http://www.thezensite.com a site dedicated to a better understanding of Zen, its history, its teachings and its philosophy; new additions to the site are linked to this feed en http://www.thezensite.com/graphics/Daruma_Hakuin1.gif http://www.thezensite.com http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Dogen_Three_Commentaries.html thezensite:Zen book reviewsThree Zen masters, Nishiari Bokusan, Shunryu Suzuki and Kosho Uchiyama each give a talk on Dogen's Genjokoan, arguably the most important essay in his Shobogenzo. Each teacher approaches the text slightly differently but the similarities outweigh the differences. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Teachings_of_Master_Wuzhu.html thezensite:Zen book reviewsWuzhu was a long-forgotten Chan master contemporaneous with Matsu. The manuscript of his life, the Lidai fabao ji, was discovered in the Dunhuang caves along with the earliest version of the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. While the Platform Sutra ended up as one of the most popular Chan texts, the Lidai fabao ji vanished in time. Wendi Adamek gives a good account of this text, the teacher and a translation of the manuscript. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Beyond%20East%20and%20West.pdf thezensite: Philosophical essays Abstract: During the 1930s and 1940s, many Japanese intellectuals resisted Western cultural imperialism. This theoretical movement was unfortunately complicit with wartime nationalism. Kitaro Nishida, the founder of modern Japanese philosophy and the leading figure of the Kyoto School, has been the focus of a controversy as to whether his philosophy was inherently nationalist or not. Nishida's defenders claim that his philosophical "universalism" was incompatible with the particularistic nationalism of Japan's imperialist state. From the standpoint of postcolonial critique, I argue that this defense is insufficient. Philosophical universalism is not in itself anti-imperialist, but can in fact contribute to imperialist ideology. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/Bushido_or_Bull.html thezensite: miscellaneous essays If you believe that the mistreatment of prisoners and the attrocities of the Japanese military during the Pacific War were due to the tradition of bushido and the samurai, think again. Friday delves into the true samurai spirit and looks at the history of bushido (did you know that the term was barely used until the late 19th Century?) and discovers that much of our idealisation of bushido and the samurai spirit is, well, to put it politely, bull. An essay well worth reading.
]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/BuddhismandChristianity.pdf thezensite: book reviews page This is a review by David R Loy of an abridged translation of Buddhismus und Christentum: Geschichte, Konfrontation, Dialog first published in 1997 by Verlag C. H. Beck in Munich.
]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Self-Awakening_and_Faith.html thezensite: Philosophical Abe discusses some critical differences between Zen Buddhism and Christianity. One difference is the udnerstanding of God and Emptiness. While Emptiness denotes the radical interdependence of all things, God stands alone as the source for all things. Another critical difference, according to Abe, is faith and enlightenment. Faith is directed outwards while enlightenment is self-realization. This leads to the contrast between salvation and self-awakening. Self-awakening is a present reality that only needs to be acknowledged and realized; the Christian striving for salvation and the overcoming of good by evil is, from Abe's perspective, rooted necessarily and irredeemably in dualism. Abe also engages with a questioner about the concept of good and evil, pointing out that Christianity moves evil to a potentiality and from time to eternity but offers no definite solution.
]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Scandals%20in%20Western%20Buddhism.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen This paper examines two well-known scandals at two Buddhist centers --- the San Francisco Zen Center and Chogyam Trungpa's Vajradhatu center. If you are not familiar with either of these, this is as good a place as any to start.
]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Making_Merit_Through_Warfare_and_Torture.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen This paper examines the seeming hopeless dilemma faced by Buddhist rulers: how to punish criminals and defend the kingdom from external attack and still abide by the values of ahiṃsā (nonviolence). The Ārya-Satyakaparivarta gives kings the theoretical background to permit punishment and war. As Jenkins notes, "Compassionate violence is at the very heart of the sensibility of this sūtra". This is a fascinating exploration of a little-known sutra. It should be read in conjunction with Only a Fool Becomes a King: Buddhist Stances on Punishment by Michael Zimmerman, who covers similar ground. Both essays give a good grounding in the basics of this important issue. Is Buddhism really as pacifist as many believe?
