Zen Stories of the Samurai

Zen Stories of the Samurai PDF Author: Neal Dunnigan
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1411620410
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
Intriguing encounters between Zen practitioners and samurai warriors are recaptured in this breviloquent collection of short stories drawn from the literature of feudal Japan. These encounters deal with the nature of immediacy and its role in understanding the essence of human existence. For the martial artist faced with a conflict, the Zen state of mind, without distractions and illusions, can determine the difference between life and death. The warrior experience, as revealed in these traditional stories, is retold in a style that is relevant and graspable to the contemporary American martial artist. No particular religious background is required to appreciate these stories, but rather a curiosity about what allows people to achieve extraordinary performance when faced with life and death circumstances. Zen ink paintings by John Hrabushi offer a meditative and intellectual cross training throughout the collection. Foreword by noted Aikido Shihan Lorraine DiAnne.

Zen Stories of the Samurai

Zen Stories of the Samurai PDF Author: Neal Dunnigan
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1411620410
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 137

Get Book

Book Description
Intriguing encounters between Zen practitioners and samurai warriors are recaptured in this breviloquent collection of short stories drawn from the literature of feudal Japan. These encounters deal with the nature of immediacy and its role in understanding the essence of human existence. For the martial artist faced with a conflict, the Zen state of mind, without distractions and illusions, can determine the difference between life and death. The warrior experience, as revealed in these traditional stories, is retold in a style that is relevant and graspable to the contemporary American martial artist. No particular religious background is required to appreciate these stories, but rather a curiosity about what allows people to achieve extraordinary performance when faced with life and death circumstances. Zen ink paintings by John Hrabushi offer a meditative and intellectual cross training throughout the collection. Foreword by noted Aikido Shihan Lorraine DiAnne.

Zen at War

Zen at War PDF Author: Brian Daizen Victoria
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1461647479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
A compelling history of the contradictory, often militaristic, role of Zen Buddhism, this book meticulously documents the close and previously unknown support of a supposedly peaceful religion for Japanese militarism throughout World War II. Drawing on the writings and speeches of leading Zen masters and scholars, Brian Victoria shows that Zen served as a powerful foundation for the fanatical and suicidal spirit displayed by the imperial Japanese military. At the same time, the author recounts the dramatic and tragic stories of the handful of Buddhist organizations and individuals that dared to oppose Japan's march to war. He follows this history up through recent apologies by several Zen sects for their support of the war and the way support for militarism was transformed into 'corporate Zen' in postwar Japan. The second edition includes a substantive new chapter on the roots of Zen militarism and an epilogue that explores the potentially volatile mix of religion and war. With the increasing interest in Buddhism in the West, this book is as timely as it is certain to be controversial.

