(Part 2) Top products from r/zen

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We found 76 product mentions on r/zen. We ranked the 443 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Top comments that mention products on r/zen:

u/CaseyAPayne · 5 pointsr/zen

>What is meditation?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation

My point is there is no single definition. You have to ask the question in the context of something.

>What does Shakyamuni has to say about it?

I don't think the word "meditation" existed in his time. You'd have to use something more specific.

>What does Bodhidharma has to say about it?

>>MANY roads lead to the Path 1, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion. Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who meditate on walls 2, the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by scriptures are in complete and unspoken agreement with reason. Without moving, without effort, they enter, we say, by reason.

>>Footnote 2: Walls. After he arrived in China, Bodhidharma spent nine years in meditation facing the rock wall of a cave near Shaolin Temple. Bodhidharma’s walls of emptiness connect all opposites, including self and other, mortal and sage.

Outline of Practice, from The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, This appears to be the only text that scholars agree is likely from Bodhidharma and this is the only section in the text that uses "meditation" or "meditate". There are three additional texts in the book, some of which include "meditate" or "meditation", but scholars think they were likely written posthumously and attributed to him later.


>What later zen masters have to say about it?

Depends on who you include in your list of "Zen masters". Depending on how broad or narrow you make your list it could range from meditation is the only way to get enlightened all the way to meditation might hinder your ability to becoming enlightened (or perhaps make it impossible), and anything in between. Or even something outside of that scope.


>What do you have to say about it. Do you practise it? How you do it?

Meditation seems to be a critical component to integrating any kind of "enlightenment experience" into life in the "real world", but that statement also depends of your view of "enlightenment experiences" or your experience with "enlightenment experiences".

Yes, I do practice.

I sit in half/full lotus on a meditation cushion with a meditation mat underneath. Both knees touching the mat for stability. I close my eyes and sit there. Sometimes for a minute. Sometimes for an hour.

I do not believe meditation is a requirement for "enlightenment" nor do I believe regular meditation is a requirement for maintaining one's "enlightened state". That said, the odds seem to be stacked towards meditation being useful for "enlightenment" as well as being useful for maintaining an "enlightened state".

Everyone has to figure out what works for them.

u/songhill · 1 pointr/zen

Read Zen Dawn; end your delusion

Here is what some readers have to say about Zen Dawn:


>Zen Dawn brings the same spiritual excitement to Buddhism as reading the New Testament does to Christians, but better. These texts have only just come to light in the 20th Century. They give the feel of communicating directly with those who practiced and formulated the ancient Zen wisdom in China in the 8th Century. Scholars will love them, but the down-to-earth practicality of their content will appeal to the ordinary Zen student. For example, one learns that 'paramita' means "reaching the other shore." I always wondered what it meant. However, Bodhidarma also goes on to explain the symbolism of it which in essence means that when one's "worldly dust" has been cleaned up, it enables us to escape from affliction, or, in other words, "reach the other shore." This is something everyone is striving for, each in their own way. The six paramitas or six perfections describe how to go about cleaning up our worldly dust. This way works for everyone!

>In places this book can fall deeply into esotericism. This will appeal to those who also like physics. For example, Hongren may be touching upon the physics theory that all time is happening at once when he speaks of birth and birthlessness, quoting Nagarjuna: "Phenomena are neither born of themselves, nor born of others nor born of self and others together, nor are they born without a casual basis. Thus we know: there is no birth."

>If you love Zen, you will love this book.

u/dharmadoor · 4 pointsr/zen

If you are interested in Zen, you might enjoy the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tsu "Inner Chapters". Just as the Zen tradition has roots in Buddhism, it also has cultural and philosophical roots in "philosophical" Taoism. The Tao of Zen goes into great detail on this, and many of Red Pine's translations of Zen works include occasional Taoist and other cultural references in the commentary. The Zen tradition was not born in a vacuum. The Tao Te Ching reads a lot like the Trust in Mind poem and Chuang Tsu has encounter stories like the early Zen works. Yes, there is also some "magic" and "immortality" here and there, but in the works of Lao Tsu and Chuang Tsu, there isn't much and it could be considered mostly metaphorical anyway. Zen and philosophical Taoism share some basic foundations. Tao (the "Way") is like the "unborn" (Mind), for example. (The Chinese word for mind, hsin, also means heart or essence.) The interplay of duality is also a major topic. Zen adepts are sometimes referred to as "followers of the Way" in Zen works. But whereas Taoists aim to "balance" and "harmonize" with the Tao, Zen practitioners (and maybe even Buddhists) may be said to "abide in the unborn", perhaps by "neither abiding nor not abiding". Both make heavy use of paradox and contradiction, though there seems to be more negation in Zen writings, at least as far as I can tell. The same goes for the Buddhist writings that pre-date the historical Zen foundation of Zen in China, such as the Diamond Sutra and Lankavatara Sutra. Hope that helps.

