Readers are encouraged to read the sayings, to ponder them, and eventually to apply to their own lives the wisdom found there. These keys to Zen understanding are nov^ available to English speakers. Each poem uniquely illustrates some (continued on back flap)ģ (continued from front flap) aspect of Zen, from the nature of satori to the meaning of enlightened activity in the real world. From the thousands of sayings in existence, the author has compiled a representative selection, adding his own illuminating introduction on how to read the sayings. In the present book, for the first time, over 1,200 of these short sayings from the comical, to the profound, to the downright mystifying appear in vivid, poetic, English translation. As their masters assign them increasingly difficult koans for contemplation and eventual solution, they respond with sayings culled from the anthologies, or they create their own phrases to add to the dynamic body of Zen literature. In monasteries all over Japan, would-be priests can be found thoughtfully thumbing through their well-worn anthologies by the dim candlelight, looking for the perfect phrase to "cap" their Zen experience and activity. The most complete of these are the various editions of Zemin Kushu, or the "Zen Forest Saying Anthology." Serious Zen students are still required to memorize hundreds of these sayings. Over the centuries, their sayings and writings have been compiled into voluminous handbooks.
The distillation of this Oriental philosophy is contained in the Zen sayings pithy phrases and poems handed down from a distinguished line of Chinese and Japanese masters. Not just a puzzle to be unraveled by the intellect, Zen offers a challenge to both mind and spirit, calling on all our intuitive, social, and self-disciplinary powers. 2 $19.95 / F IU m ) i! I SiV can truly be called the quintessential philosophy of the Orient.
0 kommentar(er)
