{"product_id":"the-zen-reader-isbn-9781590309469","title":"The Zen Reader","description":"Founded by Bodhidharma centuries ago in China, Zen and its teachings have since spread widely, exerting a tremendous cultural influence not only across Asia, but also the modern West. To this day, Zen inspires young and old, from all walks of life, to see the world with fresh eyes—beyond our usual assumptions and prejudices.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis compendium of a thousand years of Zen teaching presents the essence of the tradition through stories, sayings, talks, and records of heart-to-heart encounters with Zen masters. The great expositors of the tradition, whose voices are recounted here, encourage us to let go of our clinging and intellectual grasping, and to open ourselves to embrace reality exactly as it is.\"One of the foremost contemporary translators of classical Buddhist and Taoist literature.\"—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There is no doubt in my mind that Thomas Cleary is the greatest translator of Buddhist texts from Chinese or Japanese into English of our generation, and that he will be so known by grateful Buddhist practitioners and scholars in future centuries. Single-handedly he has gone a long way toward building the beginnings of a Buddhist canon in English.\"—Robert A. F. Thurman, \u003ci\u003eTricycle\u003c\/i\u003eThomas Cleary holds a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. He is the translator of over fifty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic texts from Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Pali, and Arabic.\u003cb\u003eUnderstanding\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eQuestions are endless, and answers are  inexhaustible: if it’s a matter of curing illness, it doesn’t take a  donkey load of medicine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat does that mean? When sages of  yore passed on a word or half a phrase, it was something they did only  because they had no other choice. If you talk a lot about different  points of view, that is contrary to the essence of the Way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIndeed,  the subtlety is beyond all images; the principle unifies all methods.  Even while presenting many approaches, the light is hidden in the  absolute.\u003cbr\u003eSo it seems that the Way depends on the mind’s  awakening; it is not in words. Continuously evident, it has never been  cut off. Not belaboring the mind, turn your own light around for a  while. Daily activities are completely included—how can opposition  stand?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTherefore it is said that the whole universe is just an  illusion, unless you immediately realize the vehicle of truth and  attain the mystic path all at once, forgetting all about subject and  object, arriving at basic unminding, seeing through worldly troubles,  understanding gangs of devils. If you effectively understand thus, it  will make you happy for life. If you still don’t understand, it’s just  because you yourselves are avoiding it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHui-lin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolitary Shining \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf  people who study the path are intending to concentrate on Zen, they  should only concentrate on the Zen of the “solitary shining of a lone  lamp in the hall of nirvana.” Do not set up specific periods, hoping to  awaken to the path within a certain time. That is laughable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis  Zen has no trouble and no pain: the only important thing is to step  back and trust completely; hang your pack high and break your staff.  Stiffen your spine, and be like wood or stone inside, and like open  space outside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly the tub of lacquer comes apart, and  the five clusters and eighteen elements are washed clear and clean; all  beings are suddenly liberated.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce you have seen this  highway, it is not the place to stop: when you arrive at clear  understanding of universal truth, only then will you find true and  false, right and wrong, clearly distinguished in every case. This is  called insuperably great independent spiritual mastery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYing-an\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Shambhala","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299840938213,"sku":"NP9781590309469","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781590309469.jpg?v=1767742368","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-zen-reader-isbn-9781590309469","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}