]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/FireMonks.html thezensite: Zen Books Reviewed This is the story of how five Zen monks, including the Abbot of the San Franscisco Zen Center, saved the Zen monastery, Tassajara, from California wildfires in 2008. A ripping tale of Zen in the face of fear and fire. Reviewed by Vladimir K ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/dating_the_Buddha.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen This paper examines the emergence of a distinctively "modern" style of history and some of its uses as applied to Buddhism by Buddhist scholars within the early Meiji Period in Japan. By showing the methods and accomplishments of modernist historians, and the concomitant slippage of non-modern categories in their work, this paper sketches a method of analysis particularly applicable to the intersection of religion and history. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zig_Zag_Zen.html thezensite: Book Reviews Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics, edited by Allan Hunt Badiner, Alex Grey, Chronicle Books. The use of psychedelic drugs is that dark little secret behind the popular origins of Eastern spirituality in America, but if they really open the mind in the same ways meditative experiences do, why shouldn't they be legitimated and brought out into the open? In Allan Hunt Badiner and Alex Grey's Zig Zag Zen authors, artists, priests, and scientists are brought together to discuss this question. (Publisher's description) ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Wild_Geese.html thezensite: Book Reviews Wild Geese: Buddhism in Canada, edited by John S Harding, Victor Sogen Hori and Alexander Soucy, McGill-Queen's University Press. The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in Canada to date, "Wild Geese" offers a history of the religion's evolution in Canada, surveys the diverse communities and beliefs of Canadian Buddhists and presents biographies of Buddhist leaders. The essays cover a broad range of topics, including Chinese, Tibetan, Lao, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese Buddhisms, critical reflections on Buddhism in the West, census data on the growth of the religion and analysis of the global context for the growth of Buddhism in Canada. (Publisher's description) ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/DogenStudies/Critical_Buddhism_Heine.pdf thezensite: Dogen Studies Critical Buddhism maintains that the 12-fascicle text of the Shobogenzo, written towards the end of Dogen's life, reflects a profound change in Dogen's outlook and expresses a highly critical view of original-enlightenment thought as a misguided absolutization and affirmation of natural existence. Therefore, according to Critical Buddhism, the longer, better-known 75-fascicle is but a preliminary, seconary text, and it is the 12-fascicle text which exemplifies Dogen's essential teaching based on dependent origination. Heine investigate. This essay is also linked from thezensite: Critical Zen ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Heine-%20A_Day_in_the_Life_Dogen.pdf thezensite: Zen Book Reviews Steven Heine reviews 2 books on Dogen's Gyoji; Ishi Shudo's Shobogenzo [Gyoji] ni manabu and Yasuraoka Kosaku's Shobogenzo [Gyoji] jo]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_Complete.html thezensite: Shobogenzeno The Shobogenzo Complete page has been updated with new links to The Soto Zen Text Project at Stanford University's translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo. Also, Volumes 2, 3, and 4 of Nishijima & Cross's translation of the Shobogenzo are also available from the Shobogenzo Complete page or the Dogen Teachings page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Literal_Meaning_Skillful_Means.pdf thezensite: Philosophical Zen Federman explores what is meant by "skillful means". "Skillful means is ... not a mere pedagogical device of matching the right simile to the right person. It is also not exactly the idea that the teachings should be abandoned after a person reaches a goal. It is rather a sophisticated explanatory tool that enables a new religious movement to claim that what has been widely accepted as true is actually not true, and that truth is, and has always been, something else. " from Philosophy East & West Volume 59, Number 2 April 2009 125-141]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Critical_Buddhism_Gregory.