Kurzbeschreibung
The strange verbal paradoxes called
koans have been used in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this book,
Mumonkan (
Gateless Gate ) and
Hekiganroku (
Blue Cliff Record), both compiled during the Song dynasty in China, are the best known and most frequently studied koan collections, and are classics of Zen literature. In a completely new translation, together with original commentaries, Katsuki Sekida brings to these works the same fresh and pragmatic approach that made his
Zen Training so successful. The insights of a lifetime of Zen practice and his familiarity with Western as well as Eastern ways of thinking make him an ideal interpreter of these texts.
Synopsis
The verbal paradoxes called koans are used in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this text, "Mumonkan" (The Gate-less Gate) and "Hekiganroku" (The Blue Cliff Records) are well-known classics of Zen literature.