u/aggrolite · 0 pointsr/zen

Sure, no prob!

I don't know if it helps, but zazen has been described as goalless meditation. Not reaching for any special state, just sitting. Maybe you already know that, and again I don't know how it compares to vipassana. :)

Shobogenzo is cool. The most popular version nowadays is the Kaz translation. At least in the San Francisco area. Brad Warner prefers his teacher's version, says the translation is more accurate. I've only read bits and pieces of both, but I think the Kaz version is easier to read. Feels more poetic I guess. Though only downside I've noticed is the chapter titles are in English, while most people refer to their Japanese titles (Uji vs Being Time, etc.).

Dogen also wrote Fukanzazengi which instructs how to practice zazen. It's pretty cool, and I remember a monk at SFZC reading parts of it when I took the intro class. Actually, I should really read it again.

This stuff should really be stickied, but that's a whole other can of worms, haha. Maybe r/zenbuddhism could put something together.

u/apollotiger · 2 pointsr/zen

The Tao Te Ching is also neat (if not strictly Zen) – the Taoist influence on Zen is pretty strong. For the poetry of it, I’m really fond of the translation by Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng, but in terms of a helpful explanation of the text, I really like Wai-tao’s translation included in Dwight Goddard’s compilation A Buddhist Bible. A Buddhist Bible is also an amazing compilation that I love (my copy’s gotten pretty beat up over the less-than-a-year that I’ve had it), but I’m not sure how helpful it is specifically in terms of understanding Zen.

(If you want to read really difficult but very integral Zen text, I’ve also started reading the Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross translation of Master Dogen’s Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye.)

u/ozogot · 5 pointsr/zen

LINJI RULES! CAODONG DROOLS!

Lump of red flesh translates 赤肉團上, which refers to either the physical heart or the physical body. The expression undoubtedly derives from the following passage in the Chanyuan zhuquanji duxu 禪源諸詮集都序 (Preface to the Anthology of essential writings on the origins of Chan), a work by the Chan and Huayan master Guifeng Zongmi:

>Regarding the word 心, in short there are four kinds. The Sanskrit word for each is diff erent and the translation of each is also diff erent. First, 紇利陀那 [the Chinese transliteration of Skr., “hṛdāya”], which is called “the fl esh-lump heart” 肉團心. Th is is the heart which is one of the fi ve organs within the body.

True man without rank translates 無 位眞人, a term coined by Linji that is one of the key expressions in his presentation of Chan. “True man” 眞人 was originally a term for the ideal, perfected adept of Taoism. Th e best-known, and perhaps earliest, appearance of the term is in the “Dazongshi” 大宗師 chapter of the Zhuangzi 莊子, where the characteristics of the classic Taoist “true man” are described in detail.

In Buddhist works from the Later Han on, the term was used to designate fully enlightened disciples of the Buddha, i.e., completed arhats. Later, “true man” 眞人 was also applied to bodhisattvas.

Face is an abbreviated form of the text’s “face-gate” 面門, an exclusively Buddhist term that originally meant “mouth.” Later the term acquired the more general meaning of “face,” with particular reference to the sense organs, a meaning that it seems to have here.

It is possible, however, that in Linji’s time the word was used for the face itself, since we find the master saying later in the text, “Don’t have the seal of sanction stamped haphazardly upon your face 面門 by any old teacher from anywhere” (see page 194).

The source of the specific phrase in our text is a passage from the long poem Xinwang ming 心王銘 (Verses on the Mind King), attributed to Fu Dashi.

