Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings
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Book Overview
Zen's Chinese Heritage surveys twenty-five generations of enlightened Buddhist teachers through brief biographies and starkly beautiful prose and poetry from Chinese Zen sources. Andrew Ferguson moves chronologically through successive generations of Zen masters, supplementing their core teachings with history, biography, and poetry. The result is an organic understanding of the tradition's evolution as a religious, literary, and historical force. Capturing the austere beauty of the Zen masters' manner of teaching - their earthy style, humor, and humanity - Zen's Chinese Heritage is an intimate and profound human portrait of the enlightened Zen ancients, and an unprecedented look into the depths of this rich cultural heritage. The book includes a deluxe fold-out lineage chart of the Zen ancestors.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0861711637
ISBN13:9780861711635
Release Date:April 2000
Publisher:Wisdom Publications (MA)
Length:518 Pages
Weight:1.88 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 6.4" x 9.1"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Long Awaited Chan History Book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I read this book back when I was living in a monastery. I found it to be extraordinary, the other monk that I was living with at the time was also amazed that such a book had been written and he was the one that order one for the monks and one for the nuns. The book goes through the very beginnings of Chan (Chinese word for Zen) up through the "Golden Age" and beyond. I found very intriguing particularly to see that at one point in the Chan history that there was this point when so many enlightened masters had arose at once. Probably something we may never see again. You will find all Five Schools in here plus other schools that were not so prominent but had an impact as well. Definitely a book worthy of your dollar.
Banquet
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
I took months to read this book and only ever reached the stage of being an open-mouthed, lightning-struck bystander. Such a treasure is not often found in one life. I congratulate the authors on feeding us such juicy and tangy fruit.
Discovering Our Zen Heritage
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Zen's Chinese Heritage - The masters and their teachings, by Andrew Ferguson, is a long awaited reference for those wishing to appreciate the origins of the Zen tradition. As a long time practioner of Zen, the many illustrious and noteworthy ancestors of my tradition, have often been nothing more than a confusing collection of names, difficult to pronounce and even more difficult to appreciate as once real and living men and women. Andrew Ferguson's painstaking efforts at bringing to life these practioners of old, and providing us with history and anecdotes from their allusive lives, has enlivened my practice and given new meaning to the many wonderful and amazing persons I encounter in my koan study. This book is a wonderful guide and reference, especially with its accompanying lineage chart, for anyone who is either a practioner of this wonderful tradition or is solely interested in furthering their appreciation for the history of Zen.
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