Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

Last updated

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a 1957 publication by Paul Reps combining four separate texts on nondual practice:

Contents

Contents

101 Zen Stories

101 Zen Stories is a 1919 compilation of Zen koans [1] including 19th and early 20th century anecdotes compiled by Nyogen Senzaki, [2] and a translation of Shasekishū , [1] [3] written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Mujū (無住) (literally, "non-dweller"). [3] The book was reprinted by Paul Reps as part of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. [3] [4] Well-known koans in the collection include A Cup of Tea (1), The Sound of One Hand (21), No Water, No Moon (29), and Everything is Best (31).

Gateless Gate

The Gateless Gate (Mandarin: 無門關 Wúménguān; Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan), more accurately translated as The Gateless Barrier, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: Mumon Ekai; 1183–1260). Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen.

Ten Bulls

Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures (十牛; Japanese: jūgyū, Chinese: shíniú) is a series of short poems and accompanying pictures used in the Zen tradition to illustrate the stages of a practitioner's progression towards the purification of the mind and enlightenment, [web 1] as well as his or her subsequent return into the world while acting out of wisdom.

An equivalent series of stages is depicted in the Nine Stages of Tranquility, [web 2] used in the Mahamudra tradition, in which the mind is represented by an elephant and a monkey. [web 3] [web 4] This formulation originates with Asaṅga (4th CE), delineating the nine mental abidings in his Abhidharmasamuccaya and the Śrāvakabhūmi chapter of his Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra . It is also found in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra of Maitreyanātha, which shows considerable similarity in arrangement and content to the Bodhisattva-bhūmi-śāstra. [note 1] The Dharma Fellowship', a Kagyu (Mahamudra) organisation, notes that the practice starts with studying and pondering the dharma, where-after the practice of meditation commences. [web 5]

Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra is a chapter from the Rudrayamala Tantra. It was introduced to the west by Paul Reps, a student of Lakshman Joo. Reps brought the text to wider attention by including an English translation in his popular book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Cast as a discourse between the god Shiva and his consort Devi or Shakti, it briefly presents 112 meditation methods or centering techniques ( dharana s). [5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Piya Tan gives a full description of these stages; see Piya Tan (2004), The Taming of the Bull. Mind-training and the formation of Buddhist traditions, dharmafarer.org

Related Research Articles

A kōan is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from the Chinese Chan-lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and initial insight of Zen-students. Prolonged koan-study shatters small-minded pride of, and identification with, this initial insight, and spurs further development of insight and compassion, and integration thereof in daily life and character.

Satori (悟り) is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru.

Kenshō (見性) is a Japanese term from the Zen tradition. Ken means "seeing", shō means "nature, essence". It is usually translated as "seeing one's (true) nature", that is, the Buddha-nature or nature of mind.

<i>Mu</i> (negative) Term meaning not, without, or lack

In the Sinosphere, the word 無, realized in Japanese and Korean as mu and in Standard Chinese as wu, meaning 'to lack' or 'without', is a key term in the vocabulary of various East Asian philosophical and religious traditions, such as Buddhism and Daoism.

The Gateless Barrier, sometimes translated as The Gateless Gate, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai. The title has a double meaning and can also be understood as Wumen's Barrier; the compiler's name, which literally means "No Gate", is the same as the title's first two characters. Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen. A classic edition includes a 49th case composed by Anwan in 1246. Wuliang Zongshou also supplemented the volume with a verse of four stanzas composed in 1230 about the three checkpoints of Zen master Huanglong. These three checkpoints of Huanglong should not be confused with Doushuai's Three Checkpoints found in Case 47.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yunmen Wenyan</span> Chinese Buddhist philosopher

Yunmen Wenyan, was a major Chinese Chan master of the Tang dynasty. He was a dharma-heir of Xuefeng Yicun.

101 Zen Stories is a 1919 compilation of Zen koans including 19th and early 20th century anecdotes compiled by Nyogen Senzaki, and a translation of Shasekishū, written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Mujū (無住). The book was reprinted by Paul Reps as part of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Well-known koans in the collection include A Cup of Tea (1), The Sound of One Hand (21), No Water, No Moon (29), and Everything is Best (31).

