Ebook: Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on Zen Koan Introspection

Acknowledgments; Foreword; Introduction: The Anatomy of the Zen Koan; Editor's Note; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; 1. The Definition of a Koan: Chung-feng Ming-pen; 2. The Song Period: A Time of Maturation; 3. Five Houses of Zen; 4. The ""Short-cut"" Approach of K'an-Hua Meditation; 5. Koan Practice; 6. The Nature of the Rinzai (Linji) Koan Practice; 7. The Steps of Koan Practice; JAPANESE KOAN STUDY; 8. Dogen and Koans; 9. Keizan, Koans, and Succession in the Soto School; 10. Ancestor Dajian Huineng; 11. Hakuin Ekaku and the Modern Koan System; 12. Orategama Zokushu.;The Zen tradition has just two main meditative practices: shikantaza, or ""just sitting;"" and introspection guided by the powerful Zen teaching stories called koans. Following up on his previous book, The Art of Just Sitting, John Daido Loori's new anthology illuminates the subtle practice of koan study from many viewpoints. Section one examines the history of the study and use of koans in China and Japan, with essays from such important contemporary Zen scholars as Heinrich Dumoulin (""Five Houses of Zen""). Section two includes writings from the masters of Japanese Zen su.