Customer Reviews (1)

A practical guide to daily Chan Practice
Dharma Drum is divided into two parts. Part one is an overview on some of the basic tenents of Buddhism explained fron a Chan (the Chinese origin of Zen) perspective. These teachings include causes and conditions (orinterdependence), karma, enlightenment and delusion, the benefits of meditation practices, the stages of meditation, etc. In other words, partone deals with theories, principles, and methods of Chan Buddhist practice. Part two consists of aphorisms or "words of wisdom" for dailyreflection and practice. These are like daily excercises or food for themind. It's best to read them slowly and use them as a mirror to look deeperinto our lives. This section is devided into different subsections like"Meditation", "birth and Death," "The EnlightnedView," and "Transcending Suffering," etc.

Part two ofthis book is like something you read daily by flipping to any page. Eachteaching is printed on a single page.

What I enjoyed about this book isits clarity and depth--Master Sheng-yen, the author, have the ability toput profound insights of Buddhism and Chan into plain language. His wordscome from over 50 years of Chan practice as a monk. You can sense thesource of his clarity, which comes not from repeating other people's wordsbut, from his own experience.

His writings are not what you may call"meating," or well-packaged by lofty ideas and fancy spiritualjargon. They are rather direct and plain; there is a subdued andseriousness, and yet a kind of warm, light, and humorous tone to his voice.To real Dharma practitioners confronted with internal and externalhindrences on their own Paths or to sincere individuals who want to begintheir practice, they will surely find clear answers to their doubts andquestions. A "clear-eyed" person will quickly spot out MasterSheng-yen's teaching as extremely beneficial.

However, to people who areonly "readers" of Buddhism and Chan, or is searching forsomething that "meets" their idiosyncratic views and styles, theymay be turned off by Master Sheng-yen's uncompromising style to present, tous in the West, the authentic Dharma.

I highly recommend Dharma Drum byMaster Sheng-yen, and other books by him, to any sincere individual ontheir way to the Path of self-awakening. ... Read more

Product Description
Shaolin Chanwuyi (Chan, Wushu, and Healing) is a unique Chan Buddhism branch that has been the tradition in the Yonghuatang within the Shaolin Temple. Since it has been an inclusive practice within the temple and was not revealed to others, the principles and authentic methods remain unknown to many. This book, as the first introductory book of Shaolin Chanwuyi, was written based upon the teaching of Master Shi Dejian who is the eighteenth successor of Shaolin Chanwuyi. This book describes the history and philosophy of Shaolin Chanwuyi and explains the methods for practicing. The goal of Chanwuyi is to obtain enlightenment and wisdom, develop virtuous character, and maintain good health. This is the ultimate Chan; it cannot be expressed in words. Shaolin Chan, Wu, and Yi are united and complementary. Shaolin Wushu first focuses on training the mind, which is the essence for perfecting Shaolin Wushu. It is only when one has become proficient in Shaolin Wushu that can one understand the mind and body, then can improve the mental and physical problems. By healing oneself and others, one in turn can nurture a heart of Chan. Chan, Wu, and Yi go together; the three components are united into one thing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fascinating text
The Amazon.com 'blurb' for this book is a trifle vague. This material - translated by Chang Chung Yuan, a modern day Chinese scholar from Taiwan, was taken from the 'Ch'uan Teng Lu' (Jpn. Dentoroku) or 'Records of the 'Transmission of the Lamp,' edited by the Chinese Master Tao-yuan, published circa 1007.