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen While Gregory agrees that Matsumoto Shiro and Hakamaya Noriaki have raised an interestng question about whether the tathagata-garbha thought and "original enlightenment" are true Buddhism, he is more interested in noting the differences between Eastern and Western scholarship on such issues. While he does not agree with their analyses, he does applaud their spirit of critique, which he sees as most relevant for Buddhists today. His criticism comes down to critical Buddhism being "not yet fully critical". For a summary of Matsumoto and Noriaki's argument see Paul Swanson's Why They Say Zen is Not Buddhism: Recent Japanese Critiques of Buddha-Nature]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Is_Zen_Buddhism.html thezensite: Critical Zen How is it that Zen Buddhism has been used in Japan to promote Japanese militarism and nationalism and the Zen samurai spirit which sacralizes death, killing and war? Teachers such as Shaku Soen and Harada Sogaku, among many others, have used Zen Buddhism and the so-called samurai spirit to justify and promote war. David Loy looks at these contradictions and questions whether Zen can still be called Buddhism. Unfortunately, he never really answers his own question. Since its publication in 1995, this question, the role of Zen in militarism and war, has become one of the most contentious in contemporary Zen studies. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Apology.html thezensite: Critical Zen Abbot Kubota Jiun offers his apologies for the racist and anti-Semetic ideology of the founder of the Sanbô Kyôdan, Yasutani Haku'un Roshi. I shall leave it up to the reader to judge the sincerity of this apology. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/DTSuzukiandWar.pdf thezensite:Critical Zen Brian Victoria has recently been criticized for painting an unduly harsh assessment of D. T. Suzuki and his relationship with Japanese militarism; see, for example, Setting the Record Straight on D.T. Suzuki by Gary Snyder and Nelson Foster in Trycycle Magazine. Victoria answers his critics by delving deeper into this controversial issue. Kemmyō Taira Satō offers a rebuttal to Victoria's article in Brian Victoria and the Question of Scholarship, claiming that Victoria has compromised his academic credentials by the use of selective quotations taken out of context. It does not appear that this robust academic controversy is yet finished. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/DogenStudies/Dogen_Sangha_and_Rhetoric.pdf thezensite: Dogen Studies Cairns looks at the rhetoric of an international Zen sangha, the Dogen Sangha, founded by Gudo Nishijima. As all the leading figures of the sangha have weblogs, the author uses this device to analyze the rhetoric of the sangha, focussing on the weblog of the Finnish leader, Markus Laitinen. Cairns concludes that the Dogen Sangha "views the field of Zen through the terministic screen of being a philosophy of action, realized through the practice of shikantaza", rejecting the commercialization of Zen and the institutionalization of Zen Buddhism as a religion. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Karma_War_and_Inequality.html thezensite:Critical Zen While “karma” is used so often in the West today that it has become almost a household word, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the socio-political role played by karma in Asian societies, past or present. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the very idea of karma having a socio-political role will come as a surprise to many. That is to say, how could an ethical concept like karma, commonly associated with the good or bad effects of an individual’s acts, play a role in collective entities like society and politics?]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_Marching_In.pdf thezensite:Critical Zen Stuart continues his ongoing investigation into modern American Zen. He looks at two recently published biographies of contemporary American Zen masters, Sheng Yen and Walter Nowick, two masters he has had considerable experience with, and discovers a number of flaws in the accounts of the lives of these two masters. It appears that modern Zen biographies continue the tradition of hagiography, of idealisation, of the Zen master. As Stuart points out, "Zen is trapped by its own legitimating fantasy," but we have to question whether this appropriate in the twenty-first century. Isn't Zen supposed to eliminate our illusions, not create new ones?]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Teishos/Loy-Karma.pdf thezensite: Commentaries & Teishos For modern, Western, educated Zen Buddhists, the concepts of karma and rebirth are problematic. If we accept anatta (non-self) and paticca-samuppada (interdepent origination) then we have to ask 'What is reborn?'; 'Who is there to suffer the karmic consequences in some other lifetime?' These are questions seldom tackled by teachers or books but they go to the core of the Buddha's teaching. David Loy makes a good case. Highly recommended if these questions have been bothering you. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Sex_Sin_Zen.html thezensite: book reviews Bhikkhu Dinsmore looks at the issue of sin in Buddhism. This is less a book review (he uses Brad Warner's book as a jumping off point) and more of a discourse on Buddhism, sin and sex. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Zen_as_Social_Ethics.pdf thezensite: Zen Philosophy When discussing religious ethics, we should consider not only the specific religion involved, but also its cultural setting. When analyzing traditional Zen Buddhist ethics, therefore, we need to consider it as not only a Buddhist but also an East Asian movement. For discussing Zen ethics today, furthermore, we should also examine factors arising from its new North American or Western European cultural settings. As a preliminary consideration, this paper briefly addresses some philosophical problems in bringing an East Asian Buddhist ethic as a system into dialogue with Western traditions. In fact, I will try to show that even if we were to embrace an ethic based in traditional East Asian Zen Buddhism, we might not be able to bring that ethic directly into an American context. Some intercultural confrontation or significant adjustment might be necessary. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Aquinas_and_Dogen.pdf thezensite: Zen Philosophy Recent efforts to articulate Buddhist ethics have increasingly focused on “Western” ethical systems that possess a “family resemblance” sufficient to serve as a bridge. One promising avenue is the employment of Aristotelian-Thomistic thinking in seeking to understand certain manifestations of Buddhism. More specifically, we can explore how the thinking of Thomas Aquinas may serve to illuminate the moral vision of the Zen Master Dōgen on specific topics, such as that of “poverty and the religious life.” Employing Aquinas as a bridge to understanding Dōgen's views on poverty and the religious life reveals several points of similarity, while at the same time uncovering distinctive differences. Given the sheer volume of their respective collective works, we can anticipate that they share many other concerns worthy of our attention. Perhaps the modus operandi of this article could also contribute to further Western explorations of Dōgen's ethics. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Transmission_and_Enlightenment.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen pageThis paper discusses developments in the conceptualization of transmission and enlightenment in the Platform Sutra's main line of development, beginning with the earliest version found at Dunhuang leading down to the orthodox version included in the Taishō canon. from Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, no. 20, pp. 379～410 (2007) ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_Radicals.html thezensite: Zen Books Reviewed Written by Perle Besserman and Manfred Steger, the book brings together six Zen eccentrics and notable Zen masters and one Zen family to highlight that pursuing a religious life often means rebelling against the established orthodoxy of not only society, but religion itself. Two of Zen’s most radical and important Zen masters are included in this collection, Linji Yixuan (d. 866) (J. Rinzai Gigen), founder of the school that bears his name, and the Japanese master, Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768), who reformed Rinzai Zen in Japan after it had fallen into disrepute and rote learning. All modern Rinzai teachers trace their lineage back to Hakuin. Zen Radicals, Rebels and Reformers discusses only two Chinese masters, including Layman P'ang, before moving to Japan and covering Bassui Tokushō(1327-1387), Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481), Bankei Yotaku (1622-1693), Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1769), and the modern masters Nyogen Senzaki (1876- 1958)and Soen Nakagawa (1907-1984). ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/Economic_Ethics_of_Buddhism.pdf thezensite: Zen Essays Miscellaneous Buddhist economic ethics for monks and laity historically shared a common principle of nonattachment to wealth. At the same time, while lay economic ethics have consistently stressed merchant-type values and the importance of giving to the sangha (dàna), monastic ethics underwent major changes....an analysis of Buddhist soteriologies and major concepts such as anàtman, karma, pratãtyasamutpàda, dàna and karuõà, reveals that issues of economic equality and justice in Buddhism are dealt with less by attempting to change the existing distribution of wealth than by cultivating the proper ethical attitudes toward wealth and giving. from Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 3 1996:198-240]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Not_Buying_Into_Words.pdf thezensite: Zen Philosophy Judging from the active participation of Zen leaders and institutions in modern Japanese imperialism, one might conclude that by its very nature Zen succumbs easily to ideological co-optation. Several facets of Zen epistemology and institutional history support this conclusion. At the same time, a close examination of Zen theory and praxis indicates that the tradition does possess resources for resisting dominant ideologies and engaging in ideology critique. Despite the historical record, Zen and the larger Buddhist tradition of which it is part do offer resources for avoiding co-optation and responding to dominant ideologies, and in recent decades Buddhist ethicists have started drawing from these resources to engage in ideology critique. Arguably, the criticism of those ideologies and Zen entanglement in them is the prolegomenon to the construction of a rigorous Zen social ethic.