101 Zen Stories edit

101 Zen Stories is a 1919 compilation of Zen koans^[1] including 19th and early 20th century anecdotes compiled by Nyogen Senzaki,^[2] and a translation of Shasekishū,^[1][3] written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Mujū (無住) (literally, "non-dweller").^[3] The book was reprinted by Paul Reps as part of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.^[3][4] Well-known koans in the collection include A Cup of Tea (1), The Sound of One Hand (21), No Water, No Moon (29), and Everything is Best (31).

Gateless Gate edit

The Gateless Gate (Mandarin: 無門關 Wúménguān; Japanese: 無門関 Mumonkan), more accurately translated as The Gateless Barrier, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: Mumon Ekai; 1183–1260). Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen.

Ten Bulls edit

Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures (十牛; Japanese: jūgyū, Chinese: shíniú) is a series of short poems and accompanying pictures used in the Zen tradition to illustrate the stages of a practitioner's progression towards the purification of the mind and enlightenment,^{[web 1]} as well as his or her subsequent return into the world while acting out of wisdom.

An equivalent series of stages is depicted in the Nine Stages of Tranquility,^{[web 2]} used in the Mahamudra tradition, in which the mind is represented by an elephant and a monkey.^{[web 3][web 4]} This formulation originates with Asaṅga (4th CE), delineating the nine mental abidings in his Abhidharmasamuccaya and the Śrāvakabhūmi chapter of his Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. It is also found in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra of Maitreyanātha, which shows considerable similarity in arrangement and content to the Bodhisattva-bhūmi-śāstra.^{[note 1]} The Dharma Fellowship', a Kagyu (Mahamudra) organisation, notes that the practice starts with studying and pondering the dharma, where-after the practice of meditation commences.^{[web 5]}

Vigyan Bhairav Tantra edit

The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra is a chapter from the Rudrayamala Tantra. It was introduced to the west by Paul Reps, a student of Lakshman Joo. Reps brought the text to wider attention by including an English translation in his popular book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Cast as a discourse between the god Shiva and his consort Devi or Shakti, it briefly presents 112 meditation methods or centering techniques (dharanas).^[5]

• Aldous Huxley

Printed references

Web-references