The poem, having referred to the Mind King, who, for all his importance, is not evident to the senses, goes on to say:

>The salt put in water / The glue put in paint—
Certainly these are present / But we cannot see their form.
The Mind King is also thus / Abiding within the body,
Going in and out the [gate of the] face / In response to things, according to their feelings.
Freely and without hindrance / All his undertakings are accomplished

In the original translation Sasaki renders the Chinese, 乾屎橛, as “shit-wiping stick,” saying that the term literally means a “cleaning-off -dung-stick,” a smooth stick of bamboo used in place of toilet paper, with 乾 being the verb “to clean.”

However, Sasaki’s chief researcher for Tang-dynasty slang, Iriya Yoshitaka, subsequently came to believe that the correct interpretation is “stick-shaped piece of dung” (Iriya 1989, 21).

A similar usage is found in the Dahui Pujue Chanshi yulu 大慧普覺禪師語 錄 (Record of Chan Master Dahui Pujue), where the two characters 屎麼 form a noun-compound:

>“I say to [such stupid monks], ‘You’re biting on the dung-sticks of others. You’re not even good dogs!’” (t 47: 872a).

HAHA CAODONG IS DOGS!

The yk has, “[A monk asked,] ‘What is Śākya’s body?’ The master (Yunmen) said, ‘A dung-wiper!’” (t 47: 550b). In the zj 19 the passage parallel to that in the ll reads, “What kind of filthy thing is he?” 是什麼不淨之物.

Sasaki’s other collaborator, Yanagida Seizan, interprets the term to mean “useless dung stick,” explaining that 乾 does not have its usual meaning of “dry,” but is synonymous with the homophonous 閑, “useless” (Yanagida 1977, 52). Regardless of the details of the interpretation, the intention is obviously the same.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Record-Nanzan-Library-Religion-Culture/dp/0824833198

u/Fallen1331 · 1 pointr/zen

Also, they are without produced nature
亦無生性. See the Northern Nirvana
Sutra:


The impure dharmas, even before they
come into being, already have birth-nature
生性; hence it is through birth that they
can come into being. Th e pure dharmas are
originally without birth-nature 無生性; for
this reason their coming into being cannot
be through birth. Like fi re, which has an
original [burning-]nature and which, on
chancing to meet a cause, bursts into fl ame;
like the eye, which has a seeing nature and
because of color, light, and mind, therefore
sees; so too are sentient beings. Because
they originally possess [birth-]nature, on
chancing to meet the causal conditions
and come in contact with karma, they are
conceived when their fathers and mothers
are in harmonious union. (t 12: 490c)
For these terms as used in the Weishi 唯
識 (Consciousness-Only) school, see the
entry 三無性 in Mochizuki Bukkyō daijiten
2:1686c–1687a.


They are just empty names, and these
names are also empty.
See Vimalakīrti’s
reply to Mañjuśrī’s questions regarding
his illness:

When [the Bodhisattva] attains to this
sameness, there is no other illness; there
is only the illness of emptiness, and the
illness of emptiness is also empty.” (t 14:
545a)

Th e interpretation of these lines is based
upon the Zhu Weimojie jing 注維摩詰
經, the commentary on the Vimalakīrti
Sutra said to have been compiled by Seng-
zhao from notes on Kumārajīva’s lectures
given during the translation of the sutra,
plus the comments of Sengzhao and sev-
eral other disciples (t 38: 377a). Just as
Linji in the previous section character-
ized the dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, and
nirmāṇakāya as “dependent transforma-
tions” (see pages 162 and 209, above), so
here he uses the same term to character-
ize the states of nirvana, bodhi, etc.—all
generally considered to be absolute or
transcendental—as relative or dependent
states.


The objective surroundings and the
subjective mind translates
境智, a term
explained at length by the Tiantai mas-
ter Zhiyi in his Si nianchu 四念處 (Four
foundations of mindfulness) (t 46: 575a).
It was apparently familiar to the compil-
ers of the Dunhuang Platform Sutra of
the Sixth Patriarch, where, in section 17,
we fi nd:

No-thought 無念 means not to be defi led
by external objects. It is to free thought
from external objects and not to arouse
thoughts about dharmas. But do not stop
thinking about things, nor eliminate all
thoughts. [If you do so] as soon as a single
thought stops you will be reborn in other
realms. Take heed of this! Do not cease
objective things nor subjective mind (境
智). (See Yampolsky 1967, 51.)


