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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>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 such as Hakuin Ekaku's "The Voice of the Sound of One Hand." Section three vividly portrays the living tradition of koan introspection today in East and West in such pieces as Sokei, and Sasaki's "Ninth Koan." These scholars clarify the nature of one of Zen's most enigmatic forms, making the book useful to those with casual interest and indispensable to students of Zen.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br>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 in the tradition of The Art of Just Sitting (endorsed as a A book we have needed for a long, long time), this new anthology from John Daido Loori illuminates the subtle practice of koan study from many different points of view. <p/>Includes writings by: <br> <ul> <li>Robert Aitken</li> <li>William Bodiford</li> <li>Robert Buswell</li> <li>Roko Sherry Chayat</li> <li>Francis Dojun Cook</li> <li>Eihei Dogen</li> <li>Heinrich Dumoulin</li> <li>Hakuin Ekaku</li> <li>Victor Sogen Hori</li> <li>Keizan Jokin</li> <li>Philip Kapleau</li> <li>Chung-fen Ming-Pen</li> <li>Taizan Maezumi</li> <li>Dennis Genpo Merzel</li> <li>Soen Nakagawa</li> <li>Ruth Fuller Sasaki</li> <li>Sokei-an Sasaki</li> <li>Nyogen Senzaki</li> <li>Zenkei Shibayama</li> <li>Eido Shimano</li> <li>Philip Yampolsky</li> <li>Hakuun Yasutani</li> <li>Wayne Yokoyama</li> <li>Katsushiro Yoshizawa</li> </ul><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>A handy compendium of some of the most important writings on the topic by scholars and Zen masters.-- "Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly"<br><br>This is a remarkable collection of essays and sermons by eminent scholars and leading Zen masters covering a full range of historical materials and diverse approaches in the formation of koan studies in China and Japan, as well as commentary on numerous specific cases. One volume brilliantly put together by a premier modern interpreter of koans, John Daido Loori, illuminates both issues of historical development and the discovery of contemporary meaning and application in religious practice.--Professor Steven Heine, editor of The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts<br><br><i>Sitting with Koans</i> provides an excellent start toward such understanding, offering the reader--whether veteran meditator, inquiring novice, or simply interested observer--a careful and well-organized presentation of classic and modern source materials on many aspects of traditional koan work.--from the foreword by Thomas Yuho Kirchner<br><br>Roshi Daido Loori has provided us with a valuable tool for appreciating the living tradition of koan study.--Gerry Shishin Wick, author of The Book of Equanimity<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>John Daido Loori was, until his death in 2009, the spiritual leader and abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York. Trained in koan Zen as well as in the subtle school of Master Dogen's Zen, he was the Dharma heir of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi. Devoted to maintaining authentic Zen training, he developed a distinctive style, called the Eight Gates of Zen, based on the noble eightfold path. Drawing on his background as scientist, artist, naturalist, and Zen priest, Abbot Loori was an American master who spoke directly to students from the perspective of a common background. His books include <i>Mountain Record of Zen Talks</i> and <i>The Heart of Being</i>. <p/>Thomas Yuho Kirchner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1949. He went to Japan in 1969 to attend Waseda University in Tokyo for a year, after which he remained in Japan to study Buddhism. He spent three years training under Yamada Mumon as a lay monk at Shofuku-ji before receiving ordination in 1974. Following ordination he practiced under Minato Sodo Roshi at Kencho-ji in Kamakura and Kennin-ji in Kyoto. Following graduate studies in Buddhism at Otani University he worked at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya and subsequently at the Hanazono University International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism. He presently lives at Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Among his publications are the <i>Record of Linji</i>, <i>Dialogues in a Dream</i>, and <i>Entangling Vines</i>.

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