Reddit reviews The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma (English and Chinese Edition)

Zen teachings of Bodhidharma:

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Teaching-Bodhidharma-English-Chinese/dp/0865473994

Translations of the texts known as the Six Gates of the Shaolin, a collection of early Zen work.

The problem is that primary sources are almost invariably misunderstood or taken in a shallow perspective if one is not also receiving guidance and doing practice. When the teachings are put into perspective through direct experience, which happens through the correct application of effort and activity, then they can gradually be digested. But trying to get it from a book often enough has something of an opposite effect: the mind gets hung up on concepts and less able to perceive truth directly.

If you insist on reading, I implore you to avoid koan collections until you are actually trained in the practice and assigned the work by your teacher. Speculation about koans is the worst of the worst, a common hell-pit of Zen, which we see so often on these very forums. It not only creates a huge block for the one doing the speculating, it muddies the waters for countless others dipping their toes in. Speculation leads to false pride, posturing, and a house of cards that at some point will be torn down.

Two original texts that come to mind as basis for the study of Zen are The Zen Teaching Of Bodhidharma translated by Red Pine, and The Zen Teaching Of Huang Po translated by John Blofeld.

Bodhidharma was the First (Chinese) Patriarch of Zen. His teaching is quite foundational. The teaching of Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch, was quite formative and represented an evolution from Bodhidharma's view, but without commentary it tends to be less accessible than that of the later Master Huang Po. By Huang Po's time, Zen had already evolved a great deal, and had split into factions with their own perspectives, training, and method.

Note that the Huang Po translator, Blofeld, sometimes gets the concept wrong, because he himself hadn't achieved that depth of training and insight. The translation suffers from shallow view at times; but someone experienced in right practice can trace the words back to their original intent and make sense of the translation.

Other primary sources from the Golden Age Of Zen include the aforementioned Hui Neng, Pai Chang, Hui Hai, and Ta Hui. Very evolved teachings can be found with Chinul in Korea and, sometimes considered the peak, Dogen in Japan. Several others along the way left their distinctive mark, such as Hakuin.

To distinguish between the teachings and understand them in a way that is useful for practice and life, first, receiving teaching and making gradual progress in practice are essential; second, understanding the difference between the three types of Zen (Patriarchal/Ancestral, Doctrinal, and Tathagata) would be very helpful. This is where the western-white-people commentators come in, bridging the gap between a view that is by nature beyond words, and the mind of the common person seeking to understand -- including the rigid or naive conceptualization of those who haven't yet made much progress in practice.

Please take to heart that a minute of practice is better than ten hours of reading, and that "one time seeing is better than a thousand times hearing". We shake our heads at those who try to get something beyond words by pursuing words.

Be aware of r/Buddhism as a resource. I recommend avoiding r/zen, which has devolved into a shitty mire of confusion, speculation, and posturing.

Buy the book and look up the page then read what I posted. Stop guessing. (Red Pine spends a lot of time in China and has met plenty of Chinese Zen masters).

Those aren't books of instruction, ewk. They are popular collections of certain people's enlightenment encounters.

Is Red Pine's translation of Bodhidharma not a direct teaching? Are letters of practice instructions from Foyan, Yuanwu, and Hongzhi not direct teachings? I suppose that Takuan Soho's instructions to Munenori on maintaining no-mind in daily life doesn't count either?

Why is it better for novices to dive deep into stories about Gutei's finger or think about whether the flag moves or not than it is to read directly from Huangpo? Isn't that like asking a baby to chew a piece of meat?

Good way to be. If you like Zen, you should pick up this one or this one.

Here is the whole paragraph.

>"And the Mind is the Buddha. And the Buddha is the Path. And the Path is Zen. But the word Zen is one that remains a puzzle to both mortals and sages. Seeing your true nature is Zen. Unless you see your nature, it's not Zen" (http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Teaching-Bodhidharma/dp/0865473994).

If you want to know what came first in terms of specifically "Zen" teachings, the sermons of Bodhidharma ought to fit the bill. Red Pine's translations are a good place to start.

But there is no one "official" book as such, I wouldn't say; although you might get different answers depending on who you ask.