101 Zen Stories

101 Zen Stories PDF Author: Nyogen Senzaki
Publisher: Ravenio Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all this time. To find out, she obtained the help of a girl rich in desire. “Go and embrace him,” she told her, “and then ask him suddenly: ‘What now?’” The girl called upon the monk and without much ado caressed him, asking him what he was going to do about it. “An old tree grows on a cold rock in winter,” replied the monk somewhat poetically. “Nowhere is there any warmth.” The girl returned and related what he had said. “To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!” exclaimed the old woman in anger. “He showed no consideration for your need, no disposition to explain your condition. He need not have responded to passion, but at least he could have evidenced some compassion.” She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down. This Zen classic includes the following stories: 1. A Cup of Tea 2. Finding a Diamond on a Muddy Road 3. Is That So? 4. Obedience 5. If You Love, Love Openly 6. No Loving-Kindness 7. Annoucement 8. Great Waves 9. The Moon Cannot Be Stolen 10. The Last Poem of Hoshin 11. The Story of Shunkai 12. Happy Chinaman 13. A Buddha 14. Muddy Road 15. Shoan and His Mother 16. Not Far From Buddhahood 17. Stingy in Teaching 18. A Parable 19. The First Principle 20. A Mother’s Advice 21. The Sound of One Hand 22. My Heart Burns Like Fire 23. Eshun’s Departure 24. Reciting Sutras 25. Three Days More 26. Trading Dialogue For Lodging 27. The Voice of Happiness 28. Open Your Own Treasure House 29. No Water, No Moon 30. Calling Card 31. Everything is Best 32. Inch Time Foot Gem 33. Mokusen’s Hand 34. A Smile in His Lifetime 35. Every-Minute Zen 36. Flower Shower 37. Publishing the Sutras 38. Gisho’s Work 39. Sleeping in the Daytime 40. In Dreamland 41. Joshu’s Zen 42. The Dead Man’s Answer 43. Zen in a Beggar’s Life 44. The Thief Who Became a Disciple 45. Right and Wrong 46. How Grass and Trees Become Enlightened 47. The Stingy Artist 48. Accurate Proportion 49. Black-Nosed Buddha 50. Ryonen’s Clear Realization 51. Sour Miso 52. Your Light May Go Out 53. The Giver Should Be Thankful 54. The Last Will and Testament 55. The Tea-Master and The Assassin 56. The True Path 57. The Gates of Paradise 58. Arresting the Stone Buddha 59. Soldiers of Humanity 60. The Tunnel 61. Gudo and the Emperor 62. In the Hands of Destiny 63. Killing 64. Kasan Sweat 65. The Subjugation of a Ghost 66. Children of His Majesty 67. What Are You Doing! What Are You Saying! 68. One Note of Zen 69. Eating the Blame 70. The Most Valuable Thing in the World 71. Learning to Be Silent 72. The Blockhead Lord 73. Ten Successors 74. True Reformation 75. Temper 76. The Stone Mind 77. No Attachment to Dust 78. Real Prosperity 79. Incense Burner 80. The Real Miracle 81. Just Go to Sleep 82. Nothing Exists 83. No Work, No Food 84. True Friends 85. Time to Die 86. The Living Buddha and the Tubmaker 87. Three Kinds of Disciples 88. How to Write a Chinese Poem 89. Zen Dialogue 90. The Last Rap 91. The Taste of Banzo’s Sword 92. Fire-Poker Zen 93. Storyteller’s Zen 94. Midnight Excursion 95. A Letter to a Dying Man 96. A Drop of Water 97. Teaching the Ultimate 98. Non-Attachment 99. Tosui’s Vinegar 100. The Silent Temple 101. Buddha’s Zen

Zen Masters Of China

Zen Masters Of China PDF Author: Richard Bryan McDaniel
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462910505
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Zen Masters of China presents more than 300 traditional Zen stories and koans, far more than any other collection. Retelling them in their proper place in Zen's historical journey through Buddhist Chinese culture, it also tells a larger story: how, in taking the first step east from India to China, Buddhism began to be Zen. The stories of Zen are unlike any other writing, religious or otherwise. Used for centuries by Zen teachers as aids to bring about or deepen the experience of awakening, they have a freshness that goes beyond religious practice and a mystery and authenticity that appeal to a wide range of readers. Placed in chronological order, these stories tell the story of Zen itself, how it traveled from West to East with each Zen master to the next, but also how it was transformed in that journey, from an Indian practice to something different in Chinese Buddhism (Ch'an) and then more different still in Japan (Zen). The fact that its transmission was so human, from teacher to student in a long chain from West to East, meant that the cultures it passed through inevitably changed it. Zen Masters of China is first and foremost a collection of mind-bending Zen stories and their wisdom. More than that, without academic pretensions or baggage, it recounts the genealogy of Zen Buddhism in China and, through koan and story, illuminates how Zen became what it is today.

