Tuttle library of enlightenment

The Mumonkan, or "Gateless Barrier," is the most widely used collection of koans in Zen practice. For centuries, monks, nuns, and lay people have struggled with these koans as a means of attaining enlightenment. As director of the Montreal Zen Center for the past fifteen years, Albert Low has helped others work through these koans. In this book he provides contemporary and lively commentaries which serve to make the Mumonkan available to all readers and relevant to their everyday lives. He draws upon his own thirty years of practice, half of which has been spent as a teacher, to show how the Mumonkan can be a gateway to spiritual life. His commentaries are filled with anecdotes and new insights into the human condition. The book is structured in the traditional style, with translations of each koan followed by the author's comments. The translations are drawn from the author's own interpretation and from his work with Roshi Philip Kapleau. Excerpts from the Diamond Sutra and a translation of the Prajnaparamita Hridaya ("Heart of Perfect Wisdom" sutra) are included, as well as the author's story of his own path toward awakening.

The Story of Chinese Zen begins with the premise that the climate during Shakyamuni's founding of Buddhism in India ultimately influenced the differences behind Hinayana and Mahayana thought, practice, and methods of seeking realization. From there - beginning with its transmission to China - Master Nan outlines the Zen School, exploring influences on the development of Zen before the early T'ang dynasty, different means of studying Zen and pursuing "the heart and goal of Zen." He explores the relationship between Zen and neo-Confucianism and the inseparability of religion and Zen from Chinese literature and philosophy, especially Taoism.