Paul Reps

Nyogen Senzaki

When Zen Flesh, Zen Bones was published in 1957 it became an instant sensation with an entire generation of readers who were just beginning to experiment with Zen. Over the years it has inspired leading American Zen teachers, students, and practitioners. Its popularity is as high today as ever. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a book that offers a collection of accessible, primary Zen sources so that readers can struggle over the meaning of Zen for themselves. It includes 101 Zen Stories, a collection of tales that recount actual experiences of Chinese and Japanese Zen teachers over a period of more than five centuries; The Gateless Gate, the famous thirteenth-century collection of Zen koans; Ten Bulls, a twelfth century commentary on the stages of awareness leading to enlightenment; and Centering, a 4,000 year-old teaching from India that some consider to be the roots of Zen.

A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all this time. To find out, she obtained the help of a girl rich in desire. “Go and embrace him,” she told her, “and then ask him suddenly: ‘What now?’” The girl called upon the monk and without much ado caressed him, asking him what he was going to do about it. “An old tree grows on a cold rock in winter,” replied the monk somewhat poetically. “Nowhere is there any warmth.” The girl returned and related what he had said. “To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!” exclaimed the old woman in anger. “He showed no consideration for your need, no disposition to explain your condition. He need not have responded to passion, but at least he could have evidenced some compassion.” She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down. This Zen classic includes the following stories: 1. A Cup of Tea 2. Finding a Diamond on a Muddy Road 3. Is That So? 4. Obedience 5. If You Love, Love Openly 6. No Loving-Kindness 7. Annoucement 8. Great Waves 9. The Moon Cannot Be Stolen 10. The Last Poem of Hoshin 11. The Story of Shunkai 12. Happy Chinaman 13. A Buddha 14. Muddy Road 15. Shoan and His Mother 16. Not Far From Buddhahood 17. Stingy in Teaching 18. A Parable 19. The First Principle 20. A Mother’s Advice 21. The Sound of One Hand 22. My Heart Burns Like Fire 23. Eshun’s Departure 24. Reciting Sutras 25. Three Days More 26. Trading Dialogue For Lodging 27. The Voice of Happiness 28. Open Your Own Treasure House 29. No Water, No Moon 30. Calling Card 31. Everything is Best 32. Inch Time Foot Gem 33. Mokusen’s Hand 34. A Smile in His Lifetime 35. Every-Minute Zen 36. Flower Shower 37. Publishing the Sutras 38. Gisho’s Work 39. Sleeping in the Daytime 40. In Dreamland 41. Joshu’s Zen 42. The Dead Man’s Answer 43. Zen in a Beggar’s Life 44. The Thief Who Became a Disciple 45. Right and Wrong 46. How Grass and Trees Become Enlightened 47. The Stingy Artist 48. Accurate Proportion 49. Black-Nosed Buddha 50. Ryonen’s Clear Realization 51. Sour Miso 52. Your Light May Go Out 53. The Giver Should Be Thankful 54. The Last Will and Testament 55. The Tea-Master and The Assassin 56. The True Path 57. The Gates of Paradise 58. Arresting the Stone Buddha 59. Soldiers of Humanity 60. The Tunnel 61. Gudo and the Emperor 62. In the Hands of Destiny 63. Killing 64. Kasan Sweat 65. The Subjugation of a Ghost 66. Children of His Majesty 67. What Are You Doing! What Are You Saying! 68. One Note of Zen 69. Eating the Blame 70. The Most Valuable Thing in the World 71. Learning to Be Silent 72. The Blockhead Lord 73. Ten Successors 74. True Reformation 75. Temper 76. The Stone Mind 77. No Attachment to Dust 78. Real Prosperity 79. Incense Burner 80. The Real Miracle 81. Just Go to Sleep 82. Nothing Exists 83. No Work, No Food 84. True Friends 85. Time to Die 86. The Living Buddha and the Tubmaker 87. Three Kinds of Disciples 88. How to Write a Chinese Poem 89. Zen Dialogue 90. The Last Rap 91. The Taste of Banzo’s Sword 92. Fire-Poker Zen 93. Storyteller’s Zen 94. Midnight Excursion 95. A Letter to a Dying Man 96. A Drop of Water 97. Teaching the Ultimate 98. Non-Attachment 99. Tosui’s Vinegar 100. The Silent Temple 101. Buddha’s Zen

101 Zen Stories

Jordi Fibla

101 cuentos zen

Roko Sherry Chayat

Eido Shimano

This new book, Eloquent Silence, brings depth and breadth to our knowledge and appreciation of this historic figure. For the first time, we can read Nyogen Senzaki's commentaries on the complete Gateless Gate, as well as on several cases from the Blue Rock Collection and the Book of Equanimity; and transcriptions of his talks on Zen, esoteric Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, what it means to be a Buddhist monk, and many other subjects. Eloquent Silence also includes poems in Nyogen Senzaki's beautiful calligraphic hand (and his own translations); two early letters to his teacher, Soyen Shaku (who represented Japan at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893), as well as a partial autobiography of Soyen Shaku; a series of letters in response to an article by Nyogen Senzaki that was severely critical of the Japanese Zen establishment; and rare photographs. Roko Sherry Chayat has edited Nyogen Senzaki's words with sensitivity and grace, retaining his wry, probing style yet bringing clarity and accessibility to these remarkably contemporary teachings.

Nyogen Senzaki's Gateless Gate and Other Previously Unpublished Teachings and Letters

Eloquent Silence

Sōen Nakagawa

Eidō Shimano

A Transmission of Zen Buddhism to America

Namu Dai Bosa

Ruth Stout McCandless

This book of koans contains some of the most important Zen sayings of all time along with insightful commentary. Koans are the intellectually unsolvable problem-riddles at the core of the Rinzai tradition of Zen Buddhism, perhaps the most well-known one being "what is the sound of one hand clapping." Though widely recognized, most koan remain narrowly understood. In this new edition of The Iron Flute, one hundred of the most challenging and enlightening koan from the Chinese Chan (Zen) patriarchs of the Tang and Sung dynasties are presented, along with commentary from the great Zen masters Genro, Fugai, and Nyogen, and an in-depth biography of author Nyogen Senzaki (1876-1958), a pioneer in bringing Zen Buddhism to the West. The Iron Flute stands alone as the definitive work on koan-an essential pathway to the tenets and practice of Zen Buddhism.

100 Zen Koans

Iron Flute

This is the extended and annotated edition including * an extensive annotation of more than 10.000 words about the history and basics of Buddhism, written by Thomas William Rhys Davids This is one of the most known collections of almost 50 Zen koans. A kōan is a fundamental part of the history and lore of Zen Buddhism. It consists of a story, dialogue, question, or statement, the meaning of which cannot be understood by rational thinking but may be accessible through intuition or lateral thinking

Nyogen Senzaki

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