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Satori_and_Moral_Dimension.pdf thezensite: Zen Philosophy This essay addresses the question posed by Brian Victoria's description of "moral blindness" in twentieth-century Japanese Zen masters by claiming that since Zen monastic training does not include practices of reflection that cultivate the moral dimension of life, skill in this dimension of human character was not considered a fundamental or necessary component of Zen enlightenment. The essay asks what an enlightened moral sensitivity might require, and concludes in challenging the Zen tradition to consider reengaging the Mahāyāna Buddhist practices of reflection out of which Zen originated in order to assess the possible role of morality in its thought and practice of enlightenment. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Realizing_Genjokoan.html thezensite: Zen Books Reviewed Okumura is not just an expert on Dogen, he is also an excellent teacher and both novices and seasoned practitioners would benefit by reading this book. While Genjokoan is, as the subtitle of this book notes, the key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Okumura provides us with a key to unlocking much of Dogen’s teaching. I heartily recommend this book. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Shots_in_the_Dark.html thezensite: Zen Books Reviewed Shoji Yamada's book focuses on two cultural icons, Eugen Herrigel's book Zen in the Art of Archery and the sand garden of the Zen temple Ryōanji in Kyoto. Yamada's book intends to bust the myth of Herrigel's book Zen in the Art of Archery and deflate the mystery of the Zen garden of Ryōanji. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/World_of_Stories.html thezensite: Zen Books Reviewed David R Loy's book, The World is Made of Stores has been reviewed by Vladimir K ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_Women.html thezensite:Zen Books Reviewed Grace Schireson's book, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters has been reviewed by Vladimir K ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Suzuki_and-Question_of-War.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen Brian Victoria's Zen at War created quite a stir in Western Zen circles when the book was released in 1997. Victoria criticised D. T. Suzuki for being a supporter of the Japanese military during WWII. While Satō acknowledges that Victoria's book is significant for the history of Zen, he has taken another look at Victoria's sources about Suzuki and comes to quite a different conclusion regarding Suzuki's position on Japanese militarism. This is an important rebuttle of Victoria's accusations about Suzuki. Well worth reading. from The Eastern Buddhist 39/1: 61–120 ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Fumihiko_Chinese_Buddhist_and_War.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen While authors such as Brian Victoria have focussed on the actions of Japanese Zen leaders during the war, Fumihiko looks at two Chinese Buddhist leaders, Taixu and Leguan, to see how they viewed the Japanese imperialists and Japanese Buddhism. Taixu attempted to radically change Chinese Buddhism and establish a humanistic Buddhism. Leguan at first had a positive view of Japanese Buddhism and saw it as a possible model for modernizing Buddhism in China, but later became very critical of Japanese Buddhism and encouraged taking action against the Japanese invasion. Both struggled with the difficult problem of whether it was proper for a Buddhist to actively take up arms and fight in a war for their nation.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Tomoe_Social_Ethics_of_New_Buddhists.pdf thezensite: Critical Zen Tomoe does a comparative study of Suzuki Daisetsu (D T Suzuki) and Inoue Shuten and looks at how these two prominent Buddhists responded to the rising nationalism and militarism in pre-WW1 Japan. Tomoe looks specifically at the journal Shin Bukkyo to examine how the two Buddhists presented Buddhism and how their international contacts influenced their religious ideals.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_skin_Zen_marrow_VK.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews Heine’s goal in this book is to find a middle path between the two extremes of the Traditional Zen Narrative, which sees Zen Buddhism as an idealized vision of non-duality standing beyond words and letters, a religious practice using heuristic devices to express the inexpressible leading to the ultimate truth of silence and the Historical and Cultural Criticism approach which argues that Zen deliberately cloaks itself “in a shield of opaqueness” to avoid historical scrutiny which would reveal Zen’s inconsistencies, flaws of character and “what is often the cynical obfuscation and hypocrisy inherent in traditional Zen”. Heine hopes to reveal a better, perhaps more accurate, understanding of “real Zen Buddhism”. He tackles the problem with wit and humour in the titles of the three main chapters of his book: Zen Writes, Zen Rites and Zen Rights. Word play is a characteristic of Zen kōans and Heine gleefully takes up the form to delve into the arguments of both sides. