Opening a Mountain : Koans of the Zen Masters, Paperback by Heine, Steven, Li...

by Steven Heine

$77 · Offered by eBay

Opening a Mountain : Koans of the Zen Masters, Paperback by Heine, Steven, ISBN 0195174348, ISBN-13 9780195174342, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US With the growing popularity of Zen Buddhism in the West, virtually everyone knows, or thinks they know, what a koan is: a brief and baffling question or statement that cannot be solved by the logical mind and which, after sustained concentration, can lead to sudden enlightenment. But the truth about koans is both simpler--and more complicated--than this. In Opening a Mountain , Steven Heine shows that koans, and the questions we associate with them--such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"--are embedded in larger narratives and belong to an ancient Buddhist tradition of "encounter dialogues." These dialogues feature dramatic and often inscrutable contests between masters and disciples, or between masters and an array of natural and supernatural forces: rouge priests, "wild foxes," hermits, wizards, shapeshifters, magical animals, and dangerous women. To establish a new monastery, "to open a mountain," the Zen master had to tame these wild forces in regions most remote from civilization. In these extraordinary encounters, fingers and arms are cut off, pitchers are kicked over, masters appear in and interpret each other's dreams, and seemingly absurd statements are shown to reveal the deepest insights. Heine restores these koans to their original traditions, allowing readers to see both the complex elements of Chinese

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Year: 2004
• Binding: Paperback
• ISBN: 9780195174342
• Condition: Fine

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.