The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra

The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra is the fundamental text of Ch’an Buddhism. It relates the life and teachings of Master Hui Neng, the Great Master the Sixth Patriarch, as set down by one of his disciples. During the seventh and eighth centuries under the T’ang Dynasty, Master Hui Neng taught the doctrines of [...]

Shobogenzo – The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching

The Shōbōgenzō is the recognized spiritual masterpiece by the thirteenth century Japanese Sōtō Zen Master Eihei Dōgen. It is comprised of discourses that he gave to his disciples, in person or in writing, at various times between 1231 and his death twenty-two years later at age fifty-three.† These discourses cover a wide range of topics pertinent to those in [...]

The Zen Experience by Thomas Hoover

The Zen Experience by Thomas HooverZen has always resided in individual experience rather than in theoretical writings. To give the reader access to understanding of this truth, The Zen Experience by Thomas Hoover illumines Zen as it was created and shaped by the personalities, perceptions, and actions of its masters over the centuries. Beginning with [...]

Zen Culture by Thomas Hoover

Zen Culture subtitled How Zen has influenced Art, Architecture, Literature, Sports, Ceramics and Theatre by Thomas Hoover. When it first was published in 1977 among the many positive reviews Library Journal wrote, “Hoover covers the ground in an easy and informative way, describing the origins of Zen itself and the Zen roots of swordsmanship, architecture, food, poetry, [...]

Empty Cloud, The Teachings Of Zen Master Xu Yun

Empty Cloud, The Teachings Of Zen Master Xu Yun. From the introduction: “Dear Friends, let me tell you a little story a wise man once told me. He said: “Once I found myself in an unfamiliar country, walking down a strange street. I looked around trying to get my bearings; and seeing two men who [...]

Zen & The Brain by James Austin

Download the ebook Zen & The Brain by James Austin. From the intro: “During rare, spontaneous moments, experiences of very special quality and great import emerge from the depths of the human brain. To each person, these awakenings seem awesomely new. What they convey is not. It is the simplest, oldest wisdom in the world. [...]

Pure-Land Zen, Zen Pure-land – letters from patriarch Yin Kuang

Pure-Land Zen, Zen Pure-Land is a translation of selected passages from the letters of Elder Master Yin Kuang, the Thirteenth Patriarch of Pure Land. The original Chinese titles are Yin Kuang Fa Shih Wen Ch’ao and Yin Kuang Ta Shih Chia Yen Lu. Except for the two pictures of Master Yin Kuang, nothing has been [...]

A book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

Kendo, the Way of the sword, has always been synonymous with nobility in Japan. Since the founding of the samurai class in the eighth century, the military arts had become the highest form of study, inspired by the teachings of Zen and the feeling of Shinto. Schools of Kendo born in the early Muromachi period [...]

Manual of Zen Buddhism

Manual of Zen Buddhism by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1935) was fully intended to be an actual Zen manual, full of liturgy, ritual and explanations. D.T. Suzuki, the preimminent and enthusiastic ordained Japanese Zen Scholar, presents the subject matter as always with perfect confidence and numerous flying sparks. Good book to have on hand if learning [...]

Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel

Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel is a classic on Japanese Zen Buddhism and it has been a bestseller for nearly 60 years. Concepts in the book have become fundamental ideas of how Westerners view Zen Buddhism. One example is the idea that a student studies simple tasks year after year at [...]

The Religion of the Samurai by Kaiten Nukariya

The Religion of the Samurai – A Study of Zen Philosophy in China and Japan by Kaiten Nukariya was published in 1913 in Japan. The ebook guides the reader through the origin of Buddhism and Zen and how their influences has spread from India to China and Japan where it again divided into a number [...]

The Fundamentals of Meditation Practice – a Zen guide

“The Fundamentals of Meditation Practice” by Ting Chen is a Zen work about the basics of meditation posture and breathing techniques. Through 182 pages Ting Chen explains in details the best position of all the body parts and how to train for sitting in full lotus position. The first part of the book builds up [...]

A guide to Japanese Buddhism

“A guide to Japanese Buddhism” presents the history of Japanese Buddhism and the Buddhism in Japan today. It explains the origins and differences of the numerous schools and sects. We get the details of how Shinto, Zen and Rinzai Zen, Shinran, Shinshu, Honen, Soto Zen, Taoism and Pure Land Buddhism has evolved and shaped the [...]

The Zen Teaching of Rinzai

Rinzai Gigen, father of the line or school of Rinzai Zen, died January 10th, 866 A.D. His date of birth is unknown, but it is generally taken that his teaching career was not much longer than a decade. The Rinzai Line is one of the Five Houses of Zen, best thought of as teaching styles [...]