(Part 3) Top products from r/zen

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Zen-Birds-Appetite-New-Directions-Paperbook-Merton/081120104X/

> "Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite--one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing, ' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ

>True. I just think emphasis is perhaps more essential than name.

Yeah, from a practice point of view, one should treat the differences very seriously. It's the critical historians who like to insinuate that it was mostly rhetorical.

>the actual Jatakas were kind of entertaining, anyway, and their mere presence doesn't mean Chan would have been all hard-line about rebirth

I agree these stories are also very entertaining. Sometimes, those who grew up in predominantly Christian cultures have a hard time seeing humour and entertainment as anything other than secular pursuits. My experience is that Chinese religions very frequently incorporate humour and irreverence, and that these are quite compatible with an attitude of religious piety. So Westerners see Yunmen calling Buddha a "shit-stick", and think there's no way he could possibly have been a pious Buddhist. I disagree with that.

I suppose I'm waiting to find a clear indication from a traditional Chan source that rebirth is nothing more than a fancy joke. Until then, I'm going to assume the teaching was taken seriously.

>I don't know if it was you I already asked, but how/when did you learn Classical Chinese?

My undergraduate degree was in Chinese Studies. I got the opportunity to take a course in basic Classical Chinese around my second or third year, and a more advanced course in my fourth year. (Sadly, the latter course has since been axed at my institution.) I just kept at it when I began postgrad studies. The first year of my PhD was pretty much all spent translating Chan texts. That was a great year.

I'm on leave right now, and might never return (?), but last time I was lecturing I was the course co-ordinator for the same introductory Classical Chinese subject which I'd taken as an undergrad. And also for a complimentary subject in Chinese philosophy, which dealt with much the same sources albeit in English translation.

EDIT: btw, if you are going to learn Tibetan and Chinese, you might be able to do work on the Tibetan Zen corpus from Dunhuang. Sometimes those Tibetan translations shed light on things which are not too clear in the Chinese, for example Bodhidharma's "wall-gazing" meditation technique. Also, you would be well-placed to tell the world how Nyingma Vajrayana and Chan Buddhism might have influenced each other. That would make Padmasambhava-related posts on /r/zen a real possibility. ;)

Unlocking the Zen Koan: A New Translation of the Zen Classic Wumenguam has been helpful. Also, reading Red Pine's translations and commentary on the The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra. Although many people speak of the influence of the Lankavatara on Zen, I find it very difficult to read, even Red Pine's fairly approachable translation. But, the idea of "no views" and "no perceptions" was helpful, and "to speak of [this] to to speak of not [this]". Those themes come up often in koans. And studying Lao Tsu helps. Despite what the "not zen" crowd says, a background in Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism, and some historical background really does help a lot. Currently reading Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism and The Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism in Eighth- through Tenth-Century China to get some background on Mazu's lineage. Like many westerners, I used to think koans were just about derailing rational thought. While that is useful, now I also see some patterns, a certain amount of "sense", and more experiences of "of course". Easier koans like, it is your mind that moves help with the more difficult ones. Another helpful one is What are you doing? What are you saying?.

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:

• The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts
  
• Buddhism is Not What You Think, by Steve Hagen
  
• The Taoteching (the Taoist classic - Taoism is the mother of Zen)
  
• What the Buddha Taught (a primer on classic Buddhism - Buddhism is the father of Zen)
  
• Headless experiments inspired by Douglas Harding
  
  If you've worked through (one or more of) those and want more, some primary works I recommend:
  
  
• The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma
  
• The Platform Sutra, by Huineng the 6th Patriarch of Zen
  
• The Zen Teaching of Huang-Po
  
  That will get you to a good level.

Definitely The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader

It's a comprehensive anthology of many well-known works from zen literature, presented in chronological order with an interesting introduction to each writer. The translation is very readable - I'd recommend this book to just about anyone with an interest in zen.

It covers writings [i.e. translations from direct sources] from Bodhidharma, Huineng, Shitou, Mazu, Huangbo, Zhaouzhou, Linji, Deshan, Yunmen, Dahui, Dogen, Ikkyu, Bankei, Basho, Hakuin, Ryokan, and many more! I can't recommend it enough.

Well... that’s the problem. “Dharma combat” is a concept that only comes into its own during later Japanese schools of Buddhism, particularly Rinzai. The biggest issue in this sub and in the western world in general is that there is very little education regarding the differences between the original Chinese Zen philosophical school (Chan) and the later Japanese / Zen-Buddhist amalgamations. There are even Korean Zen schools that call themselves Zen too, even though they’re newer developments.

The original Chinese Zen, Chan, became a huge fad. It blew up in popularity and for the next few centuries everyone in the east wanted to label themselves as some kind of Zen and trace their cults back to the original school.

This is a problem for people who don’t do much reading. For a good modern overview I strongly urge you to pick up Pruning the Bodhi Tree by Jamie Hubbard.

If you’re interested in only reading about the original Zen school then you have to read the writings we have by/about the Six Chinese Patriarchs.



There was a dispute over who would be the official Sixth Patriarch and the Zen lineage split and that is considered the end of Chan as it originally was. Dharma combat and other heavily ritualistic memes represent a different culture from Chan and that’s why this sub is such a minefield when talking about what is and isn’t real Zen.

FTFY-BOT ACTIVATED!!!

> Dear /u/WanderingRonin77:
>
> Today I would like to share my views about this "Dogen" character with you.
>
> Certain texts have come to my attention, that suggest he was not an actual Zen Master. I know, I know, this might sound shocking, so please, I kindly ask you: bear with me.
>
> Many negative characteristics of Dogen's disciples and tradition tend to support this claim. These are really negative facts that are hard to ignore, including unethical sexual behavior, among other things.

