Zen Masters of Japan is the second book in a series that traces Zen's profoundly historic journey as it spread eastward from China and Japan, toward the United States. Following Zen Masters of China, this book concentrates on Zen's significant passage through Japan. More specifically, it describes the lineage of the great teachers, the Zen monk pioneers who set out to enlighten an island ready for an inner transformation based on compassionate awareness.While the ...

Zen Masters of China presents more than 300 traditional Zen stories and koans, far more than any other collection. Retelling them in their proper place in Zen's historical journey through Chinese Buddhist culture, it also tells a larger story: how, in taking the first step east from India to China, Buddhism began to be Zen.The stories of Zen are unlike any other writing, religious or otherwise. Used for centuries by Zen teachers as aids to bring about or deepen the experie...

Meet the individuals responsible for establishing Zen as a practice in North America.Between 2013 and 2025, Rick McDaniel conducted nearly 300 interviews with accredited Zen teachers and longtime practitioners in North America, several of whom (Bernie Glassman, Hozan Senauki, Mel Weitsman) have since died. What he was originally interested in was the scope of practices which self-identify as “Zen” on this side of the Pacific, but what he later realized was that he ...

Ever since Catholic priests from Portugal and Spain entered Japan in the 1500’s on missions to convert the Japanese to Christianity, a quiet transformation has been taking place, beginning among those Jesuit missionaries and spreading into the present day among American and European Catholics, lay and ordained alike. As Rick McDaniel writes in this important book, in seeking to understand the Japanese mind so as to know better how to convert the Japanese to Christianity, these early – and ...

Meditation, Karma, Zen, Tantric and Nirvana are some of the many Buddhist ideas Westerners hear of frequently, even if their meaning has been lost in translation. This vast and complex non-theistic religion is woven into the fabric of Asian civilisations. from India to the Himalayan regions, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and elsewhere. What is Buddhism really all about?Introducing Buddha describes the life and teachings of the Buddha, but it also shows that enlightenment is a matter ...

Thich Nhat Hanh pulls from 50 classic Buddhist verses to present the basic teachings of Buddhist applied psychology, exploring the true nature of our feelings and perceptions.Based on the 50 verses on the nature of consciousness taken from the great 5th-century Buddhist master Vasubandhu and the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh focuses on the direct experience of recognizing, embracing, and looking deeply into the nature of our feelings and percep...

Buddhism is the religion of more than 500 million people around the globe. The majority of those people live in Asia but there are substantial Buddhist communities in other continents. There are two main Buddhist traditions, Theravada (The School of the Elders) and Mahayana (The Great Vehicle). Buddhism is not strictly a religion and is often described a philosophy of life.According to Theravada scripture the Buddha (Siddartha Gautama) was born in the 5th century BCE. He was the so...

The perfect gift for fans of The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges's "The Dude", and anyone who could use more Zen in their lives.Zen Master Bernie Glassman compares Jeff Bridges’s iconic role in The Big Lebowski to a Lamed-Vavnik: one of the men in Jewish mysticism who are “simple and unassuming,” and “so good that on account of them God lets the world go on.” Jeff puts it another way. “The wonderful thing about the Dude is that he’d always rather hug it out tha...

Thich Nhat Hanh examines the Buddhist sutra that provides the foundation for all meditation and mindfulness practice—with guidance on its daily applications, plus 23 exercises.Passed from generation to generation for 2,500, the Satipatthana Sutra—or the Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness—is fundamental to Buddhist meditation and mindfulness practice. In Transformation and Healing, Thich Nhat Hanh guides readers through this important Buddhist ...

**This pioneering guide to zazen—Zen-style seated meditation—provides practical instructions on how to begin or elevate your practice and progress along the Zen pathZen Training is a comprehensive handbook for zazen, seated meditation practice, and an authoritative presentation of the Zen path. The book marked a turning point in Zen literature in its critical reevaluation of the enlightenment experience, which the author believes has often been e...

POCKET-SIZED INSPIRATION: This collection of Thich Nhat Hanh’s timeless wisdom reminds us that we can find peace and freedom, even in difficult times.Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves.Based on a talk given to prison inmates facing death row, this compendium of Thich Nhat Nah’s core teachings shows how mindfulness practice can cultivate freedom no matter where you are.Presented in a hand...

The heart of the Prajñaparamita Sutra is regarded as the essence of Buddhist teaching, offering subtle and profound teachings on non-duality and the letting go of all preconceived notions, opinions, and attachments, and so becoming open to all the wonders of our life.The Heart Sutra is recited daily in Mahayana temples and practice centers throughout the world. Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation and commentary are the fruit of the author’s more than sixty years of monastic stud...