This was the primary source D.T. Suzuki drew on for the Zen anecdotes found in his famous trilogy, and it has been a key source for Chinese Buddhist translators, too (Chang Chung Yuan evidently valued its sources). Lu K'uan Yu (cf. Ch'an and Zen Teachings, Series 2 - much recommended) also drew on Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' sources. So far as we can refer to 'original' Ch'an/Zen sources - in written form, they are to be found here. These are the masters who shaped a whole tradition, their sayings - in fragmentary form, appearing in texts like the Pi-yen Lu (Jpn. Hekiganroku) or 'Blue Cliff Record.' The 'Trans- mission of the Lamp' - presented here, gives us the background sources from which such sayings were culled. It is instructive to digest these sayings in their original context. Modern-day Zen students will probably focus on the chapters dealing with Lin Chi (Jpn. Rinzai), Tung-shan (Jpn. Tozan), Yun-men (Jpn. Ummon), Chao-chou (Jpn. Joshu) etc., although the chapters dealing with earlier masters such as Yung-chia (Jpn. Yoka) ought not to be skipped over, because they show the over-lap between Ch'an/Zen and the Madhyamika influenced T'ien-Tai (Jpn. Tendai) teachings. (The full length Chinese text of the 'Lamp' includes a number of T'ien-t'ai masters, virtually regarded as a branch or sub-sect of Ch'an).

Chang Chung Yuan's translations are for the most part reliable, his introductory discussions, frequently witty. In other respects, however, he seems to be a victim of certain contemporary prejudices. He adopts an almost 'Hegelian' approach to the development of Ch'an or Zen, suggesting that Yung-chia's T'ien-t'ai predilections were not quite up to the mark - or fell short of the later - 'developed' Ch'an, shorn of its more obvious 'Indian' elements, in favour of the uniquely Chinese Ch'an idioms - the prototypical kung-an (Jpn. koan). It is true that the development of Ch'an idioms gave the tradition its distinctive 'flavour' - but, there is no reason to suppose that Yung-chia's enlightenment was any less deep or thorough-going - than that of his successors. By and large, Chinese Buddhists take a more generous view of Yung-chia's teachings - including its T'ien-tai elements. Yung-chia was regarded as an enlightened master by no less than Hui-neng (Jpn. Eno),and the former was able to hold his own - in dialogue with the renowned Patriarch. Yung-chia's writings are studied in Chinese, Japanese and Korean temples to this day. Chang Chung Yuan has left the 'Indian' elements in Yung-chia's teaching less centrally related to Ch'an, than they might have been. By way of compensation, references to the Avatamsaka-sutra influenced Hua-yen (Jpn. Kegon) school, do re-establish the intuitive correspondence between the Chinese Ch'an idioms - and elements of 'Indian' Buddhist thought. Even so, the view of Ch'an/Zen that comes over in the translator's commentarial material, is predominantly that of the 'anti-scriptural' and iconoclastic face - regrettably exaggerated in some Western accounts of the tradition. The translator makes much of well known idioms, such as the saying that " 'ping chang hsin' (the every day mind) is the way" - without telling us much about what Ch'an/Zen practice actually involves. The translations per se - are fine, but they need to be digested in the light of more focused accounts of Ch'an practice.

For centuries, Tao-yuan's 'Transmission of the Lamp' was the earliest collection of Ch'an/Zen records available. An earlier collection - the Tsu T'ang Chi (Jpn. Sodoshu. Kor. Chodang chip)- 'Collected Records from the Ancestors Hall' was effectively lost - for centuries, until woodblock copies of the text were rediscovered at the Haein-sa temple in Korea. Subsequent comparison of these two texts has led to speculation that the 'Tang' sources contained in the 'Lamp' text have been creatively reconstructed - or presented in such a way, to bestow a sense of continuity to the tradition, not apparent in the earlier material - and thus, possibly invented. At the very least, the received scholarly opinion, is that the 'Tang' sources found in the 'Lamp' text have been reshaped by Sung editors.

