Zen Buddhism

[ExileX]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice on books and websites concerning Soto Zen Buddhism, and Mahayana Buddhism in general.

I have read Zen Mind Begginers Mind, and The Unfettered mind, but still feel that i need more information about buddhism in general.
I would also appreciate to be able to talk to an experienced Zen Buddhist.

I hope you can help me,
Feel free to reply to this message, to send me an e-mail message or contact me by ICQ or Microsoft Messenger (rasmusimus@hotmail.com). I'm looking forward to hear from you.

Have a nice day.

Sincerely
Rasmus Boserup - Denmark.

[meat]

Zen Mind, Beginners Mind was a good start. If you want to read more about Soto Zen in particular, go straight to the source. Dogen Zenji has a book called "Moon in a Dewdrop", which you will probably like. As for Mahayana, where would you like to start? There's a zillion books on Mahayana Buddhism, perhaps other people can help you out there. An excellent website is www.buddhanet.net, has many different sutras, teachings etc. Another good one is www.sacred-texts.com, buddhist stuff there among many other interesting things.
Hope that helps.

[Jeff Hamacher]

if you want source material in english on buddhism and zen, this book has to be the best starting point. you can also find Dogen's Shobogenzo in english translation by Thomas Cleary from the University of Hawaii Press (this may be an abridged version; i've never read it). Watts himself in his introduction to The Way of Zen suggests that Suzuki's writings were, in some cases, too advanced or specialized for someone who wanted a "Zen primer". i've never read Suzuki, but as Meat points out, many like his stuff. regardless, HTH.

[SBreheney]

The entire Shobogenzo is available in translation by Nishijima and Cross (4 volumes, Windbell Publications).

A more readable translation to my mind, though, would be the selections found in How to Raise an Ox by Cook, recently republished by Wisdom Publications I think. Kaz Tanahashi's Moon in a Dewdrop is very readable as well, though I have to confess to a certain bias -- my teacher's teacher, the late Taizan Maezumi Roshi, was intimately involved in both translations.

The Holy Grail is the Stevens translation, which is *very* hard to come by here in the States -- I've been looking for it in used bookstores since 1999, but can't lay out US$100+ at this time.

For the meat of Dogen's teaching, one could stick with the Shobogenzo fascicle called "Genjokoan" alone for a lifetime and not use it up.

[Harry Cook]

You might find Heinrich Dumoulin's two volume Zen Buddhism: A History (Macmillan Publishing) of interest. I also like Arthur Braverman's Warrior of Zen The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan, Kodansha International, 1994.
Yours,
Harry Cook

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
if you want source material in english on buddhism and zen, this book has to be the best starting point. you can also find Dogen's Shobogenzo in english translation by Thomas Cleary from the University of Hawaii Press (this may be an abridged version; i've never read it). Watts himself in his introduction to The Way of Zen suggests that Suzuki's writings were, in some cases, too advanced or specialized for someone who wanted a "Zen primer". i've never read Suzuki, but as Meat points out, many like his stuff. regardless, HTH.

Jeff,

You beat me to it.
I was going to suggest Shobogenzo.........an expensive book too.......and why not it's huge!

Not really light reading either.

When I first came to Japan I stayed at Eiheiji in Fukui. It was founded by Dogen and has many of the original buildings left, but, sorry to say it has become more of a tourist attraction than a serious place for study.
I also read that same comment in an excellent book called The Zen Guide or something along those lines.
The authors traveled through out Japan and went to many temples and "rated" them so to speak. Some got very high marks on the Zen side but low marks on the historical side and vice versa.
It's a good book that has many of the famous temples listed along with contact information.

[Jeff Hamacher]

Originally posted by Robert Rousselot
>> I was going to suggest Shobogenzo ... an expensive book too ... and why not it's huge! <<

the more i think about it, the paperback i mentioned upthread has to be a collection of excerpts, not the full text. shoulda figured that out from the start; i looked for paperback copies of it in japanese and discovered that it ran to 4 volumes! i also may have crossed up the publisher and author information. i was looking at two Zen-related books at the same time.

>> When I first came to Japan I stayed at Eiheiji in Fukui. <<

cool! if my knee was in better shape i'd like to do zazen more frequently; there's even a Soto temple here that has a regular zazenkai. too bad to hear that Eiheiji isn't what it once might have been ...

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
Originally posted by Robert Rousselot
>> I was going to suggest Shobogenzo ... an expensive book too ... and why not it's huge! <<

the more i think about it, the paperback i mentioned upthread has to be a collection of excerpts, not the full text. shoulda figured that out from the start; i looked for paperback copies of it in japanese and discovered that it ran to 4 volumes! i also may have crossed up the publisher and author information. i was looking at two Zen-related books at the same time.

The version I have makes War and Peace look like a dime novel.



Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher >> When I first came to Japan I stayed at Eiheiji in Fukui. <<

cool! if my knee was in better shape i'd like to do zazen more frequently; there's even a Soto temple here that has a regular zazenkai. too bad to hear that Eiheiji isn't what it once might have been ... [/B]

There are still other better places to study Zen, some of them even in downtown Tokyo.

[R Erman]

I always felt that the The Three Pillars of Zen was an excellent source on zen.

[SBreheney]

Overall, not a bad book, lots of information in there, especially Yasutani Roshi's "Introductory Lectures on Zen Training".

However, IMHO, the detailed accounts elsewhere in the book of kensho experiences might be misleading for some beginning students, whose time would be better spent on the cushion.

For this reason, as an introductory book for beginning students I have recommended Aitken Roshi's book Taking the Path of Zen, and I leave Three Pillars until later.

[Christian Lund]

Regarding the Shobogenzo,

One book that made a great impression on me (and still does) is the Shobogenzo Zuimonki. It is a collection of talks given by Dogen Zenji and recorded by his student, Koun Ejo.

The book is not too difficult to penetrate although I it can be very profound at times. The issue I have is roughly 230 pages in paperback.

I think you can get it at: http://www.buddhistsupplies.com/

Originally posted by Christian Lund

The book is not too difficult to penetrate although I it can be very profound at times. The issue I have is roughly 230 pages in paperback.

I think you can get it at: http://www.buddhistsupplies.com/


The version I have is about 700 pages. I thought it was pretty lofty stuff.....but I am dumb.

A few more books are:

The Iron Cow Of Zen-Albert Low
An invitaion to practise Zen- Albert Low

Zen and the ways- Trevor Leggit
A Second Zen reader-Trevor Leggit
A first zen reader-Trevor Leggit
(Basically anything by Trevor Leggit is good)

Tea Life tea Mind- Soshitsu Sen
Refining your life-Dogen
Zen Flesh Zen Bones-Paul Reps
The Zen life- Sato Koji
Zen Guide- Martin Roth and John Stevens
(if you want to study in Japan read this book first)

[yuiga_dokuson]

Hello,

A great book I came which is I have found very enjoyable and
very informing is Zen and the Brain by James H. Austin, M.D. from MIT press here is a link too it http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/AUSZP/austin/info.html

This book is quite the journey but I think it worth it. I've had it
for over a year now and haven't read it completely.

Another great book I have tried to learn from has been Zen Master Seung Sahn, The Compass of Zen. It was printed by Shambhala press.

I hope you might find these two books as interesting and thought provoking as have I.

Take care,
John

John,

I saw you are from Olathe.........I am from Overland Park.
Small world.

[cguzik]

As far as Soto Zen websites go, may as well go to the source:

Sotoshu (http://www.sotozen-net.or.jp)


Chris

[cguzik]

Here is another good online resource:

Soto Zen Text Project (http://www.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/index.html)

Chris

[ScottNY]

My uncle wrote HOW TO RAISE AN OX. As far as soto in particular though I recently bought 2 books, but have yet to look them over. One is SOTO ZEN:AN INTRODUCTION TO THE THOUGHT OF THE SERENE REFLECTION SCHOOL OF MEDITATION and the other is A PRIMER OF SOTO ZEN: A TRANSLATION OF DOGENS SHOBOGENZO ZUIMONKI. I purchased both of them on amazon.com. Another good book is THE EIGHT GATES OF ZEN: A PROGRAM OF ZEN TRAINING by JOHN DAIDO LOORI. I have only gotten about 1/4 of the way through it, but I feel it is very good. The author recieved full transmition in both the Soto and Rinzai sects of Zen. That book is also available on amazon.

[SBreheney]

ScottNY wrote:

>My uncle wrote HOW TO RAISE AN OX.

Your uncle has done some very fine work. I can't recommend that book highly enough.

Unconfirmed word on the street has it that he is now involved with a massive Buddhist translation project -- any word on that?

I think I remember that my fellow priest Rev. Doman Stevens @ Hazy Moon Zen Center in Los Angeles visited with your uncle sometime in the past year, and wrote a little article about it for our center's newsletter -- that might be where I heard about the project.

[ScottNY]

In all honesty I do not know. I have only talked to him once in my life, and that was aout 3 years ago. He lives in California, and me neing in New York it is very expensive to call. It was unusual to find out that my uncle and I shared some of the same interests. Especially since my interest was already developed. I know he has retired from teaching. But I am sure he has not stoped working in his feild. I bought one of his books here at my school. It was intersting to learn that his book was being used in a class here. And it was one I wanted to take, but didnt. I have not gotten to read any of his other books yet. I hope someday I can be half as smart as him. Although I am into Japanese history primarily, but into Zen some to;)