Through verse, the rural world becomes the landscape for a woman’s resolute spiritual quest, set against the restless currents of twentieth-century China.Twentieth-century China was rife with political and spiritual turmoil as it sought to shake off the shackles of its imperial past and move along the path of modernization. In the midst of this turmoil, Zhang Ruzhao (later ordained as Tiantai Master Benkong)—a prolific Buddhist, feminist, literary, and political fi...

Women played major roles in the history of Buddhist China, but given the paucity of the remaining records, their voices have all but faded. In Daughters of Emptiness, Beata Grant renders a great service by recovering and translating the enchanting verse - by turns assertive, observant, devout—of forty-eight nuns from sixteen centuries of imperial China. This selection of poems, along with the brief biographical accounts that accompany them, affords readers a glimpse into the extra...

The voices of three female Zen masters reverberate in this much-needed collection.Too often the history of Zen seems to be written as an unbroken masculine line: male teacher to male student. In this timely volume, Beata Grant shows us that women masters do exist—and have always existed.Zen Echoes is a collection of classic koans from Zen’s Chinese history that were first collected and commented on by Miaozong, a twelfth-century nun so adept that h...

Only by inhabiting Dao (the Way of Nature) and dwelling in its unity can humankind achieve true happiness and freedom, in both life and death. This is Daoist philosophy's central tenet, espoused by the person—or group of people—known as Zhuangzi (369?–286? BCE) in a text by the same name. To be free, individuals must discard rigid distinctions between right and wrong, and follow a course of action not motivated by gain or striving. When one ceases to judge events as good or bad, man-made s...

From Taosim expert Ming-Dao Deng comes The Lunar Tao: Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons, bringing to life the Chinese Lunar Calendar via the prism of Taoism.In The Lunar Tao, each day of the Lunar year is represented with a reading meditation, beautiful Chinese illustrations, and interesting facts about the festivals and traditions, providing readers with the context that gives Taoism such depth and resonance.Ming-Dao Deng, the bestselling author of 365 Tao: Daily Med...

A wonderfully diverse collection of Zen poetry from China and Japan—including works by Lao Tzu and Han Shan—presented by two of America’s premier poet-translatorsA Zen poem is nothing other than an expression of the enlightened mind, a handful of simple words that disappear beneath the moment of insight to which it bears witness. Poetry has been an essential aid to Zen Buddhist practice from the dawn of Zen—and Zen has also had a profound influence on the secular p...

The best and most comprehensive book on the most important and best-loved Chinese goddess.Walk down the streets of Chinatown in any American or western European city and look around. She is there. Walk through the downtown streets, look in a shop window. She is there. Go to any city in China and open your eyes. She is there, too.Kuan Yin is the most ubiquitous Chinese deity—and the most loved. She is the living expression of compassion whose gentle face and elegant figure form the center o...

The Lamp That Enlightens Narrow Minds: The Life and Times of a Realized Tibetan Master, Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug presents an engaging account of the life of Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug, a realized Tibetan tulku (reincarnated lama or teacher). The book's historical references provide a detailed portrait of Tibet on the verge of invasion and occupation by Chinese forces in the decades leading up to 1959 when Chinese repression led the Dalai Lama to take refuge in India.

Robert Aiken, author of Encouraging Words and Taking the Path of Zen, is America’s most senior Zen Roshi. In this new book he presents the Ten Pãramitãs, of Transcendental Perfections—namely, giving, mortality, forbearance, zeal, focused meditation, wisdom, compassionate means, aspiration, spiritual power, and knowledge—two-thousand-year-old ideals that can serve us as both methods and goals. The Pãramitãs are the “skillful means” a person may employ to nurture and develo...

Zen's Chinese Heritage traces twenty-five generations of inlightened Buddhist teachers, supplementing their core teachings with history, biography, and poetry. The result is an intimate and profound human portrait of the enlightened Zen ancients, and an unprecedented look into the depths of the rich cultural heritage.In this new edition with even more valuable material, Ferguson surveys generations of Zen masters, moving chronologically through successive generations of an...

Essential Chan Buddhism is the rare unearthing of an ancient and remarkable Chinese spiritual tradition. Master Guo Jun speaks through hard-won wisdom on Chan's spiritual themes familiar to Western readers, such as mindfulness and relaxation in meditation, as well as profound, simply expressed teachings and insightful explorations of religious commitment. Essential Chan Buddhism filters formal spiritual practices through the lens of mundane and everyday life activities. T...

This heartfelt ode to the meditative practice of drinking tea examines the origins of traditional tea culture in the East, revealing how a good cuppa can elevate both the mind and spiritTraditionally in China and Japan, drinking a cup of tea was an opportunity for contemplation, meditation, and an elevation of mind and spirit. Here, renowned translator William Scott Wilson distills what is singular and precious about this traditional tea culture, and he explores th...