For many of us, the return of Zen conjures up images of rock gardens and gently flowing waterfalls. We think of mindfulness and meditation, immersion in a state of being where meaning is found through simplicity. Zen lore has been absorbed by Western practitioners and pop culture alike, yet there is a specific area of this ancient tradition that hasn’t been fully explored in the West. Now, in The Zen of Creativity, American Zen master John Daido Loori presents a book that taps the principles of the Zen arts and aesthetic as a means to unlock creativity and find freedom in the various dimensions of our existence. Loori dissolves the barriers between art and spirituality, opening up the possibility of meeting life with spontaneity, grace, and peace. Zen Buddhism is steeped in the arts. In spiritual ways, calligraphy, poetry, painting, the tea ceremony, and flower arranging can point us toward our essential, boundless nature. Brilliantly interpreting the teachings of the artless arts, Loori illuminates various elements that awaken our creativity, among them still point, the center of each moment that focuses on the tranquility within; simplicity, in which the creative process is uncluttered and unlimited, like a cloudless sky; spontaneity, a way to navigate through life without preconceptions, with a freshness in which everything becomes new; mystery, a sense of trust in the unknown; creative feedback, the systematic use of an audience to receive noncritical input about our art; art koans, exercises based on paradoxical questions that can be resolved only through artistic expression. Loori shows how these elements interpenetrate and function not only in art, but in all our endeavors. Beautifully illustrated and punctuated with poems and reflections from Loori’s own spiritual journey, The Zen of Creativity presents a multilayered, bottomless source of insight into our creativity. Appealing equally to spiritual seekers, artists, and veteran Buddhist practitioners, this book is perfect for those wishing to discover new means of self-awareness and expression—and to restore equanimity and freedom amid the vicissitudes of our lives.

The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life

Loori, John Daido

Arts & Photography

Ballantine Books

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Alternative Medicine

Random House Publishing Group

Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-Air: The Zen Koan (Tuttle Library of Enlightenment)

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Tuttle Pub

Cave of Tigers is an utterly unique contribution to modern Zen literature- a collection of edited transcriptions of actual "dharma encounters" between students at Zen Mountain Monastery in mount Tremper, New York, and Abbot John Daido Lorri, Roshi. In dharma combat, the teacher introduces a topic and then invites students to come forward and present their understanding of the subject or ask a question about it. The highly charged teacher-studenwtencounters presented here range from pithy, koan-like exchanges to more discursive discussions- on zazen, the practice of everyday life, moral and ethical teachings of Buddhism, liturgy, karma, the monastic rule, the Middle mothers and professionals, college students and car mechanics. Cave of Tigers shows that Zen is alive and well here in America at the turn of the twenty-first century, that it is accessible to us, and that it is completely relevant to the ways in which we live our lives.

Cave Of Tigers: Modern Zen Encounters

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Weatherhill

Maps and guideposts are helpful when we undertake a journey. The ten Ox-Herding Pictures, the accompanying ancient poems, and a modern commentary by John Daido Loori, sketch the spiritual path encountered in Zen training, a path of exhaustive study of the self and the realization of the ultimate nature of reality. The Ox-Herding Pictures can be our companion on the Way of self-discovery, our compass and perspective when we need one. They are a bottomless source of mysterious wisdom to which we can return again and again for inspiration, and they translate easily into the gritty reality of spiritual practice that emerges from and grounds us in the inescapable relevance of our daily lives. The exquisite versions of the pictures found in the book are traditional Chinese nanga brush paintings by Gyokusei Jikihara Sensei, a modern Japanese master of calligraphy and a teacher in the Obaku School of Zen. The traditional verses accompanying them have been translated by John Daido Loori and Kazuaki Tanahashi, translator and editor of Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen.

