Shots in the Dark: Japan, Zen and the West

[Earl Hartman]

"Shots in the Dark: Japan, Zen and the West", by Professor Yamada Shoji, is now available from Amazon. You can see it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/pro...283155&s=books

It is an expansion of the thesis Prof. Yamada introduced in his monograph "The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery". In this book, Prof. Yamada examines how foreign perceptions of Japanese culture have affected the way in which the Japanese themselves view their own culture. To do this, he dissects the process by which kyudo and the rock garden at the temple of Ryoanji in Kyoto changed from being just archery and a rock garden to being "Zen" archery and a "Zen" rock garden.

This book also contains the only extensive research into the life of Eugen Herrigel, the author of "Zen in the Art of Archery".

Anyone interested in Japanese culture should find this book interesting.

[Michael Wert]

I saw this book at the University of Chicago book exhibit during the Assocation of Asian Studies conference in Chicago a few weeks ago. They ran out of display copies so I ordered one. Seems like the book is popular so far. Look forward to reading it.

Yamada also gave a talk during the AAS, he was on a panel about Zen and popular culture. Missed it though.

Best
Mike Wert

[FireFlea]

A very interesting article by Yamada in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies - The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery:

http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publicati...rs/pdf/586.pdf

[Kim Taylor]

A very interesting article by Yamada in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies - The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery:

http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publicati...rs/pdf/586.pdf

There is the finger.

There is the moon.

When considering the moon, which is important?

Kim.

[Josh Reyer]

There is the finger.

There is the moon.

When considering the moon, which is important?

Kim.

You want to focus on the moon, but you have to make sure you follow the finger pointing to that moon, and not one pointing to a softshell turtle.

[Hissho]

Just don't PULL the finger...