Stiff pictorial wraps, French flaps. A few scattered inked check-marks in margins of early pages, otherwise unmarked and as issued. 1st ptg. Size: 8vo - over 7�" - 9�" tall.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza

Publisher

Wisdom Publications

Publication Date

2002

Language

English

ISBN 10

0861713273

ISBN 13

9780861713271

Binding

Soft cover

Edition

1st Edition.

Condition

Very Good

Book Type

Book

Seller catalogs

About this title

Synopsis

Presents twenty-two selections spanning 1,500 years from scholars, Zen masters, and contemporary authors writing on the practice of shikantaza or objectless meditation.

Reviews

When Loori, now abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, began his Buddhist practice, he couldn't find much written on the subject of zazen (sitting meditation). This anthology's 22 selections seek to fill that perceived void. Eight ancient voices such as the Fourth Ancestor of Chinese Zen Great Master Dayi (A.D. 580-651) and Eihei Dogen (A.D. 1200-1253), the most important Japanese Zen master, are translated by accomplished scholars such as Thomas Cleary. Beyond a half dozen supporting texts in the glossary, the other selections are by contemporary authors such as Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind). Taken together, the writing spans 1,500 years, all pointing to the practice of "just sitting," whereby no object (breath, candle, mandala, mantra, etc.) is used as a meditation focus. Differing from the other type of zazen wherein koans are studied, shikantaza-just sitting-is less pointed in its intent and methods. There are specific instructions here for location, posture and mental state, which will be helpful for beginners. Advanced practitioners can benefit from the more esoteric thoughts about "non-thinking." Minor flaws include repetitions about technique and contradictions about breath, the need for a teacher and so on. In the main, however, Loori has compiled a useful guide to "just sitting," promising "if you were to live for a hundred thousand years, you would never find in this life anything more powerful, more healing, [and] more empowering..
- more empowering."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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The Saucony Book Shop, located in the heart of scenic rural Berks County, epicenter of Pennsylvania German folk culture (our shop specialty), offers a full range of gently used, rare, and antiquarian books, with many volumes of scholarly merit and an unabashed emphasis on the quaint, the curious, and the utterly obscure. Hours by appointment or chance April through October, closed winters. Do drop by and browse the eclectic selection gracing our shelves, or ask our ferociously over-read staff for recommendations. If traveling from a distance, please call ahead to be sure that we're not off at another auction! Selling antiquarian books of merit since 1981. Full search and appraisal services; always keenly interested in purchasing quality used books, whether by the piece or by the bushel.

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