The Religion of the Samurai

The Religion of the Samurai PDF Author: Kaiten Nukariya
Publisher: e-artnow
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
The Religion of the Samurai is a study of Zen philosophy in China and Japan. Starting with the history of Buddhism, the book offers a historical perspective of the two main currents of Zen: the Rinzei and the Soto traditions. Exploring the relationship between Zen Buddhism and Samurais and the whole Bushido philosophy the author builds up the difference between Himayanism and Mahayanism, with the different approaches they have as a whole. The book highlights the parallels between a Zen Monk and a Samurai warrior revealing the different understanding of Buddhism in China and Japan._x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_

The Religion of the Samurai

The Religion of the Samurai PDF Author: Kaiten Nukariya
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddha (The concept)
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


Samurai Wisdom Stories

Samurai Wisdom Stories PDF Author: Pascal Fauliot
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834840758
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
A collection of samurai stories, drawn from traditional sources, of battles, strategy, conflict, and intrigue--featuring some of the greatest warriors and military leaders of the samurai era. Martial artist and samurai scholar Pascal Fauliot has collected and retold twenty-eight wisdom tales of the samurai era. The tales are set in the golden age of bushido and represent the pinnacle of traditional Japanese culture in which aristocratic tastes, feudal virtues, and martial skills come together with the implacable insights of Zen. Some of the stories--like "The Samurai and the Zen Cat"--are iconic; others are obscure. They feature notable figures from samurai history and legend: miltary leaders and strategists such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu; sword masters; ronin; the warrior monk Benkei, and the ninja-samurai Kakei Juzo, among many others. These samurai stories are pithy and engaging, and include tales of battle, strategy, loyalty conflicts, court intrigues, breakthroughs in a warrior's development, and vengeance achieved or foregone. Each tale reveals a gesture or an outcome that represents greater insight or higher virtue.

The Religion of the Samurai

The Religion of the Samurai PDF Author: Kaiten Nukariya
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddha (The concept)
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description


Soul of the Samurai

Soul of the Samurai PDF Author: Thomas Cleary
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462900313
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Soul of the Samurai contains modern translations of three classic works of Zen & Bushido. In Soul of the Samurai, bestselling author and respected translator Thomas Cleary reveals the true essence of the Bushido code or Zen warrior teachings according to 17th-century Japanese samurai master Yagyu Munenori and his Zen teacher Takuan Soho. The three works of Zen & Bushido translated in Soul of the Samurai are: The Book of the Sword by Yagyu Munenori The Inscrutable Subtlety of Immovable Wisdom by Takuan Soho The Peerless Sword by Takuan Soho Yagyu was a renowned swordsman and chief of the Shogun's secret police, while Takuan was the Zen spiritual mentor to the Emperor. This samurai philosophy book contains the first English translations of their seminal writings on Bushido. Cleary not only provides clear and readable translations but comprehensive notes introducing the social, political, and organizational principles that defined samurai culture—their loyalty to family, their sense of service and duty, and their political strategies for dealing with allies and enemies. These writings introduce the reader to the authentic world of Zen culture and the secrets behind the samurai's success—being "in the moment" and freeing the mind from all distractions, allowing you to react instantaneously and instinctively without thinking. In these classic works we learn that Zen mental control and meditational training were as important to the Samurai as swordsmanship and fighting skills.

Ronin

Ronin PDF Author: William Dale Jennings
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462903207
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
"A thunderbolt, full of lightning and excitement, one you won't put down until its last extraordinary page." —The Japan Times The violence of twelfth-century Japan explodes in this half-legendary, half-true story of a violent man who becomes a folk hero. A heartless savage, the Ronin, or "wandering samurai," slashes his way up from the gutter to wealth, honor and status. In spite of his crime sand bloodthirsty cruelty, he bears the strange mark of destiny that the wise see and respect, even as he destroys them. Told with humor and irony, the tale ranges from the pleasantly colloquial to the brutally satiric, yet never relents in the Ronin's ruthless search for the truth. The storyteller hides nothing and speaks bluntly, yet this jewel-like tale shimmers with tantalizing riddles that will haunt the reader just as they haunted the Ronin. Sure to shock, confound and ultimately inspire readers, The Ronin is loosely based upon an ancient legend told to the author by the Zen Master Nyogen Senzaki.