Prajnaparamita: Selected Sayings from the "Perfection of Wisdom"

Edward Conze

Religion & Spirituality

The Buddhist Society

In this volume, The Buddhist Society presents Yoka Daishi’s Realizing the Way, a T’ang Dynasty Chinese text known as Zhang Dao Ge, or Shodōka in Japanese. This 12th century Japanese edition has been translated by the Venerable Myokyo-ni and accompanied throughout by her own commentary on the text. The sixty-seven verses of Yoka Daishi’s Song on the Realization of the Way lie at the heart of the Zen approach to Mahayana thought and symbolise the germ of the Buddha-nature inherent in all sentient beings – hidden and dormant, but containing the potential and promise of liberation. The title, which is variously translated, is most commonly known as ‘The Song of Enlightenment’. With vivid imagery and striking turns of phrase, these verses weave in and out of the various Mahayana doctrines. Each section of the Song, which The Venerable Myokyo-ni describes as ‘a very carefully considered and expounded summary that has the whole of the teaching in it’, is accompanied here by her extensive and illuminating commentary.

Yoka Daishi's Realizing the Way: Translation and Commentary

Daishi, Yoka

Buddhism

Over twenty Buddhist teaching stories are included, with commentaries by the Venerable Myokyo-ni. The stories are collected from various Buddhist sources, but have in common the Buddhist way of facing the trials of life. Stories from the Southern schools, such as 'The Parable of the Poisoned Arrow' are included alongside Northern training stories like 'The Taming of the Harp' and 'The Great Wave.' Each story is followed by the thoughts and observations of the Venerable Myokyo-ni. 'Stories and parables are an integral part of traditional teaching texts. They are of such simplicity that one is inclined to smile at them as rather childish and as of no relevance to our lives today. Yet on closer acquaintance they reveal a profound insight into human nature, expound perennial verities and serve as pointers or guides. They console, succour, direct towards a more conducive attitude and a fuller, more meaningful partaking in life.'-The Venerable Myokyo-ni, from the Introduction to the book

Look and See: Buddhist Teaching Stories with Commentaries

Myokyo-Ni, Venerable

In Japanese Zen, every activity in life, including the martial arts, ﬂower arrangement and serving tea, are considered a ﬁeld for practicing inner control, meditation and inspiration, and can be termed the ‘Way’ when practiced in this manner. In this book, Trevor Leggett collects together translations of texts relating to this phenomenon, and offers his own thoughts and observations on the subject. Part One presents Zen in the words of twentieth-century masters, and deals particularly with the koan or riddle system that developed in China. Part Two, 'Kamakura Zen', describes the warrior Zen of the ﬁrst three hundred years in Japan. It contains the classic text, ‘On Meditation’ by the master Daikaku, who was one of the founders of Zen in Japan. Part Three covers ‘The Kamakura Koans’ and in Part Four 'The Ways' are presented by texts from traditional sources, including the so-called ‘secret scrolls’, which were preserved in the schools of the Ways. Part Five presents extracts from the less cryptic parts of scrolls themselves, while Part Six includes some of the stories of the Ways in practice. These sections are accompanied by historical appendices and an index of names and technical terms.

Zen and the Ways

Three Ages of Zen

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

The Venerable Myokyo-ni wrote several books that describe Zen practice in an accessible and clear-minded way. She stressed that Zen was part of Buddhism, as all schools were true to the same core principles: “Many schools; one way.” Before her travels to Japan, she had undergone Jungian analysis, and spoke of Buddhist practice as a way of transforming the psyche and bending the heart towards compassion and wholeness. Towards Wholeness collects nineteen essays by Venerable Myokyo-ni which explore her thoughts on Zen Buddhism and its place in daily life. It includes her well-known analysis of the Bull-Herding Series, as well as pieces on Jung, meditation, Zen practice and study. Essays such as The Quest for Wholeness, The Need for Transformation and Going Beyond provide further examples of Myokyo-ni’s incisive and insightful thinking, always rigorous but often deeply compassionate.

Towards Wholeness: Translations and Commentaries

When Zen Buddhism crossed from China to Japan in the twelfth century, it entered a phase of development that was not only to inspire a magniﬁcent range of artistic achievement but also to exert a tremendous inﬂuence upon Japanese life itself and, eventually, to bring to the attention of the West a religious philosophy both unique and challenging in its power. The purpose of this anthology is to suggest an approach to answering the perennial question “What is Zen?”. The texts translated here will give a general idea of Zen theory and practice, and are signiﬁcant elements within the corpus of Zen literature. Additionally, Leggett has added a valuable ‘Note on the Ways’, in which he points out how ‘the student keeps his Zen practice in touch with his daily life’. The author’s inimitable strength lies in his ability to render Japanese Zen thought accessible to a wide readership through his translations and interpretations. Leggett’s anthology and commentary is an invaluable introduction to Zen for general readers.

A First Zen Reader

Every page of this profoundly erudite book is written with compelling insight. There are ﬁve sections, each reﬂecting in depth a different emphasis by a particular Master or School of Zen. The collection starts with a key text, an inspired and inspiring commentary on a sutra considered by some to be the very kernel of Mahayana Buddhism: the Heart Sutra. But the book's remaining sections, including the celebrated text The Tiger's Cave and other pieces, will also be full of interest to any reader exploring some of the key Zen narratives.

A Second Zen Reader: The Tiger's Cave and Translations of Other Zen Writings

Chapter of the Self

The newly-translated letters of Rennyo Shonin, a highly influential figure in one of Japan's most important Buddhist sects.

Living with Thanks: The Five Fascicle Version of Rennyo Shonin's Letters

Literature & Fiction

Sato, Kemmyo Taira

History & Criticism

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