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/The_Practice_of_Perfection.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews This is not a book about perfection so much as it is about practice, about clothing yourself and being at home. Robert Aitken Roshi weaves together the declarations of the Ten Paramitas with careful explanations, quotes, applications, questions and answers, all in a dialogue of learning rather than a lecture or a sermon from on high.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_skin_Zen_marrow_Forte.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews The latest work from Steven Heine, Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up? resulted from a recent combative encounter he witnessed while presiding on an East Asian ethics panel at a national academic conference. The confrontation took place between certain panelists who had presented the possibilities of traditional Zen as a viable response to ethical challenges of the contemporary world and audience members who declared the moral failings of Zen based on evidence taken from critical studies of its institutional history.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_skin_Zen_marrow.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews Zen Skin, Zen Marrow represents a departure from Steven Heine's usual style of Zen scholarship. Its first four substantive chapters offer up Heine's usual brand of carefully crafted and evenhanded scholarship on the Zen tradition. Here, the author focuses his attention as much on the field of Zen studies as on the religious and philosophical tradition of Zen, seeking a middle ground between apologetics and excessive criticism. Recommended]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Approaching_the_language_of_zen.html thezensite: Philosophical Through a number of koans, Sevilla explores the notion of Zen articulation as 'unsaying,' and poetic speech, and through the Martin Heidegger theory of language and the notions of logos and aletheia, Sevilla attempts to clarify and expound on the meaning of unsaying and poetic speech.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Buddha_recognizes_buddha.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews Daishin Morgan is the abbot of Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey. This book is based on the Soto teachings of Dogen Zenji. Recommended]]> http://www.thezensite.com/MainPages/Updates.html thezensite: Zen Centers page and a link to the teachings of Kankan Roshi to the commentaries and teisho page.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Never_Tell_Too_Plainly.html thezensite: Philosophy page This is a philosophical investigation of the linguistic strategy of Chinese Chan Buddhism. It examines the underlying structure of Chan communication, which determines the Chan pragmatics of never tell too plainly revealing what the Chan special transmission means. This essay also investigates the different types of the Chan strategies of indirect communication, such as the use of paradoxical, tautological and poetic language, which best demonstrate the principle of never tell too plainly. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Koan_Zen_and_Wittgenstein.html thezensite: Philosophy page Koan Zen is a philosophical practice that bears a strong family resemblance to Wittgenstein’s approach to philosophy.Both koan Zen and Wittgenstein’s method set limits to the reach of philosophical discourse. Each rules metaphysical speculation out of bounds. Neither, however, represents a rejection of the metaphysical. Where Wittgenstein enjoins silence in the face of the unsayable, a silence that allows the metaphysical to show itself, koan Zen calls for concrete demonstrations of that which cannot be captured in rational discourse. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Horse.html thezensite: Philosophy page Thompson looks at the paradox that a white horse is not a horse (pai-ma fei ma) and the Treatise on the White Horse (Pai-ma lun) attributed to Master Kung-sun Lung (fl. 284-259 B.C.) [which] have alternatively astonished and perplexed readers for over two millennia. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Liberating_Language.html thezensite: Philosophy page The aim of this paper is to explicate some unexpected and striking similarities and equally important differences between Wittgenstein methodology and the approach of Chinese Chan or Japanese Zen Buddhism. The Zen approach to life most definitely sheds some light on what Ludwig Wittgenstein was pointing at or trying to show through his kōanic or koan-like use of philosophical problems. Wittgenstein s analysis provides a way for understanding what the Zen master is doing. