Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-Hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan (Kodansha Globe) - Softcover

Braverman, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568360312 ISBN 13: 9781568360317

Publisher: Kodansha USA, 1994

Synopsis

KEY TEACHINGS OF ZEN'S FOREMOST SAMURAI MONK

Suzuki Shosan is among the most dramatic personalities on the history of Zen. A samurai who served under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the seventeenth century, he became a Zen monk at age 41 and evolved a highly original teaching style imbued with the warrior spirit. The warrior's life, Shosan believed, was particularly suited to Zen study because it demand vitality, courage, and "death energy," the readiness to confront death at any moment. Emphasizing dynamic activity over quiet contemplation, Shosan urged students to realize enlightenment in the midst of their daily tasks, whether tilling fields, selling wares, or confronting an enemy in the hear of battle. Long popular in Japan but little know to the West, Shosan is presented here to Western readers in a sparkling translation and with a comprehensive introduction that brings alive his unique and colorful teaching.

About this title

About the Author:

ARTHUR BRAVERMAN, who has lived in Tokyo and Kyoto, where he studied Zen, is the author/translator of Mud and Water, talks by the fourteenth-century Zen master Bassui. He now teaches in southern California.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

About this edition

• Publisher: Kodansha USA
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1568360312
• ISBN 13: 9781568360317
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128