Th e term may have been introduced into
the Chan school by Yongjia Xuanjue, who
was a student of Tiantai before studying
under the Sixth Patriarch, since we find
the following in the Chanzong Yongjia ji
禪宗永嘉集 (Anthology of Yongjia of the
Chan School):

He who aspires to seek the great Way
must fi rst of all make pure the three acts
[of body, word, and thought] through
pure practice. Th en, in the four forms of
demeanor—sitting, standing, walking, and
lying—he will enter the Way by degrees.
When he has reached the state where the
objects of the six roots have been thor-
oughly penetrated while conforming with
conditions, and the objective world and
the subjective mind 境智 both have been
stilled, he will mysteriously meet with the
marvelous principle. (t 48: 388b)

Another example of its usage in Chan is
in zj 18. Guishan Lingyou asks his disciple
Yangshan Huiji if he can judge the teach-
ers and disciples who come to see him.


“Th ere are students coming from every-
where. When they ask you about Caoxi’s
(the Sixth Patriarch’s) cardinal principle,
how do you answer them?” [Yangshan]
said, “[I ask,] ‘Virtuous one, where have
you come from recently?’ The student
may answer, ‘Recently I have come from
visiting old worthies everywhere.’ I shall
thereupon bring forward an objective
circumstance and ask, ‘Do the old wor-
thies everywhere speak about this or not?’
Another time I bring out an objective cir-
cumstance and say, ‘Putting aside this for
the time being, tell me what is the cardinal
principle of the old worthies everywhere?’
Th e above two are cases of objective cir-
cumstance and subjective mind 境智.”

Waste paper to wipe off privy filth.
A similarly iconoclastic statement by
Linji’s contemporary Deshan Xuanjian is
recorded in zh 20: “Th e twelve divisions
of the teachings are the census-records
of demons and spirits, paper [fi t only] for
cleaning running sores” (x 79: 173a). For a
translation of the entire passage, see page
169, above.


But you, weren’t you born of a mother?
This rather cryptic remark undoubtedly
refers to the “original nature” or “original
face” with which everyone is born. See
the following lines in Nanyue Mingzan’s
poem Ledao ge 樂道歌 (Song of enjoying
the Way):

Don’t blindly seek the true buddha / Th e
true buddha cannot be seen.
Th e wondrous nature and the marvelous
mind / How could they ever have been
tempered and refi ned!
My mind is the nothing-to-do mind / My
face, the face born of my mother.
Th ough the kalpa-stone may be worn
away / Th is is changeless forever.
(t 51: 461b)

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Record-Nanzan-Library-Religion-Culture/dp/0824833198

Sorry for the formatting im on mobile.

u/ludwigvonmises · 1 pointr/zen

I always recommend engaging with primary source works (translated, naturally...), but some people are not ready to grapple with Yuanwu's collection of koans or with Linji yet.

Some initial works to start out:

u/ferruix · 1 pointr/zen

I liked the book also.

I recommend that you read Foyan's Instant Zen, translated by Thomas Cleary.

The best way to buy that book is as part of Cleary's collection, Classics of Buddhism and Zen: Volume 1, which contains four other good Zen texts as well.

u/Pistaf · 1 pointr/zen

It's my pleasure and I hope you enjoy it!

After that, if you haven't already, maybe you can check out Cold Mountain

u/Pangyun · 1 pointr/zen
u/Dillon123 · 1 pointr/zen

Do you deny this is the copy to sell the book?
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-One-Hand-Answers-Classics/dp/1681370220

>When The Sound of the One Hand came out in Japan in 1916 it caused a scandal. Zen was a secretive practice, its wisdom relayed from master to novice in strictest privacy. That a handbook existed recording not only the riddling koans that are central to Zen teaching but also detailing the answers to them seemed to mark Zen as rote, not revelatory.