While not quite the stuff of 'conspiracy theory -there is an element of 'over-kill' in these observations. It may well be that Tao-yuan and other editors 'tightened up' the material at their disposal and gave it more definite form. So what? Tang China wasn't provided with Jumbo jets, express trains or the inter-net. It took many, long years, to collect such Ch'an records - and, therefore, it is hardly surprising that the Tsu Tang Chi was incomplete. Indeed, the editors of the earlier collection acknowledged as much. Modern scholars have made rather much of the claim that Tao-yuan's text was structured to place greater emphasis upon the Ch'an tradition as a 'special transmission outside the scriptures'(chiao-wai pieh-chuan/Jpn. kyoge betsuden. Rediscovery of the 'lost' Tsu Tang Chi - which escaped the attention of later Buddhist editors, also refers to Ch'an as a'special transmission.' On reflection, modern scholars seem prone to worry over-much about such 'problems.' If Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' text was tampered with, to strengthen the position of the Ch'an school - as some would argue, why did the Chinese monk-editors concerned leave the T'ien-tai influences so conspicuously in place? Other masters (e.g. Yung-ming) featured in Tao-yuan's 'Lamp' text, evidently did not see the 'special transmission' (pieh chuan)as antithetical to the sutra-based teachings. Albert Welter deserves credit, for emphasizing this complementary view. Moreover, the Chuan Teng Lu contains Tsung Mi's critique of the perceived dangers associated with the Hung-chou school, the very school likely to be priviliged by the extreme advocates of the 'pieh-chuan'(Jpn. betsuden)or 'special transmission.' Hence, it begs a number of questions to suggest that the Chuan Teng Lu has been 'doctored' in the way proposed. In fact, on close examination, the Chuan Teng is anything but a tidy, doctored text. It has healthy, rough edges, and to my way of thinking, that shows a distinct lack of guile. So far as they go, the records in the Chuan Teng Lu give us the flavour of Ch'an - in its heyday. They are more complete than those of the Tsu Tang Chi, and thus constitute the best source to consult for accounts of Ch'an teaching in the hands of its most able exponents. We ought to remember the time-frame required, to collect such records from temples, scattered throughout the key Ch'an centres of China. Savour these Ch'an sayings - until they have exhausted their purpose. They make excellent spurs for practice.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Zen Check-Up from a Modern Zen Master
This book does exactly what it intends to: clear up the meaning behind an obscure zen poem. In so doing, it explains a great deal about the difference between deep and shallow Mahayana Zen practice, as well as the different curious aspects and levels of the experience of Samadhi.

I have to add: Master Sheng Yen is an excellent and articulate Ch'an teacher. This book is really not to be missed. If you have found yourself needing the "next Level," this book could help bridge the gap. Also look for Hoofprint of the Ox : Principles of the Chan Buddhist Path as Taught by a Modern Chinese Master.

some yellow flowers growing in the field.
one of the better books of buddhism that i have read, but you are better off reading the classics. hints of paradox and complexity, but has still not escaped attachment to concepts and views, not that he has to. the beginnings of true wisdom, when spring approaches one begins to see the buds, but lacking in mental liberation/freedom, too many rigid concepts and views. he has not yet seen the truth of everything, nor its false hood. he is a source of strength and encouragemetn for many and that is all that really matters. as for fully enlightened. who is? there cant be many, but i hope that there are some, i certainly am not.

he made one strange remark, he could not understand why women would sometimes chatter about 'nothing' of any particular importance and then say 'but now we are friends'. this seems to be the central issue in buddhism.

every dragon has its lair and every phoenix its nest, but there is only room for one wilful attachment, has he chosen the right one? i hope so.(and i hope i have too!) ... Read more

Product Description
The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China contains the first complete translation of China's earliest and most influential monastic code. The twelfth-century text Chanyuan qinggui (Rules of Purity for the Chan Monastery) provides us with a wealth of fascinating detail on all aspects of life in public Buddhist monasteries during the Sung (960-1279), including specific guidelines for itinerant monks, protocol for attending retreats, and details for requesting an abbot's instruction. A significant portion of the text is devoted to the administrative hierarchy within the monastery and the interaction of monks of various rank at a range of functions such as tea ceremonies, chanting rituals, and monastic auctions.

Part One consists of Yifa's overview of the development of monastic regulations in Chinese Buddhist history, a biography of the text's author, and an analysis of the social and cultural context of premodern Chinese Buddhist monasticism. Of particular importance are the interconnections made between Chan traditions and the dual heritages of Chinese culture and Indian Buddhist Vinaya. Although much of the text's source material is traced directly to the Vinayas and the works of the Vinaya advocate Daoan (312-385) and the Lu master Daoxuan (596-667), the Chanyuan qinggui includes elements foreign to the original Vinaya texts --- elements incorporated from Chinese governmental policies and traditional Chinese etiquette. Following the translator's overview is a complete translation of the text, extensively annotated. Scholars of East Asian Buddhism and those seeking information on Buddhist institutional norms, as well as Buddhist practitioners, will find this work an essential source. ... Read more