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Teishos/Harada_Tangen_Teisho.htm thezensite: Commentaries and Teishos Teachings page Harada Tangen is the abbot of the Japanese Zen temple, Bukkokuji, and is a dharma heir of Daiun Sogaku Harada, who some consider the grandfather of the Sanbo Kyodan which was founded by another Sogaku heir, Haku'un Yasutani. This teisho by Harada Tangen urges Zen students to realize their own Buddha-nature and never give up their practice. A typical teisho from this much-loved master. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Dharma_Transmission_Institutions.html thezensite: Critical Zen page Although Zen transmission sometimes brings its own problems, Ford argues that it is essential to know where your teacher came from and who authorized that person to teach. Ford also gives suggestions on what to look for when chosing a teacher. The essay attempts to address some of the issues concerning our emerging western Zen sangha, in particular the relationship between awakening, Dharma transmission and the institutions of Zen. It is Ford's thesis that each of these things, our individual awakening, the confirmation of our experience by our teachers and the institutions that support this work are wound up together as tightly as a well woven cord.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Nagarjuna/Emptiness_Institutional_Suicide.html thezensite: Nagarjuna page Donner argues that the Mahayana philosophy of emptiness, or sunyata, led to the inevitable decline and destruction of Mahayana Buddhism in China. After all, if, as the Mahayana claimed, all teachings and doctrines were empty, without substance, and all objects of faith are phantasms, then what room is there for Buddhism itself? This is an interesting argument, well worth reading. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Keeping_It_Real.html thezensite: Historical Zen page Gidin looks at how Tang and Song Dynasty Chan strove for "authenticity", moving away from any intellectualization and Confucian and Buddhist sicknesses, side effects of its own success. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Aitken_Shimano_Letters.html thezensite: Critical Zen page Based on letters spanning some 20 years from the Robert Aitken Archive held at the University of Hawaii, this is an extraordinary story of how a Zen master, Eido Shimano Roshi, can be accused of sexual impropriety with female sangha members and still maintain the position of abbot and teacher at the first Rinzai monastery outside of Japan. ]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Yasutani_Roshi.html thezensite: History page This is an excerpt of a MA theis in Asian Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, June, 1979. It offers a brief outline of Yasutani Roshi, founder of the Sambokyodan group, first teacher of Robert Aitken, teacher also of Phillip Kapleau and Maezumi Taizan Roshi of Los Angeles. An important figure in Western Zen.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Miscellaneous/Aitken_on_Responsibility.pdf thezensite: Miscellaneous Teachings page This is a talk given to Buddhist Peace Fellowship Membership Gathering on June 23, 2006, when Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, was 89 years old. He ranges over a number of contemporary issues: politics, scandals, Buddhist activism and lay practice.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/FaHien.html thezensite: Historical Zen Essays page Fa Hien (also known as Faxian; Fa-Hsien) was one of the earliest Chinese Buddhists to make the perilous journey to India to bring the Dharma back to China. This is a translation was first published in 1886.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/CriticalZen/Zen_Master_in_America.html thezensite: Critical Zen Essays page Lachs continues to delve into the underbelly of American Zen and questions whether the traditional image of the perfect Zen master is even possible let alone a reality. Lachs' essays are always interesting reads.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/Zen_in_Europe.html thezensite: Miscellaneous Essays page Kone gives an overview of the development of Zen in Europe going from the earliest times to the present. He also discusses issues such as sustainability, legitimacy and authority in European Zen centers.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/ZenOriginsSignificance.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen Wu looks at the similarities between Taoism and Chan.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Zen_Enlightenment.html thezensite: Zen Book Reviews Dumoulin's book is a basic introduction to Zen history rather than enlightenment but it has some flaws making it suitable only for beginners.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/HoriIntroduction.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen Hori is a little more gentle towards Dumoulin than McRae is. The two different Introductions are well work reading.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/McRaeIntroduction.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen This interesting essay by McRae discusses Dumoulin's approach to Zen Buddhist studies and although McRae doesn't necessarily agree with much of Dumoulin, he does acknowledge Dumoulin's contribution to Zen studies.