>For all that, The Sound of the One Hand opens the door to Zen like no other book. Including koans that go back to the master who first brought the koan teaching method from China to Japan in the eighteenth century, this book offers, in the words of the translator, editor, and Zen initiate Yoel Hoffmann, “the clearest, most detailed, and most correct picture of Zen” that can be found. What we have here is an extraordinary introduction to Zen thought as lived thought, a treasury of problems, paradoxes, and performance that will appeal to artists, writers, and philosophers as well as Buddhists and students of religion.

u/adamjohnson182 · 1 pointr/zen

The Eight Gates of Zen is one of my favorites by far.

And I just started to read The Golden Age of Zen which seems excellent so far, it is about Chinese Zen (Chan) and the old masters.

u/GreenSage45 · 1 pointr/zen

Haha that's awesome.

Is this the book you're talking about?

Or is it an article or book about the sex scandals?

Regardless, I wouldn't say he was confused either.

Just saying not every piece of metal sticking out of a board of wood is a nail. Sometimes it's a screw. But usually, if it looks like a nail, it's a nail and it needs a hammer.

u/tostono · 1 pointr/zen

Ok. There's numerous examples of his reinterpretations of Daoist and Buddhist concepts in his record here.

I'd also recommend this letter by Yuanwu about Linji which is found in Zen Letters.

u/Temicco · 6 pointsr/zen

Oh, no need to apologize anyway. There's just a lot of... backstory.

You'll need to couple source material like the below with the above historical scholarship if you want to come to a full understanding.

As for some primary sources:

Tang dynasty teachers who were students of Mazu (one of the most influential Zen teachers ever)

Dazhu (although, relevant)

Huangbo

Baizhang (this text is prohibitively expensive on Amazon, so look in local libraries.)

Song dynasty teachers

Yuanwu (1, 2)

Hongzhi (1, 2) (note, take Taigen dan Leighton's introduction to Cultivating the Empty Field with a grain of salt, as he's a shitty scholar. He basically just misrepresents Hongzhi and Dahui's relationship. See Schlutter's How Zen Became Zen for more details.)

Song dynasty kanhua Chan teachers (kanhua is the main approach to Zen in both Rinzai and Seon)

Dahui (Yuanwu's student)

Wumen

A Japanese Zen teacher

Bankei (1, 2)

A Korean Zen teacher

Daehaeng (1, 2, 3)

___

Note that this leaves out huge swathes of the literature, including all of the literature associated with the East Mountain teaching, the Northern school, the Oxhead school, Soto, most of Rinzai, Obaku, most of Seon, etc. Of course, some people with more fixed and essentialist ideas of what "Zen" is object to the idea that some of these other schools/lineages are actually "Zen". Use your own head. (I'm not saying they're necessarily wrong; I'm just saying that once you feel comfortable with the basics, start to think critically about Zen and your own study of it, including e.g. how you would decide which teachings to follow, and why.)

There's no roster of "Zen masters^TM " anywhere, so the above is a bit of a random mix of my own choosing.

While reading, note what people say and ask yourself questions -- where do they agree? Where do they disagree? If they disagree, should that be reconciled or not, and why?

Some more pointed questions to ask for each book: What can one do to reach awakening? What ways to reach awakening are preferred over others? What practices and doctrines are criticized? Is there any cultivation necessary at any point along the path? If yes, what is to be cultivated? If the teacher is talking about the teachings of earlier masters, are those teachers being represented accurately, or are extrinsic frameworks being laid onto them to fit the later teacher's presentation of Zen? If you had to sum up the teacher's teaching in a slogan, what would it be?

Really, the main thing is that you can think critically about what you're reading, but the above reading list and approach would give you a really solid foundation for the things people tend to talk about on this forum.

u/ewk · 2 pointsr/zen
  1. I think I linked to this: https://www.reddit.com//r/zen/wiki/dhyana; D.T. Suzuki wrote a book about the meaning and usage of dhyana in Zen, called Zen Doctrine of No-Mind
  2. Exercise is important. Doing what you like isn't important.
u/rockytimber · 1 pointr/zen

Zen wasn't interested in Taoism. Yet the word Dao/Tao is frequently used in zen. One of my favorite books is the Tao of Zen, by Ray Grigg. https://www.amazon.com/Tao-Zen-Ray-Grigg/dp/0785811257

Its based heavily on The Way of Zen.

