No River to Cross: Trusting the Enlightenment That's Always Right Here

It is often said that enlightenment means "crossing over to the other shore," that far-off place where we can at last be free from suffering. Likewise, it is said that Buddhist teachings are the raft that takes us there.

In this sparkling collection from one of the most vital teachers of modern Korean Buddhism, Zen Master Daehaeng shows us that there is no raft to find and, truly, no river to cross. She extends her hand to the Western reader, beckoning each of us into the unfailing wisdom accessible right now, the enlightenment that is always, already, right here.

A Zen (or seon, as Korean Zen is called) master with impeccable credentials, Daehaeng has developed a refreshing approach; No River to Cross is surprisingly personal. It's disarmingly simple, yet remarkably profound, pointing us again and again to our foundation, our "True Nature" - the perfection of things just as they are.

Daehaeng Sunim has emerged as one of the most creative and accessible of contemporary Korean Buddhist teachers. Her disciples, quite unusually, also include a number of monks-something unheard of previously in a patriarchal monastic tradition. The organization she founded over three decades ago, the Hanmaum Seonwon, has emerged as one of the most influential Korean Buddhist institutions today, with over fifteen domestic branches and ten overseas centers.