Presents a collection of essays, which argue that Zen Buddism actually has a rich and varied literary heritage. Among the significant texts are hagiographic accounts and recorded sayings of individual Zen masters, koan collections and commentaries and rules for monastic life.

A companion volume to 'The Koan' and 'The Zen Canon' this text concentrates primarily on texts from Korea and Japan that brought the Zen tradition to fruition.

Presents instructions, meditation guides, quotations, letters, essays, dialogues, and other writings by Zen masters over the centuries that were translated and published over a period of thirty years.

From bestselling cartoonist C. C. Tsai, a delightfully illustrated collection of classic Zen Buddhist stories that enlighten as they entertain C. C. Tsai is one of Asia’s most popular cartoonists, and his editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. In The Ways of Zen, he has created an entertaining and enlightening masterpiece from the rich collections of the Zen Buddhist tradition, bringing classic stories to life in delightful language and vividly detailed comic illustrations. Combining all the stories previously published in Tsai’s Wisdom of the Zen Masters and Zen Speaks, this is the artist’s largest collection of selections from the most important and famous Zen texts. The story of the illiterate wood-peddler Huineng, who improbably rises to become the most famous Zen patriarch, is joined by others that trace the development of the five major sects of Zen Buddhism through other masters such as Mazu, Linji, and Yunmen. A shattered antique, a blind man carrying a lantern, sutras set on fire, a cow jumping through a window—each story leads the reader to reflect on fundamental Buddhist ideas. The Ways of Zen also features the original Chinese text in side columns on each page, enriching the book for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the English-language cartoons. Filled with memorable anecdotes and disarming wisdom, The Ways of Zen is a perfect introduction to Zen Buddhism and an essential addition to any Zen collection.

Volume Four of Classics of Buddhism and Zen features several essential works on the practice of Zen koans, including a complete translation of Gateless Barrier , a classic collection of Zen parables, paradoxes, and teaching stories. Also included is a collection of poetry from the Chinese Buddhist poet Wen-Siang. The volume includes: Transmission of Light: Zen in the Art of Enlightenment This first complete modern translation of the classic Denkoroku illustrates how to attain satori. Unlocking the Zen Koan This translation of the koan classic Wumenguan also includes Cleary's selection of comments by great Chinese Zen masters. Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen An anthology of Japanese Rinzai Zen from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Timeless Spring: A Soto Zen Anthology Contains sayings, informal talks, and public cases of important Soto Zen masters. Zen Antics: 100 Stories of Enlightenment Unlike many of the baffling dialogues between Zen masters preserved in koan literature, the stories retold here are pointedly simple but with a richness and subtlety that make them worth reading again and again. Record of Things Heard: From the Treasury of the Eye of the True Teaching This Zen classic is a collection of talks by the great Japanese Zen Master Dogen, founder of the Soto school. Sleepless Nights: Verses for the Wakeful Among the greatest masterpieces of the secular Buddhist poetry, these verses mock the folly of tyrants and celebrate the indomitability of life.

Eight Zen classics in one book: Perfection of Wisdom, Heart, Diamond, Lotus, Platform, and Blue Cliff Record, Kakuin's Ox-herding, the Gateless Gate.