u/EnlistedHipster · 1 pointr/zen

Try picking up a copy of Dogen's Shobogenzo. I like the Nishijima and Cross translation here: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Dogens-Shobogenzo-Book-1/dp/1419638203

u/jayuhfree · 2 pointsr/zen

Ikkyu: The Crow with No Mouth

  • “don't wait for the man standing in the
    snow
    to cut off his arm help him now”
  • “we're lost where the mind can't find us
    utterly lost”
  • “it isn't that we're alone or not alone
    whose voice do you want mine? yours?”
  • “Hearing a crow with no mouth
    Cry in the deep
    Darkness of the night,
    I feel a longing for
    My father before he was born.”
  • “fucking flattery, success, money.
    I just sit back and suck my thumb.”
  • “that stone Buddha deserves all the
    birdshit it gets
    I wave my skinny arms like a tall
    flower in the wind”
  • “I'd love to give you something
    but what would help?”
  • “clouds very high look
    not one word helped them get up there”
  • “born born everything is always born
    thinking about it try not to”

    Transmission of Light: Zen in the Art of Enlightenment by Zen Master Keizan
u/koalazen · 1 pointr/zen

The flag and bodhidharma has no beard one are from the gateless gate.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/glg/index.htm
If you want a paper version I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Gateless-Gate-Classic-Book-Koans/dp/0861713826 and I like the commentaries.

u/wordsfail · 1 pointr/zen

It can be useful to come in contact with words and letters especially when they "point" to consciousness beyond words and letters, without desires, aversions, and delusions. If words were altogether useless, those masters would have said nothing on the subject. It seems that many of the old masters did just that a lot of the time (said nothing). The words are the opening gambit, it's all changing experience.

u/infinite_sustain · 1 pointr/zen

Baizhang is available in this Cleary translation:

Sayings and Doings of Pai Chang

u/essentialsalts · 2 pointsr/zen

You can find Cleary’s translation collected in Zen Dawn, also including Shenxiu’s Bodhidharma Treatise and the Sudden Enlightenment Treatise.

u/universal_linguist · 1 pointr/zen

You should pick up a book called "The Gateless Gate." I'll just say this about your post: "If you have tasted kensho, wash away its glamour."

EDIT: Also it's "attained some realization." The monk was not suddenly enlightened from this.

u/theksepyro · 1 pointr/zen

Huangbo:
1
2

Linji: 1 (this is the copy that I have, after discussing it here it sounded better) 2

Bankei: 1 2

etc.

Edit: My university professor translated the xinxinming (based off of lok to's translation) and chunks of the platform sutra (original work i believe), and i've got a copy of that. he suggests for further reading on the platform sutra to read 1 2 3 (as well as zen doctrine of no mind! ha!)

u/enxenogen · 2 pointsr/zen

The Tao of Zen, 1999.

Let zen, be zen. Historical and analytical views are interesting, but often a distraction.

u/mojo-power · 1 pointr/zen

What about Baizhang Huaihai (720–814) between Mazu and Huang Po, as student and teacher accordingly.

Sayings and Doings of Pai-chang

PDF version

u/monkey_sage · 1 pointr/zen

> Well it isn't only books

Yes it is. Here, I'll copy and paste the whole damn thing:

  1. New to Zen reading list

    Sayings of Zen Master Joshu- Green Translation
    Joshu (Zhaozhou) is known for his short, one or two sentences answers to questions about Zen study.

    Mumonkan, a book of instruction, poetry and Cases for novices written by Zen Master Mumon (Wumen)
    Perhaps the single most famous Zen text, it is an alarmingly short book, made more alarming by it's lack of instruction and complexity.
    R.H. Blyth's Zen and Zen Classics series, particularly volumes 2, 3, and 4 (Mumonkan), are essential texts for anyone new to Zen. These books are out of print, the Japanese publisher has gone out of business, but sites like Terebess.hu hosts electronic copies and random Redditors may also be able to direct you to electronic versions.

    Zen Teaching of Huang Po
    For anyone familiar with Buddhist doctrines, Huangbo's sayings and lectures serve as an excellent introduction to Zen and how Zen is incompatible with Buddhism.

