Zen Masters

by Steven Heine, Dale Wright

Overview

Extending their successful series of collections on Zen Buddhism, Heine and Wright present a fifth volume, on what may be the most important topic of all - Zen Masters. Following two volumes on Zen literature (Zen Classics and The Zen Canon) and two volumes on Zen practice (The Koan and Zen Ritual) they now propose a volume on the most significant product of the Zen tradition - the Zen masters who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world by emphasizing the role of eminent spiritual leaders and their function in establishing centers, forging lineages, and creating literature and art. Zen masters in China, and later in Korea and Japan, were among the cultural leaders of their times. Stories about their comportment and powers circulated widely throughout East Asia. In this volume ten leading Zen scholars focus on the image of the Zen master as it has been projected over the last millennium by the classic literature of this tradition. Each chapter looks at a single prominent master. Authors assess the master's personality and charisma, his reported behavior and comportment, his relationships with teachers, rivals and disciplines, lines of transmission, primary teachings, the practices he emphasized, sayings and catch-phrases associated with him, his historical and social context, representations and icons, and enduring influences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195367645
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/22/2010
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

SH: Professor of Religious Studies and History, Florida International University;DSW: David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor of Religious Studies, Occidental College

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Abbreviation
Contributors
Preface
1. Monastic Innovator, Iconoclast, and Teacher of Doctrine: The Varied Images of Chan Master Baizhang
Mario Poceski
2. Dongshan and the Teaching of Suchness
Taigen Dan Leighton
3. Yongming Yanshou: Scholastic as Chan Master
Albert Welter
4. Dahui Zonggao (1089-1163): The Image Created by his Stories About Himself and his Teaching Style
Miriam L. Levering
5. Dōgen, Zen Master, Zen Disciple: Transmitter or Transgressor?
Steven Heine
6. The Zen of Books and Practice: The Life of Menzan Zuihō and his Reformation of Sōtō Zen
David Riggs
7. The Use of Traps and Snares: Shaku Sōen Revisited
Michel Mohr
8. True Person, Formless Self: Lay Zen Master Hisamatsu Shin'ichi
Christopher Ives
9. Humanizing the Image of a Zen Master: Taizan Maezumi Roshi
Dale S. Wright
10. Seung Sahn: The Makeover of a Modern Zen Patriarch
Sorching Low
Notes
Index