Riding the Ox Home: Stages on the Path of Enlightenment

Shambhala

This accessible introduction to the philosophy and practice of Zen Buddhism includes a program of study that encompasses practically every aspect of life. The American Zen teacher John Daido Loori shows us that Zen practice should include not only meditation, the study of Zen literature and liturgy, and moral and ethical action, but should also manifest in work, artistic, and everyday activities. The Eight Gates are: 1. Zazen, a type of meditation described as "sitting Zen" 2. Face-to-face meetings between teacher and student 3. Academic study of the sutras related to Zen training, other schools of Buddhism, Buddhist history, psychology, and philosophy 4. Zen rites and rituals and their meaning 5. The moral and ethical requirements set in the Buddhist Precepts 6. Art practice as an extension of Zen practice 7. Body practice as an extension of Zen practice 8. Work as an active function of zazen Beautifully illustrated with Loori's own photographs, this edition also includes a new introduction and an updated reading list.

The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training

When the thirteenth century master Eihei Dogen, one of the most influential thinkers in Zen Buddhism and founder of the Japanese Soto school, returned to Japan after four years of study in China, the fruit of his pilgrimage was recorded in a collection of koans called the Chinese Shobogenzo, also known as Shinji or Mana Shobogenzo. This collection of three hundred main cases was first published in 1766 under the title Shobogenzo Sambyakusoku (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Three Hundred Cases), and was known to have provided the raw material for much of Dogen's better known Japanese-language Kana Shobogenzo. Dogen's collection of koans may come as a surprise to students of Zen as Dogen and the Soto school are generally known for the practice of shikantaza, or "just sitting," rather than for koan practice. Nevertheless, a careful study of Dogen's work reveals that he did use koans extensively in his writing and teaching, not only in the Kana Shobogenzo, but most of his other works as well. Zen students and scholars will find The True Dharma Eye to be a source of deep insight into the mind of one of the world's greatest religious thinkers, as well as the practice of koan study itself. Following the spirit of Dogen's pioneering efforts to carry the dharma across cultural divides, John Daido Loori Roshi, one of the West's most respected Zen teachers, has added his own verses and commentaries to each koan. The resulting volume presents readers with a uniquely contemporary perspective on Dogen's profound teachings and their relevance for twenty-first-century Western practitioners of Zen.

The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans

There is a common misconception that to practice Zen is to practice meditation and nothing else. In truth, traditionally, the practice of meditation goes hand-in-hand with moral conduct. In Invoking Reality, John Daido Loori, one of the leading Zen teachers in America today, presents and explains the ethical precepts of Zen as essential aspects of Zen training and development. The Buddhist teachings on morality—the precepts—predate Zen, going all the way back to the Buddha himself. They describe, in essence, how a buddha, or awakened person, lives his or her life in the world. Loori provides a modern interpretation of the precepts and discusses the ethical significance of these vows as guidelines for living. “Zen is a practice that takes place within the world,” he says, “based on moral and ethical teachings that have been handed down from generation to generation.” In his view, the Buddhist precepts form one of the most vital areas of spiritual practice.

Invoking Reality: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen (Dharma Communications)

A collection of three hundred koans compiled by Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century founder of Soto Zen in Japan, this book presents readers with a uniquely contemporary perspective on his profound teachings and their relevance for modern Western practitioners of Zen. Following the traditional format for koan collections, John Daido Loori Roshi, an American Zen master, has added his own commentary and accompanying verse for each of Dogen’s koans. Zen students and scholars will find The True Dharma Eye to be a source of deep insight into the mind of one of the world’s greatest religious thinkers, as well as the practice of koan study itself.

Through Zen meditation it is possible to find stillness of mind, even amidst our everyday activities—and this practical book-and-CD set reveals how. John Daido Loori, one of America's leading Zen teachers, offers everything needed to begin a meditation practice. He covers the basics of where to sit (on a cushion, bench, or chair), how to posture the body (complete with instructional photographs), and how to practice Zen meditation to discover the freedom of a peaceful mind.

Finding the Still Point (Book and CD): A Beginner's Guide to Zen Meditation (Dharma Communications)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Loori, John Daido. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Loori, John Daido

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Loori, John Daido. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life

The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life

Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-Air: The Zen Koan (Tuttle Library of Enlightenment)

Cave Of Tigers: Modern Zen Encounters

Riding the Ox Home: Stages on the Path of Enlightenment

The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training

The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans

Invoking Reality: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen (Dharma Communications)

The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans

Finding the Still Point (Book and CD): A Beginner's Guide to Zen Meditation (Dharma Communications)