> BUT... since we're talking about Dogen and not his disciples, let's focus on the facts about the guy himself.
>
> There are three books that helped me see the questionable nature of this character, and I'd like to share them with you now:
>
> - Bielefeldt's Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation
> - The Sound of One Hand
> - Pruning The Bodhi Tree
>
> Granted, you seem keen to him, so you might not be interested in going through the trouble of reading all this material. But I promise: This is not "ANTI-DOGEN" material. These are factual accounts and unbiased analysis of texts that, far from trying to convince people to hate Dogen, merely paint a historically accurate picture of him, his methods and his intentions.

> We all have lots of stuff we want to read, and probably reading books that random strangers want me to read is not high on the priority list.
>
> But I wanted to share it nevertheless.
>
> I hope you have a fantastic day, and if some day you get to read one of these books, we could discuss them earnestly and enrich each other's point of view.
>
> With love,
>
> /u/ewk.

Not bad. Hautou and koans go hand in hand. Nobody can pass through Buddhism's No-gate without the hautou. To think otherwise is to pursue the false path of literati or monji Zen. According to the Chan Whip, the adept devotes himself to the hard work (gongfu [kung-fu]) of cross-legged sitting and keeping an eye on the cue [huatou/hua-t'ou].

You can read about wuzhu in wendi adamek's book. https://www.amazon.com/Teachings-Master-Wuzhu-No-Religion-Translations/dp/0231150237

She's tite if you haven't read her. The book covers the text itself and encounters well questions of its 'legitimacy'

And yeah, part of the thing is his 'lineage' or student line or whatever didn't last. He was very clever, right along hueneng in changing around words to be more about mind and less about practice, and was certainly iconoclastic in speech (and practice, there is a funny passage about monks begging him to do normal stuff), but there was no predecessor clever enough to withhold the contradiction as well as he did.

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.

The book I recommend is the one you will actually really read.

That's why I did it this way: https://www.reddit.com/r/zensangha/wiki/getstarted I'm trying to guess what you are most likely to read and get you to that book.

Statistically I'm going to guess that it's going to be Green's Recorded Sayings of Joshu: https://www.amazon.com/Recorded-Sayings-Master-Sacred-Literature/dp/1570624143/

But some people want it electronically, or free, or with more lectures, or with more obvious anti-Buddhist sentiment, or written by a Zen Master, or whatever.

Remember, I had to read everything not Zen first just to find one book on that list.

Best text? Try The Chan Whip Anthology: A Companion to Zen Practice.

I liked the roaring stream as a historical survey anthology of original (translated) source material with background.

They literally said it. I'm just telling you what they said. I'm not pretending to be a Zen Master.

Go study. You don't understand Hyakujo's Fox. I recommend Cleary's translation of the Mumonkan.

It has commentary for beginners like you.

Thomas Merton's correspondence with DT Suzuki would probably be of great interest to you. Really, anything by Thomas Merton - but maybe start here: http://amzn.com/081120104X

I enjoyed this one.

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.

If you are going to propose that this http://www.amazon.com/The-Koan-Texts-Contexts-Buddhism/dp/0195117492 is a valid approach to delving into the zen conversations and stories, or if you are going to propose on a zen forum that

>Purifying the eight consciousness leads to the womb "blooming", at which point one realizes the dharmakaya

has anything to do with where the zen stories and conversation were coming from, then yes, you might get a few questions about those kinds of proposals, at least on a zen forum.

So, maybe you are not proposing all this as zen? Maybe you will clarify your position at some point? Or maybe when the heat gets turned up, you will just get another name. Reincarnate yourself in a world or anonymity.

You might be interested in Braverman's transl.

>Zen Masters never produced a meditation manual.

Nine themes suffuse discussions of huatou practice in Letters of Dahui. The following is a brief encapsulation:

Theme 1: You have to do it on your own.

Theme 2: You must generate a singular sensation of uncertainty.

Theme 3: You must assume a stance of “composure.”

Theme 4: You must be neither “tense” nor “slack.”

Theme 5: Saving on the expenditure of [gongfu] energy is gaining [awakening]energy

Theme 6: You will eventually notice that the huatou has become “tasteless.”

Theme 7:  You must keep pressing hard with the huatou no matter what.

Theme 8: You must “break through” or “pass through” the huatou.

Theme 9: You must smash to smithereens the mind of samsara.

Every theme described in details in particular letters in The Letters of Chan Master Dahui Pujue

Zen masters are not something made up to support your opinions.

Are you sourcing this from The Teachings of Master Wuzhu: Zen and Religion of No Religion ? I've put it on my wishlist.

"No merit whatsoever" is just as good as "void and nothing holy" in my book. What does either leave to cling to?

Is the platform sutra the same as the sutra of Huineng by Thomas Cleary on amazon?


Link : https://www.amazon.com/Sutra-Hui-neng-Grand-Master-Zen/dp/1570623481

Really wouldn't know, not having read all of them.

I might suggest, this.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Chuang-Tzu-Penguin-Classics/dp/014045537X

The Golden Age of Zen.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Balance-Harmony-Taoist-Handbook/dp/1590300777

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Master-Mo-Penguin-Classics-ebook/dp/B00DVY1TLG

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Chuang-Tzu-Penguin-Classics/dp/014045537X

Here ya go.

The Teachings of Lin-chi

Instantaneous Awakening

Book of Serenity

If you don't know about it, you could read about it

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!)

This book is what I'm talking about. There's a pdf out there somewhere but I don't recall where I found it.

Although you make me second guess what I said of the Platform. Somehow I got the impression the first part was the Platform Sutra (which I thought he wrote). The book popped up while I was looking for it and I may have made a bad guess.