Product Description
Revered by Buddhists in the United States and China, Master Sheng-yen shares his wisdom and teachings in this first comprehensive English primer of Chan, the Chinese tradition of Buddhism that inspired Japanese Zen.Often misunderstood as a system of mind games, the Chan path leads to enlightenment through apparent contradiction.While demanding the mental and physical discipline of traditional Buddhist doctrine, it asserts that wisdom (Buddha-nature) is innate and immediate in all living beings, and thus not to be achieved through devotion to the strictures of religious practice.You arrive without departing.
Master Sheng-yen provides an unprecedented understanding of Chan, its precepts, and its practice.Beginning with a basic overview of Buddhism and meditation, Hoofprint of the Ox details the progressive mental exercises traditionally followed by all Buddhists. Known as the Three Disciplines, these procedures develop moral purity, meditative concentration, and enlightening insight through the "stilling" of the mind.Master Sheng-yen then expounds Chan Buddhism, recounting its centuries-old history in China and illuminating its fundamental tenets. He contemplates the nature of Buddhahood, specifies the physical and mental prerequisites for beginning Chan practice, and humbly considers what it means to be an enlightened Chan master.
Drawing its title from a famous series of pictures that symbolizes the Chan path as the search of an ox-herd for his wayward ox, Hoofprint of the Ox is an inspirational guide to self-discovery through mental transformation. A profound contribution to Western understanding of Chan and Zen, this book is intended for practicing Buddhists as well as anyone interested in learning about the Buddhist path. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Everything you wanted to know about Chan meditation .. and more
This is a book I believe will help me with my Chan meditation practice. I've found a few lately which seem like they do or will help: I need to stop reading now so much and start meditating more.

It is fortunate that there are some books on Chan meditation which seem helpful. This is the most thorough. Others I have found recently are:
1) Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism, also by Sheng Yen. Not as thorough but arguably sufficient and better focused.
2) The Chan Handbook: Talks About Meditation by Hsuan Hua, also not as thorough but also arguably sufficient and seemed more intimate than "Attaining the Way"
3) Chan Buddhism (Dimensions of Asian Spirituality) by Peter Hershock, which covers both Chan history and the spirit of Chan meditation but not technical details.

Reading all these books may risk "overdosing", as I may have done, but probably can't hurt. If I had to pick only one to learn the practice of Chan meditation, I'd pick this book ("Hoofprint of the Ox"). If I had to pick only one to learn either the history or spirit of Chan Buddhism, I'd pick Herchock "Chan Buddhism". At the moment, all these books seem relatively affordable so you may be able to "avoid picking and choosing!"

Besides teachings of substance to be found in this book, a few relatively minor lessons from this book that helped me are:

1) even if not ideal, it is okay to sit in a chair when doing silent illumination.
2) to minimize distractions, restraining oneself from much talking and socializing helps at all times. Is that obvious?
3) modern life being as complex as it is will, almost certainly, make it more difficult to quiet oneself. Sheng Yen details methods for calming oneself.
4) exercises and self-massage before meditation can help. For exercise, I'm considering doing chi gong again regularly for which I recommend Master Lam Kam-Chuen's The Way of Energy: A Gaia Original
5) Chan Buddhism historically was actually associated with the production of much literature and the many of early Chan masters were well-versed in Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts
6) Sheng Yen recognizes the difficulty in finding and identifying a suitable Chan teacher, as well how difficult it can be to trust any teacher one may consider.
7) practice with a huatou (meditation subject) may be more suitable than silent illumination practice, one needs to try and find out. Silent illumination is recommends to try first.

I suspect I will not find a more thorough guide to Chan meditation. Nevertheless, I did not feel lost in the details although I will certainly need to reread this book, in whole or parts, in order to truly benefit from it. Given all the reading I've done lately on Chan meditation, I am well overdue for such rereading and to focus more on my meditation practice itself.