Nyogen Senzaki was a Rinzai Zen monk who was one of the 20th century's leading proponents of Zen Buddhism in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazu Daoyi</span>

Mazu Daoyi (709–788) was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. He is known as the founder of the Hongzhou school of Zen. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his Extensive Records.

Jùzhī Yīzhǐ was a 9th-century Chinese Chán, or Zen, master. After Bodhidharma, he was the eleventh successor in the line of Nányuè Huáiràng (677–744) and Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788), as well as—according to some sources—Línjì Yìxuán. He was the student of Hángzhōu Tiānlóng.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Bulls</span> Poems and drawings in the Zen tradition

Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures is a series of short poems and accompanying drawings used in the Zen tradition to describe the stages of a practitioner's progress toward enlightenment, and their return to society to enact wisdom and compassion.

Wumen Huikai (1183–1260) was a Chinese Chán master during China‘s Song period. He is most famous for having compiled and commentated the 48-koan collection The Gateless Barrier.

Hara Tanzan was a Japanese philosopher and Sōtō Buddhist monk. He served as abbot of Saijoji temple in Odawara and as professor at the University of Tokyo during the Bakumatsu and Meiji era. He was a forerunner of the modernization of Japanese Buddhism and the first to attempt to incorporate concepts from the natural sciences into Zen Buddhism.

The wild fox kōan, also known as "Pai-chang 's fox" and "Hyakujō and a Fox", is an influential kōan story in the Zen tradition dating back as early as 1036, when it appeared in the Chinese biographical history T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu. It was also in The Gateless Gate, a 13th-century collection of 48 kōans compiled by the Chinese monk Wumen, as case two.

<i>Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra</i> Text in Kashmir Shaivism

The Vijñāna-bhairava-tantra is a Shiva Tantra, of the Kaula Trika tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, possibly authored by Guru Keyūravatī. Singh notes that it is difficult to establish an exact date for the text, and it could have been written at some time from the 7th to the 8th century CE. It is also called the Śiva-jñāna-upaniṣad by Abhinavagupta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shit stick</span> Instrument used for the cleansing of the anus and perineum post-defecation

Shit stick means "a thin stake or stick used instead of toilet paper" for anal hygiene and was a historical item of material culture introduced through Chinese Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism. A well-known example is gānshǐjué/kanshiketsuwato from the Chan/Zen gōng'àn/kōan in which a monk asked "What is buddha?" and Master Yunmen/Unmon answered "A dry shit stick".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanquan Puyuan</span>

Nanquan Puyuan was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master in China during the Tang dynasty. He was the student and Dharma successor of the Master Mazu Daoyi (709–788).

Though Zen is said to be based on a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words", the Zen-tradition has a rich doctrinal and textual background. It has been influenced by sutras such as the Lankavatara Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra.

Xuefeng Yicun was a Chinese Chan-master who was influential during the Tang dynasty. The Yunmen school and Fayan school originated with descendants of his lineage.

Zen Master Daewon Moon Jae-hyeon is a Korean Zen master in South Korea. A disciple of Zen Master Jeongang, he received Dharma transmission from his teacher and thereby becoming the 78th patriarch in the Dharma Lineage of the Buddha in 1962.

References

Printed references
  1. 1 2 "Koan Studies". thezensite. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ Ross, Nancy Wilson (1960). The World of Zen: An East-West Anthology. Vintage. p. xxii. ISBN   9780394703015.
  3. 1 2 3 Reps, Paul; Senzaki, Nyogen (15 September 1998). Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-zen Writings . Tuttle Publishing. p.  17. ISBN   9780804831864.
  4. ↑ Ross, Nancy Wilson (1960). The World of Zen: An East-West Anthology. Vintage. p. 74. ISBN   9780394703015.
  5. ↑ Paul Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings ( ISBN   0-8048-0644-6)
Web-references
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.