He in turn invited them to look for him in the sake parlors of the Pleasure Quarters. A Zen monk-poet-calligrapher-musician, he dared to write about the joys of erotic love, along with more traditional Zen themes. He was an eccentric and genius who dared to defy authority and despised corruption. Although he lived during times plagued by war, famine, rioting, and religious upheaval, his writing and music prevailed, influencing Japanese culture to this day.Stephen Berg is the Editor and founder of American Poetry Review.Also available by Stephen BergSteel CricketPB $16.00, 1-55659-075-X • CUSANew & Selected PoemsPB $12.00, 1-55659-043-1 • CUSA

    Accessible and eloquent, these teachings cut to the heart of the great matter of Zen, pointing directly to the importance of seeing our own original nature and recognizing it as Buddhahood itself. Bassui is taking familiar concepts in Buddhism and recasting them in an essential Zen light. Though he lived centuries ago in a culture vastly different from our own, Zen Master Bassui speaks with a voice that spans time and space to address our own modern challenges - in our lives and spiritual practice. Like the revered Master Dogen several generations before him, Bassui was dissatisfied with what passed for Zen training, and taught a radically reenergized form of Zen, emphasizing deep and direct penetration into one's own true nature. And also like Dogen, Bassui uses powerful and often poetic language to take familiar Buddhist concepts recast them in a radically non-dual Zen light, making ancient doctrines vividly relevant. This edition of Mud and Water contains several teachings never before translated.

    At a time when Zen was becoming overly formalized in Japan, he stressed its relevance to everyday life, insisting on the importance of naturalness and spontaneity.

    It is a perfect companion to Osho's two-volume Zarathustra series.

    Not only is the moon a symbol for the mirror of our consciousness, but it is also a transforming agent. "The master is the possibility for this transformation...the universe our university." The running theme of Dogen's message of 800 years is the eternity of our consciousness, a consciousness with no limitations and that exists through all changes of form. Something inner which moves from one climate to another, which is beyond form, birth, death, beyond life, which simply is - isness.

    And his motto: "One day without working, one day without food." No holy charity here; work and meditation go hand in hand. He also created the Chinese Tea Ceremony where something so ordinary as drinking tea becomes a meditation. But more than simply chronicles of a past master, here we see Osho "hitting" a disciple in front of the assembled thousands at the evening meditation, and we experience the depths of her response. Such was the intensity of this that Osho dedicated the book to her - a book that is truly "living Zen" and a must for everyone who is interested in the ways of a Zen master.SubjectZen and Zen MastersTranslated fromNotesPart of the seven-volume set "The Present Day Awakened One speaks on the Ancient Masters of Zen"Time Period of Osho's original Discourses/Talks/Lettersfrom Sep 26, 1988 to Oct 4, 1988Number of Discourses/Chapters9

    It may well be the most comprehensive look at Advaita currently in print. It takes us on a rich and vivid journey from the arising of "I AM" to the final dissolution into identification as pure Consciousness.

    It has to be suggested by saying what it is not-- in the same way that a sculptor reveals an image to us by the act of removing pieces from a block of stone. Zen Practice, Zen Art is a refreshingly clear yet remarkably detailed explanation of this most tantalizing aspect of Asian culture.The tradition of Za-Zen study and the KoanThe integration of Zen into every aspect of lifeThe importance of interest from the West in the preservation of Zen as a living philosophyNarrated by Ralph Blum, this program also features rare recordings of the author, Alan Watts, personally elaborating on key passages from his classic bestseller, The Way of Zen.

    This book brings together masterpieces of painting and calligraphy created by Japanese monks, who turned to visual imagery as an aid to meditation, as an expression of enlightenment, and as the purest form of transmitting Zen principles. The illustrations are accompanied by text which explains the fundamentals of Zen culture and includes many translations of Zen prose, poetry and sayings.

    In contrast to the popular image of Zen as an authoritarian, monastic tradition deeply rooted in Asian culture, these passages portray Zen as remarkably flexible, adaptive to contemporary and individual needs, and transcending cultural boundaries. The readings contained in Zen Essence emphasize that the practice of Zen requires consciousness alone and does not depend on a background in Zen Buddhism and Asian culture. The true essence of Zen resides in the relationship between mind and culture, whatever that culture might be. This unique collection of writings creates a picture of Zen not as a religion or philosophy, but as a practical science of freedom.