Zen Master Tales (Paperback)

Peter Haskel

ISBN 10: 1611809606 / ISBN 13: 9781611809602

Published by Shambhala Publications Inc, Boston, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. A lively collection of folk tales andBuddhistteaching stories from four noted premodern Japanese Zen masters:TaiguS chiku(1584-1669),SengaiGibon (1750-1831),HakuinEkaku(1686-1769), andTaiguRy kan(1758-1831).Zen Master Tales collectsnever beforetranslatedstoriesof four prominent Zen masters from the Edo period of Japanese history (1603-1868).Drawn froman erathat sawthe"democratization" ofJapanese Zen, these storiespaint a picture ofrobust, funny, and poignantengagementbetween Zen luminaries andthe emergentchoninor "townsperson" cultureof early modern Japan. Here we find Zen monks engaging with samurai, merchants, housewives, entertainers, and farmers. These masters affirmed that the essentials of Zen practice-zazen, koan study, even enlightenment-could be conveyed to all members of Japanese society in ordinary speech, including even comic verse and work songs. Against the backdrop of this rich tableau, Zen Master Tales serves not only as a text for Zen students but also as a wide-ranging window onto the fascinating literary, material, and social history of Edo Japan.In hisintroduction, translator Peter Haskel explains the history of Zen "stories" from the tradition's Golden Age in China through the compilation of the classickoancollections and on totheerafrom which the stories in Zen Master Tales are drawn. What was true of the Chinese tradition, he writes-"its focus on the individual's ordinary activity as the function, the manifestation of the absolute"-continued in the Japanese context. "Most of these Japanese stories, however unabashedly humorous and at times crude, impart something of the character of the Zen masters involved, whose attainment must be plainly manifest in even the most humble and unlikely of situations." Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781611809602

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Zen Master Tales (Paperback)
• Publisher: Shambhala Publications Inc, Boston
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1611809606
• ISBN 13: 9781611809602
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A lively collection of folk tales and Buddhist teaching stories from four noted premodern Japanese Zen masters: Taigu Sôchiku (1584–1669), Sengai Gibon (1750-1831), Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769), and Taigu Ryôkan (1758-1831).

Zen Master Tales collects never before translated stories of four prominent Zen masters from the Edo period of Japanese history (1603-1868). Drawn from an era that saw the “democratization” of Japanese Zen, these stories paint a picture of robust, funny, and poignant engagement between Zen luminaries and the emergent chоnin or “townsperson” culture of early modern Japan. Here we find Zen monks engaging with samurai, merchants, housewives, entertainers, and farmers. These masters affirmed that the essentials of Zen practice—zazen, koan study, even enlightenment—could be conveyed to all members of Japanese society in ordinary speech, including even comic verse and work songs. Against the backdrop of this rich tableau, Zen Master Tales serves not only as a text for Zen students but also as a wide-ranging window onto the fascinating literary, material, and social history of Edo Japan.
  
In his introduction, translator Peter Haskel explains the history of Zen “stories” from the tradition’s Golden Age in China through the compilation of the classic koan collections and on to the era from which the stories in Zen Master Tales are drawn. What was true of the Chinese tradition, he writes—“its focus on the individual’s ordinary activity as the function, the manifestation of the absolute”—continued in the Japanese context. “Most of these Japanese stories, however unabashedly humorous and at times crude, impart something of the character of the Zen masters involved, whose attainment must be plainly manifest in even the most humble and unlikely of situations.”

About the Author

PETER HASKEL received a PhD in East Asian Studies from Columbia University. He is the translator of Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei, Great Fool: Zen Master Ryôkan—Letters and Other Writings, Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tôsui, and Sword of Zen: Master Takuan and His Writings on Immovable Wisdom and the Sword Taia.