Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

by Reps, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780804831864
• ISBN10: 0804831866
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-09-15
• Publisher: Tuttle Pub

Summary

When Zen Flesh, Zen Bones was published in 1957 it became an instant sensation with an entire generation of readers who were just beginning to experiment with Zen. Over the years it has inspired leading American Zen teachers, students, and practitioners. Its popularity is as strong today as ever. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a book that offers a collection of accessible, primary Zen sources so that readers can struggle over the meaning of Zen for themselves. It includes 101 Zen Stories, a collection of tales that recount actual experiences of Chinese and Japanese Zen teachers over a period of more than five centuries; the Gateless Gate, the famous thirteenth century collection of Zen koans; Ten Bulls, a twelfth century commentary on the stages of awareness leading to enlightenment; and Centering, a 4,000 year-old teaching from India that some consider to be the roots of Zen.

Author Biography

Paul Reps, the compiler, was an American who lived in many countries, including India, Norway, and Japan, and studied many of man's efforts to find and realize his true spiritual stature. He was the author of several books of poems and prose. He once said that he felt "the equal of each grass blade and pebble and believe that it is possible to be happy though human and grown up."
Nyogen Senzaki, a Buddhist scholar of international character to whom Reps acknowledged a deep debt of gratitude, was born in Japan. Early in life he became a "homeless monk," wandering the land and studying from Buddhist monastery to monastery. His wanderings eventually took him to America, where for over 50 years he lived in California, with no connection with any sect, denomination, or cathedral, radiating the free and creative spirit of Zen upon all who cared to share his study, meditation, wisdom, and loving kindness.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 11
101 Zen Stories	p. 15
A cup of Tea	p. 19
Finding a Diamond on a Muddy Road	p. 19
Is That so?	p. 22
Obedience	p. 23
If You Love, Love Openly	p. 24
No Loving-Kindness	p. 24
Announcement	p. 25
Great Waves	p. 25
The Moon Cannot be Stolen	p. 27
The Last Poem of Hoshin	p. 27
The Story of Shunkai	p. 29
Happy Chinaman	p. 31
A Buddha	p. 32
Muddy Road	p. 33
Shoun and His Mother	p. 34
Not Far From Buddhahood	p. 36
Stingy in Teaching	p. 36
A Parable	p. 38
The First Principle	p. 39
A Mother's Advice	p. 40
The Sound of one Hand	p. 41
My Heart Burns Like Fire	p. 43
Eshun's Departure	p. 44
Reciting Sutras	p. 44
Three Days More	p. 45
Trading Dialogue for Lodging	p. 46
The Voice of Happiness	p. 47
Open Your Own Treasure House	p. 48
No Water, No Moon	p. 48
Calling Card	p. 49
Everything is Best	p. 50
Inch Time Foot Gem	p. 50
Mokusen's Hand	p. 51
A Smile in His Lifetime	p. 51
Every-Minute Zen	p. 52
Flower Shower	p. 53
Publishing the Sutras	p. 53
Gisho's Work	p. 54
Sleeping in the Daytime	p. 55
In Dreamland	p. 56
Joshu's Zen	p. 57
The Dead Man's Answer	p. 57
Zen in a Beggar's Life	p. 58
The Thief Who Became a Disciple	p. 59
Right and Wrong	p. 60
How Grass and Trees Become Enlightened	p. 61
The Stingy Artist	p. 62
