The Eye Never Sleeps

The radical challenge of Zen Buddhism is to drop all assumptions and prejudices and experience the truth directly. American Zen teacher Dennis Genpo Merzel brings new life to this ancient wisdom through his commentaries on a classic Chinese Zen scripture, "Verses on Faith-Mind," by the Third Patriarch of Zen, Sosan Zenji. The author strikes to the heart of Zen with clarity and force, expressing in modern terms, to an American audience, the essential wisdom and compassion of Sosan Zenji's famous poem. Full of colorful Zen lore and personal anecdotes from Dennis Genpo Merzel's life, these talks impart the Buddha's teaching directly and intimately, illuminating in simple words the timeless questions and problems of day-to-day life."Genpo fairly gushes with enthusiasm . . . The Eye Never Sleeps makes for lively reading and is an excellent addition to the expanding bookshelf on lay American practice."—Mountain Record

"These unpretentious, exhilarating commentaries on Sosan Zenj's 'Verses on the Faith Mind,' a classic teaching of Zen's Golden Age in China, are a clear and refreshing illustration of how Zen teachings can illuminate our daily lives."—Peter MatthiessenDennis Genpo Merzel Roshi is the founder of Kanzeon Sangha and is the abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center in Utah. He has been teaching Zen since 1978 and received Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi Roshi in 1980. Genpo Roshi now holds the position of president of the White Plum Lineage, the lineage of Maezumi Roshi. His books include Beyond Sanity and Madness, The Eye Never Sleeps, and 24/7 Dharma.