    Give it up for the Legendary Yunmen! Back in Print! Still short, pithy, and smack talky! http://www.amazon.com/Master-Yunmen-From-Record-Clouds/dp/1568360053

  2. Overview of the flavor of Zen:

    R.H. Blyth: Zen and Zen Classics, Volume 2: Huineng to Yunmen
    R.H. Blyth: Zen and Zen Classics, Volume 3: Dongshan and Mazu and their heirs
    R.H. Blyth: Zen and Zen Classics, Volume 4: Munonkan (Wumenguan), The penultiment Zen text

  3. Shorter Zen texts

    In order of the complexity of the language, references, constructions from less to more.

    Sayings texts, Zhaozhou (Joshu), Yunmen (Ummon), the book by Wumen (Mumon) called The Gateless Gate. Also the poem by the 3rd Patriarh, Faith In Mind.
    The sayings with lectures texts, Foyan and after that, Huangbo (Huang Po).
    The books written by Zen Masters Yuanwu (Blue Cliff Record) and Wansong (Book of Serenity, Cleary trans.)
    The Platform Sutra, the bodhidharma attributed texts, stuff from Dunhuang.

  4. Books by Zen Masters

    Mumonkan, a book of instruction, poetry and Cases for novices written by Zen Master Mumon (Wumen) and a poorer translation w/ Chinese
    Perhaps the single most famous Zen text it is an alarming short book, made more alarming by it's lack of instruction and complexity.

    Book of Serenity
    Written by Wansong, this is the definitive text on the Caodong lineage. Buddhist priests in the last few decades have been trying to republish the book deleting Wansong's text and inserting religious sermons.

    Blue Cliff Record
    Written by Yuanwu, this is very long and very famous book of Zen instruction, Cases and poems in the same format as Book of Serenity.

  5. Zen texts that reject Philosophy

    Foyan - Instant Zen

    Mumonkan

    Yunmen

  6. Zen Texts that reject Buddhist doctrines

    Huangbo

    Foyan - Instant Zen

    Yunmen

  7. Zen texts with the most jokes

    Joshu (Zhaozhou)

    Layman Pang

    Yunmen

  8. Mellow Zen Reading

    (especially if you skip right to the Zen sections)

    Foyan - Instant Zen - Instant Zen

    Mazu - Sun Face Buddha

    Zhaozhou - Sayings of Zen Master Joshu

  9. Why Japanese "Zen-Buddhism" is not Zen

    Scholarship:

    Bielefeldt's Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation: Dogen didn't study Zen, Dogen invented Zazen prayer-meditation, Dogen was a fraud and a plagiarist.

    The Sound of One Hand, Hoffmann tras.: Hakuin's "answer key" to Zen koans, kept secret until publication in 1918, provides the answers monks have to give to get certified by the Rinzai church.

    Pruning The Bodhi Tree: A collection of essays about the doctrinal basis of Japanese Buddhism, the irreconcilable conflicts with Zen, and the attempt at a Critical Buddhist reformation.

    The Zen Doctrine of No-Mind by D.T. Suzuki. Exploring why "Zen" never meant "meditation"

    https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.57108/2015.57108.Zen-Doctrine-Of-No-Mind_djvu.txt
    See also r/zen/wiki/dhyana

  10. Naked Ambition

    Dahui's Shobogenzo, Vol. 1-2:
    Volume 1: https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Eye-True-Teaching-I-ebook/dp/B01N3BJK1Y/
    Volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Eye-True-Teaching-II-ebook/dp/B06XPMTL23/

    Blue Cliff Record, Cleary trans.

    Book of Serenity, Cleary trans.

  11. Texts from the real Caodong/Soto lineage

    Wansong's Book of Serenity, translated by Cleary https://www.amazon.com/Book-Serenity-One-Hundred-Dialogues/dp/1570623813
    Book of Serenity was written by Wansong himself
    Other books having that title are not Zen texts, regardless of religious claims
    Dongshan's Recorded Sayings of Tung-shan. https://www.amazon.com/Record-Tung-Shan-Classics-Asian-Buddhism/dp/0824810708
    Dongshan, aka Tung-shan, was the first Caodong Master. Caodong comes from "Caoshan + Dongshan". Caoshan was one of Dongshan's dharma heirs.
    Zen and Zen Classics, Vol. 3, by R.H. Blyth