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Overview_Research_LotusSutra.pdf thezensite: Translations and Sutras page This 1994 overview of commentaries on the Lotus Sutra may be of interest to anyone studying this sutra.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Overview_Research_LotusSutra.pdf http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/Belated_Response.html thezensite: Miscellaneous Essays page This is over half a century old and I add it thezensite just for historical purposes. As the contribution made by D. T. Suzuki is re-evaluated today, it is worth looking back to see what was going on when Suzuki was beginning his mission.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/Belated_Response.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Emptiness_of_Christ.html thezensite: Philosophy page Keenan argues that by applying Mahayana concepts of emptiness and dependent co-arising, the conflicting duality between Jesus the man and Jesus the divine can be overcome. An interesting essay that Christian Zennists may enjoy.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Emptiness_of_Christ.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/ManualOfZenBuddhism.pdf thezensite: Miscellaneous Essays page There are better books available but I've put this up for historical purposes only.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Shoes_Outside_the_Door.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_Vol2_Nishijima_Cross.pdf thezensite: Dogen Teachings page Volume 1 is also available at the same location.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Shoes_Outside_the_Door.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Shoes_Outside_the_Door.html thezensite: Zen books reviewed page This is the story of Richard Baker-roshi, the development of the San Francisco Zen Center and how and why Baker-roshi was forced to resign as abbot of the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside of Asia.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Shoes_Outside_the_Door.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Modern_Significance_Lotus_Sutra.html thezensite: Zen Philosophy page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Modern_Significance_Lotus_Sutra.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/The_problem_with_orthodoxy_in_Zen.html thezensite: Zen History page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/The_problem_with_orthodoxy_in_Zen.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/DiscoveryofBuddhasBirthplace.html thezensite Historical Zen page.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/DiscoveryofBuddhasBirthplace.html http://www.thezensite.com/MainPages/ZenBooksReadingList.html http://www.thezensite.com/MainPages/ZenBooksReadingList.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Dream_Conversations.html thezensite: Zen Books Review page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Dream_Conversations.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/PlatformSutra_McRaeTranslation.pdf thezensite: Translations_and_Sutras page This translation of the Platform Sutra is by John R McRae and includes notes, bibliography, glossary and index. 172 pages pdf]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/PlatformSutra_McRaeTranslation.pdf http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Baizhang_Monastic_Regulations.pdf thezensite: Translations_and_Sutras page This translation includes a Glossary of Sanskrit Terms, a Bibliography and an Index. Warning: this document is 426 pages long]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/Baizhang_Monastic_Regulations.pdf http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_Vol1_NishijimaCross.pdf thezensite: Dogen Teachings page This translation includes 6 Appendix sections as well as a Glossary of Sanskrit Terms and a Bibliography. Warning: this document is 514 pages of pdf]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_Vol1_NishijimaCross.pdf http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/nonEnglish/HungarianHsinHsinMing.pdf thezensite: Translations and Sutras page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/nonEnglish/HungarianHsinHsinMing.pdf http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Dereification_in_Zen_Buddhism.html thezensite: Zen Essays: Philosophical page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Dereification_in_Zen_Buddhism.html http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Kasay_Robe.html thezensite: Historical Zen page]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Kasay_Robe.html http://home.pon.net/wildrose/gateless.htm thezensite: Koan Studies page]]> http://home.pon.net/wildrose/gateless.htm http://www.thezensite.com/ZenMasters/Zen_Ancestors_in_China.pdf thezensite: Historical Zen page The author of Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings includes this lineage chart of the 5 Houses of Chinese Zen in his book.]]> http://www.thezensite.com/ZenMasters/Zen_Ancestors_in_China.pdf