Yellow River Odyssey, already a best-seller in China, reveals a complex, fascinating, contradictory culture like never before.

Journeys of Transformation

Author: John D. Barbour

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-03-31

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1009116231

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Western Buddhist travel narratives are autobiographical accounts of a journey to a Buddhist culture. Dozens of such narratives have since the 1970s describe treks in Tibet, periods of residence in a Zen monastery, pilgrimages to Buddhist sites and teachers, and other Asian odysseys. The best known of these works is Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard; further reflections emerge from thirty writers including John Blofeld, Jan Van de Wetering, Thomas Merton, Oliver Statler, Robert Thurman, Gretel Ehrlich, and Bill Porter. The Buddhist concept of 'no-self' helps these authors interpret certain pivotal experiences of 'unselfing' and is also a catalyst that provokes and enables such events. The writers' spiritual memoirs describe how their journeys brought about a new understanding of Buddhist enlightenment and so transformed their lives. Showing how travel can elicit self-transformation, this book is a compelling exploration of the journeys and religious changes of both individuals and Buddhism itself.

New World Dharma

Author: Trevor Carolan

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2016-03-16

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1438459831

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Interviews and profiles of spiritual and cultural figures influenced by Buddhism. Based on Trevor Carolans interviews, profiles, and essays from the past twenty years, this book offers a fascinating and intimate look at many of the Buddhist (and Buddhist-inspired) spiritual and cultural leaders who have shaped our time. Drawn from the global mosaic of the arts and humanities, environmentalism, and governance, Carolans collaborators include Buddhist teachers, poets, writers, activists, and even a politician. Readers will encounter Red Pine, Maxine Hong Kingston, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken-Roshi, Jerry Brown, the Dalai Lama, Allen Ginsberg, along with many others. They explore engaged practice, East-West ethics, the role of dharma-influenced literature, Beat literature, social and political activism, and more. A rich resource for anyone interested in Buddhism, New World Dharma reveals a Buddhist consciousness responding to the challenge of rethinking what citizenship, community, and the sacred might mean in a global age. Congratulations to Trevor Carolan for creating a wise and excellent sequence of essays, accurate historical information, and interviews which provide very useful insights and Buddhist time-tracks to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist readers and researchers. Ed Sanders, poet and historian New World Dharma sheds light on a major development in literary and spiritual life by giving a personal, social, internal look into the lives of key Buddhist writers and leaders. In hindsight, it is clear that the influx of Asian spiritual teachings into the West instigated a cultural awakening of major proportion. This book provides a sense of how the fabric of this cultural awakening was woven, thread by thread, over several decades, as the people interviewed were all connected in some way. Fran Grace, coeditor of Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies

The Spirit of Zen

Author: Solala Towler

Publisher: Watkins Media Limited

Published: 2017-02-14

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1786780739

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The Spirit of Zen is a collection of inspiring teaching stories taken from the classical works of Zen Buddhism. Zen is probably the most well known yet misunderstood version of Buddhism in the West. The Spirit of Zen presents the most basic principles and practices of Zen in a simple yet authentic fashion. The Spirit of Zen guides you down the path to enlightenment with stories, history and practical guidance from the masters of Zen. Often the stories contained in these teachings are an attempt to shake the student out of his or her complacent accepting of 'things as they are.' By bypassing the ordinary mindset, the often puzzling actions of the Zen master to his students awaken something in them they didn't know they had. This is all part of the attempt of the master to awaken the student to the reality of his or her own being and place in the great scheme of things. By using these radical forms of teaching, the master is jolting the student out of any preconceptions they may have about spiritual attainment. Thus the famous dictum 'If you see the Buddha in the road, kill him.' The stories are arranged according to theme: Gradual Enlightenment, Sudden Enlightenment, Teaching Stories, Paradoxical Teaching, Eccentric Masters etc. Most of them are from traditional sources with some original additions from Taoist expert Solala Towler. The simple yet profound truths of spiritual practice and awakening are often best learned from stories, rather than ponderous dissertation. These stories are profound and illuminating while also being entertaining, contain the kernel or true flavor of Zen.

Going Places

Author: Robert Burgin

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2013-01-08

Total Pages: 605

ISBN-13: 161069385X

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Successfully navigate the rich world of travel narratives and identify fiction and nonfiction read-alikes with this detailed and expertly constructed guide. Just as savvy travelers make use of guidebooks to help navigate the hundreds of countries around the globe, smart librarians need a guidebook that makes sense of the world of travel narratives. Going Places: A Reader's Guide to Travel Narratives meets that demand, helping librarians assist patrons in finding the nonfiction books that most interest them. It will also serve to help users better understand the genre and their own reading interests. The book examines the subgenres of the travel narrative genre in its seven chapters, categorizing and describing approximately 600 titles according to genres and broad reading interests, and identifying hundreds of other fiction and nonfiction titles as read-alikes and related reads by shared key topics. The author has also identified award-winning titles and spotlighted further resources on travel lit, making this work an ideal guide for readers' advisors as well a book general readers will enjoy browsing.