As writer, Kyun was an inheritor of the Chinese Tang style, becoming one of its first and foremost promulgators in Korea. The poems in this book portray issues of social justice, artistic legacy and purpose, and the daily life of a Korean nobleman in the middle years of Korea's Choson Dynasty. A selection of poems that catalogs the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597-the only record of its kind in poetry. The poems in this book portray issues of social justice, artistic legacy and...

“Reading poems from another language, culture, and century, I often feel like a foreigner excluded from the original’s greatest subtleties. Not so in Hyesim’s miraculous time-traveling poems, which might have been written yesterday or tomorrow, and anywhere. There’s not a single opaque word in the book. The poems are Buddhist, yes, and Zen (S?n) in particular, but they’re written for anyone interested in human consciousness: what it is, how it perceives the world, how it can be transformed...

Korea's Zen tradition has always been vibrant and continues to thrive today. This book gives voice to the "Zen mind" of Korea's contemporary Zen Masters, articulated through koans and excerpts of conversations in the form of brief questions and answers with students and other teachers.

Because words can no more hold the truth than a net can hold water, we use koans. Koans are sayings, or doings, of Zen masters, the patriarchs and Buddha. Take for example the koan: The Sound of One Hand clapping. In its entirety it reads: "You know the sound of two hands clapping. What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The obvious, intellectual answer is, No sound at all! But then what is this No sound? In other words, is it just silence?If one is to work on this koan, indeed on ...

In ancient times, Indian rishi Patanjali highlighted the principal stages of the ascent to spiritual heights, to the Primordial Consciousness. He distinguished eight major steps of this ascent: yama — niyama — asana — pranayama — pratyahara — dharana — dhyana — samadhi.This book describes these steps.

Century-old letters tell a story of timeless love in a vanished countryFirst translated by American scholar Elizabeth Cooper in 1914 and published as My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard, this haunting collection of letters was out of print until discovered by bestselling author Eileen Goudge. In its pages she found the story of Kwei-li, a noblewoman of nineteenth-century China.In rich, elegant detail, Kwei-li writes of passionate love for a man whom s...

The late, great Zen master reflects on the benefits of walking meditation in one of the few guidebooks focused solely on mindful walkingWritten in Thich Nhat Hanh’s clear and accessible style, Long Road Turns to Joy reminds us that we “walk not in order to arrive, but walk just for walking.” Touching the earth with our feet is an opportunity to live in the here and now. Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to enjoy each step and each breath in order to regain pea...

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...

The classic samurai-era text that fused Japanese swordsmanship with Zen philosophy—written by the incomparable Zen master Takuan SohoWritten by the seventeenth-century Zen master Takuan Soho (1573–1645), The Unfettered Mind is a book of advice on swordsmanship and the cultivation of right mind and intention. It was written as a guide for the samurai Yagyu Munenori, who was a great swordsman and rival to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi.Takuan was a g...

Anthony C. Yu’s translation of The Journey to the West,initially published in 1983, introduced English-speaking audiences to the classic Chinese novel in its entirety for the first time. Written in the sixteenth century, The Journey to the West tells the story of the fourteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang, one of China’s most famous religious heroes, and his three supernatural disciples, in search of Buddhist scriptures. Throughout his journey, Xuanzang fights demo...

The world-renowned Buddhist monk offers his personal, heartfelt, and often surprising answers to 50 of the most common questions he has ever been askedPosed to Thich Nhat Hanh by participants in his retreats and from his students, readers will discover that we all share the experience of carrying with us the one question that has always seemingly stood in the way. It may block the next step in our personal development, the development of our spiritual practice, or ...