Mike,
If, after you have read 'Hakuin on Kensho", you still recommend it, I may purchase it, despite Low's questionable Zen lineage. I was considering the purchase of: Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin, by Norman Waddell Here's an Amazon review (by the author himself?) "The "golden age" of Zen was in the T'ang Dynasty (619-906) in China. By early eighteenth century, what was left of Zen in Japan wasn't much. But the strength of Zen is in the individuals, the truly liberated spirits, it produces, and early eighteen century Japan saw one of the greatest ever: Hakuin Zenji (1685-1768). This book is a translation of what is considered the most important text by this legendary exponent of the Rinzai Zen tradition. Hakuin was a man of high standards, and he had little patience for the soft soothing "Zen" of his day. He pulls no punches in his criticism: "At present, this country is infested with a race of smooth-tongued, worldly-wise Zen teachers who feed their students a ration of utter nonsense" (pp. 24f); "Now that's not even good rubbish" (p. 52); "Phffmp! What graveyard did you pillage for those old left-over offerings?" (p. 92). (Waddell's lively translation contributes to one's appreciation of this dynamic personality.) For Hakuin, what was most important was the breakthrough *kensho* experience, reached after years of rigorous meditation practice; apart from *kensho*, the words and ideas of Zen are worthless and meaningless. Hakuin's Zen represents a level of authenticity consonant with the height of Zen in the T'ang Dynasty. It is a Zen that focuses on the central matter relentlessly, and has absolutely no use for anything that serves to distract from this. In this respect, Hakuin's words may be a useful corrective to some of the more diffuse, feel-good, self-satisfying elements of the New Age. I would not necessarily recommend this book to someone who knew nothing about Zen; at least a cursory knowledge of classical Zen is useful in making sense of Hakuin's many references to great Zen Masters of the past. Not the best starting book, but any serious study of Zen will eventually involve confronting this fiercely determined defender of authentic Zen, and this book is undoubtedly the best English introduction to Hakuin." --- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote: > > ED, > > Wouldn't it be great to find a book on Zen "dumbed down" enough for readers to > be enlightened in just one sentence! Unfortunately, the opposite is the usually > the case. To be honest tho, I've no complaints about the book so far especially > as I'm not reading the book to 'get to know' Hakuin in any way. What I do like > about the book tho is that it gives us Hakuin's own text only later followed by > Low's commentary, therefore allowing us to skip the commentary if we want. I'll > finish it a couple of days if you'd like my own opinion. > > Mike