The Ultimate Ch'an Overview?
Master Sheng Yen has spent a lifetime devoted to understanding, mastering and teaching Ch'an. This book explicates as much as it outlines. Any Sheng Yen book tends to be an absolute find. I'd have to say that this book has impressed me most thus far, out of all the Ch'an books I own...(I own a LOT).

Expect to learn very nearly everything you ever wanted to know about Ch'an and the subtleties of samadhi and practice. American Ch'an/Zen practictioners, you simply have to have this book. If you're shikantaza'd out, welcome to an intelligent Ch'an book to set you straight again and make sense of non-sectarian Ch'an. It's a worthwhile meditation, even if you intellectually "know" everything contained (Which would likely mean you are already ordained or well on the way or the equivalent). Sheng Yen is a great teacher, and sometimes it's not what's said, but how the teacher says it that makes the overwhelming difference. Sheng Yen has much to say on emphases and overlooked aspects in Rinzai and Soto differentiated Zen practice, illustrating how Zen is not intellectualism, not cold "emptiness," not "just sitting," but rather a full sweeping life-transforming experience that entails everything one does, and is not owned by any one practice, faith, school, sect or tradition. This is also perhaps something of a cure for those who are brainwashed into thinking that there is no such thing as bad/wrong zen or that one spiritual path is automatically equivalent to another.

The quality of attention and straightforwardness that Sheng Yen puts into every chapter and subject in this book is somewhat impressive. Historical and schematic overview lends great depth of understanding to whatever one already knows of any of the various forms of Buddhist and Ch'an practices.

What if we all bowed to each other when we passed on the street, instead of playing games relating to our appearance and presumed cultural cache or gender roles? What if we all looked on each other with the warm glow of enlightenment, rather than cool, smug competitiveness as the auto-default style of interaction nowadays? If you have ever asked yourself this question in a sincere state of mind, then Sheng Yen's Ch'an is also yours. This is a skillfully-written technical manual of sorts on how the engine of Ch'an practice really works, written by a trained and aged monk who has entirely devoted his life to perfecting, teaching and articulating Ch'an practice.

This is a book I think I will probably come back to again and again.

Compendium of Chinese Chan Buddhist Practice!
Hoofprint of the Ox is by far the best-written and presented systematic book on Chinese, especially Chan, Buddhism out there. Master Sheng-yen's words are so clear and specific. His voice combines the insight of an experienced Chan meditation retreat master and a knowledgeable Buddhist scholar.

This book stands out as a rare jewel in the mountain of books on Buddhism. For example, master Sheng-yen's presentation of meditation techniques from "five points of stilling the mind" (shamata) and contemplative meditation (vipashyana) to gong'an and silent illumination is the best that I have ever read. This book is for the serious practitioner of Chan or Buddhism in general.

Most of the books out there present Buddhism as a "packaged product." For example, most books on Zen or Chan presents it as some isolated, idealized spiritual practice free from religiosity (rituals, faith, and so on), as if it can be adapted to anything. Most times these books are watered down. Hoofprint of the Ox presents Buddhism as it is, without being apologetic or "fundamentalist."

The book covers issue of: buddhist doctrine (clarifying the misconception of buddhist emptiness, selflessness, correct views, etc), path (Chan and classical path: precepts, different types of meditation methods, etc.), and various levels and types of experience (experiences of enlightenment and delusion). Most importantly, master Sheng-yen also delineates what it means to be a Chan master. This is a revealing chapter of the book. It dispels many romantic ideas we may have as a practitioner in the West.