Accurate Proportion	p. 63
Black-Nosed Buddha	p. 64
Ryonen's Clear Realization	p. 65
Sour Miso	p. 66
Your Light May Go Out	p. 67
The Giver Should be Thankful	p. 67
The Last Will and Testament	p. 68
The Tea-Master and the Assassin	p. 69
The True Path	p. 71
The Gates of Paradise	p. 71
Arresting the Stone Buddha	p. 72
Soldiers of Humanity	p. 73
The Tunnel	p. 74
Gudo and the Emperor	p. 75
In the Hands of Destiny	p. 76
Killing	p. 77
Kasan Sweat	p. 77
The Subjugation of a Ghost	p. 78
Children of His Majesty	p. 79
What are You Doing! What are You Saying!	p. 80
One Note of Zen	p. 81
Eating the Blame	p. 82
The Most Valuable Thing in the World	p. 83
Learning to be Silent	p. 83
The Blockhead Lord	p. 84
Ten Successors	p. 84
True Reformation	p. 85
Temper	p. 86
The Stone Mind	p. 87
No Attachment to Dust	p. 87
Real Prosperity	p. 89
Incense Burner	p. 89
The Real Miracle	p. 90
Just Go to Sleep	p. 91
Nothing Exists	p. 92
No Work, No Food	p. 92
True Friends	p. 93
Time to Die	p. 94
The Living Buddha and the Tubmaker	p. 94
Three Kinds of Success	p. 95
How to Write a Chinese Poem	p. 96
Zen Dialogue	p. 96
The Last Rap	p. 97
The Taste of Banzo's Sword	p. 98
Fire-Poker Zen	p. 100
Storyteller's Zen	p. 100
Midnight Excursion	p. 101
A Letter to a Dying Man	p. 102
A Drop of Water	p. 103
Teaching the Ultimate	p. 103
Non-Attachment	p. 104
Tosui's Vinegar	p. 105
The Silent Temple	p. 106
Buddha's Zen	p. 106
The Gateless Gate	p. 109
Joshu's Dog	p. 115
Hyakujo's Fox	p. 117
Gutei's Finger	p. 119
A Beardless Foreigner	p. 120
Kyogen Mounts the Tree	p. 121
Buddha Twirls a Flower	p. 121
Joshu Washes the Bowl	p. 123
Keichu's Wheel	p. 123
A Buddha Before History	p. 124
Seizei Alone and Poor	p. 125
Joshu Ekamines A Monk in Meditation	p. 126
Zuigan Calls His Own Master	p. 127
Tokusan Holds His Bowl	p. 127
Nansen Outs the Cat in Two	p. 128
Tozan's Three Blows	p. 129
Bells and Robes	p. 131
Three Calls of the Emperor's Teacher	p. 132
Tozan's Three Pounds	p. 133
Everyday Life is the Path	p. 133
The Enlightened Man	p. 134
Dried Dung	p. 135
Kashapa's Preaching Sign	p. 136
Do not Think Good, Do not Think Not-Good	p. 137
Without Words, Without Silence	p. 138
Apreaching from the Third Seat	p. 139
Two Monks Roll up the Screen	p. 140
It is not Mind, it is not Buddha, it is not Things	p. 141
Blow out the Candle	p. 141
Not the Wind, not the Flag	p. 143
This Mind is Buddha	p. 144
Joshu Investigates	p. 145
A Philosopher Asks Buddha	p. 146
This Mind is not Buddha	p. 147
Learning is not the Path	p. 147
Two Souls	p. 148
Meeting a Zen Master on the Road	p. 149
A Buffalo Passes Through the Enclosure	p. 149
An Oak Tree in the Garden	p. 150
Ummon's Sidetrack	p. 151
Tipping Over a Water Vase	p. 151
Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind	p. 152
The Girl Comes out from Meditation	p. 153
Shuzan's Short Staff	p. 155
Basho's Staff	p. 156
Who is He?	p. 156
Proceed from the Top of the Pole	p. 157
Three Gates of Tosotsu	p. 158
One Road of Kembo	p. 159
Amban's Addition	p. 160
10 Bulls	p. 163
The Search for the Bull	p. 168
Discovering the Footprints	p. 170
Perceiving the Bull	p. 172
Catching the Bull	p. 174
Taming the Bull	p. 176
Riding the Bull Home	p. 178
The Bull Transcended	p. 180
Both Bull and Self Transcended	p. 182
Reaching the Source	p. 184
In the World	p. 186
Centering	p. 189
What is Zen?	p. 211
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