Enjoy the book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Like climbing a difficult mountain
I am a fairly smart guy and this may be the most challenging book I have ever read.It uses language from the highest levels of graduate philosophy and English courses which renders parts of the book virtually undecipherable to those without a PhD in philosophy.However, after I got over my anger with Prof. Hershock for writing in this style, and once I decided to take this book on, it became one of the most important books on Buddhism I have ever read.The current marketplace for Westerners looking toward Buddhism as a way to make sense of life often find a self-help approach or translated texts which are then explained in Western contexts.This is perhaps the only book that actually enables a Westerner to get a sense for the truly, completely radical worldview of the Chan Buddhist-instead of the mush about compassion, karma, and meditation that we get the rest of the time from most of the Western authors on Buddhism. On getting even a glimpse of this world view one may be changed, but it also becomes clear how astonishing the level of deconstruction of our Western mind would be necessary to adopt this view.Nonetheless, this is a critical step for anyone truly interested in considering a Buddhist philosphy as an intellectual construct for looking toward a better personal life or a better way to impersonally fit into Life for the purpose of making the world a better place.Having read this book, I can now look at other books not as an individual hoping that the end of MY suffering is contained in whatever treatise I might be reading, but ratheras wisdom coming into consciousness that might spark a new idea or change in the world. But be warned, the first three chapters are like the classic stories about the way a student would attempt to join a Zen order in the past.He or she would be refused access to the temple many times before consideration for entry.You may find trying to penetrate the early chapters of this book exactly as if the old monk in charge of the temple kept telling you to "Go away!" over and over again. ... Read more

Product Description
Through a highly sensitive exploration of key concepts and metaphors, Bernard Faure guides Western readers in appreciating some of the more elusive aspects of the Chinese tradition of Chan Buddhism and its outgrowth, Japanese Zen. He focuses on Chan's insistence on "immediacy"--its denial of all traditional mediations, including scripture, ritual, good works--and yet shows how these mediations have always been present in Chan. Given this apparent duplicity in its discourse, Faure reveals how Chan structures its practice and doctrine on such mental paradigms as mediacy/immediacy, sudden/gradual, and center/margins. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Perhaps, just rhetoric!
Despite the praise heaped on this text, I can't help feeling that Bernard Faure has been constructing the 'straw men' other readers have spotted. It is by no means certain that the Ch'an (Zen) tradition has functioned as Faure suggests. Why, for instance, set up the 'anti-scriptural'argument - only to concede - on proper investigation, that it is a myth? There are enough commentaries - on the sutras, by Zen monks, to make this sort of thing seem pointless. Sorry, but lets place trust in those deluded masters of old - and stay unenlightened, Faure style.

wish I could get my money back
I had seen this book cited in many other books and so was expecting something useful. Man, was I disappointed. This book seemed to be written from an academic perspective of deconstructionism, of trying to make a name for yourself by upsetting the existing order, and by blowing things out of proportion and presenting them as great problems to be exposed, i.e. "straw men". For anyone interested in the genuine teachings and practice, or even historical developments and research, there are a lot of better books.

A brilliant deconstruction, this book reshapes Zen studies.
After reading the only existing review of this book, I felt the need to offer a counter-view. From the perspective of a scholar, this book fundamentally reshaped Chan/Zen studies. But from the perspective of apractitioner it also reshapes our views. Faure forces us to rethink thecherished illusions of Zen. Whether scholar or practitioner, we had besttake up the challenge. It is tough going, but it is work which we all mustdo to be worthy of the tradition we study.

This book is riddled with arbitrary misinterpretations.
This book will recommend itself to those who believe that a run-of-the-mill contemporary college professor can have a deeper insight into what the Zen people were doing than they had themselves, and to thosewho believe that deconstructionism is more sophisticated than the Buddhistperspective on mind found in such works as the Avatamsaka Sutra and theLinji Lu. ... Read more

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Writings of Venerable Master Jing Hui translated into english and in the original chinese. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Philosophy East and West, published by University of Hawaii Press on January 1, 2009. The length of the article is 1453 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Ordinary Mind as the Way: The Hongzhou School and the Growth of Chan Buddhism.(Book review)
Author: Jinhua Jia
Publication: Philosophy East and West (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2009
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Volume: 59Issue: 1Page: 118(4)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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264 Page Softcover. ... Read more

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Chapters include The Unessentials; First Story of the Lighthouse--the Entrance; Second Story of the Lighthouse--an Exit; Third Story of the Lighthouse--the Use; Fourth Story of the Lighthouse--Achieving the Ultimate; A Summing Up of Multi-stage Kungans; Selection of Single Kungans Involving Multiple Stages; Ch'an Troubles; Ch'an Realization; A Frank and Sincere Talk. ... Read more

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first American Edition ... Read more

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Gray Cloth Hardcover without jacket/fine/near fine ... Read more