50th anniversary edition - With a new foreword by Matthew B. Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft

The bestselling masterpiece about one man's search for meaning on a motorcycle trip through the American West-- an enduring examination of how we live and how to live better

One of the most important and influential books of the past half century, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is Robert M. Pirsig's classic exploration of human experience and endeavor. Pirsig's narrative of a father and son on a summer motorcycle trip becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions. A true modern classic, it remains at once touching and transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence and the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.

Profoundly important. . . . Full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas. --New York Times

With a rare combination of freshness and lucidity, he delves into the origins and history of Zen to explain what it means for the world today with incredible clarity. Watts saw Zen as one of the most precious gifts of Asia to the world, and in The Way of Zen he gives this gift to readers everywhere.

Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of 'writing beautifully the unwritable.' --Los Angeles Times

A translation with no AI, made by professional translators.
Discover the path of ancestral wisdom of the samurai with Dokkodo, The Way Of Walking Alone, written by Miyamoto Musashi. This literary treasure, based on the principles of the legendary samurai, will guide you toward self-discipline, mental strength, and personal mastery. Immerse yourself in Musashi's timeless teachings to achieve excellence in every aspect of your life. Get ready to embark on a unique journey towards self-transcendence!

Written by Miyamoto Musashi seven days before his passing, this text consists of twenty-one precepts arranged as independent phrases.

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), Japanese master swordsman, was renowned for his combat prowess and martial philosophy. His teachings on self-discipline and personal growth continue to influence martial arts and modern leadership.

An extraordinary collection of essays and reflections that will inspire you to live more fully, from Zen master and life coach David Rynick.

In these brief and deeply perceived musings, Rynick celebrates both the triumphs and the misfortunes of everyday life and teaches us how to value them all. His lyrical reflections on the miraculous and the ordinary, the practical and the poignant, help us to see the subtle patterns of the world we inhabit. Rynick's gentle insights will inspire you to appreciate the wisdom of your life and your path in remarkable new ways.

Reflecting out of more than fifty years of practice in Zen Buddhism, Unitarian Universalism, and other contemplative traditions, James Ishmael Ford invites us into a journey through life's mysteries and the stages of spiritual development.

Lightly structured by the archetypal Buddhist oxherding images, Ford's exploration is rooted in the Zen way while being deeply enriched by various strains of world mysticism. The book, sprinkled with insights and quotes from Buddhist, Daoist, and Christian traditions, serves as a map and a companion to spiritual seekers or pilgrims--whether within one religious tradition or cobbling together a way of one's own. Here is the most natural of all natural experiences, writes Ford. In the midst of our suffering, our longing, our desperation, we capture a glimpse. Something touches us. And with that, if we are lucky and really notice some movement of some spirit within us, we turn our attention to the intimate way.

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones offers a collection of accessible, primary Zen sources so that readers can contemplate the meaning of Zen for themselves. Within the pages, readers will find:

• 101 Zen Stories, a collection of tales that recount actual experiences of Chinese and Japanese Zen teachers over a period of more than five centuries
• The Gateless Gate, the famous thirteenth-century collection of Zen koans
• Ten Bulls, a twelfth century commentary on the stages of awareness leading to enlightenment
• Centering, a 4,000 year-old teaching from India that some consider to be the roots of Zen.

This small but wise book collects Eastern and Western sayings, haiku, poetry, and inspiring quotations from ancient and modern thinkers. Its aim is not to define Zen or answer its famous koan--What is the sound of one hand clapping?--but rather to point to a fresh way of looking at the world: with mindfulness, clarity, and joy.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought --Bashō

New material is taken from contemporary spiritual leaders, writers, meditation teachers, and others with an emphasis on the practice of mindfulness--on the heart, rather than the head. Pen and ink illustrations from the author bring an additional layer of feeling and beauty.

A fifth-century Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen to China. Although the tradition that traces its ancestry back to him did not flourish until nearly two hundred years after his death, today millions of Zen Buddhists and students of kung fu claim him as their spiritual father.

While others viewed Zen practice as a purification of the mind or a stage on the way to perfect enlightenment, Bodhidharma equated Zen with buddhahood and believed that it had a place in everyday life. Instead of telling his disciples to purify their minds, he pointed them to rock walls, to the movements of tigers and cranes, to a hollow reed floating across the Yangtze.

This bilingual edition, the only volume of the great teacher's work currently available in English, presents four teachings in their entirety. Outline of Practice describes the four all-inclusive habits that lead to enlightenment, the Bloodstream Sermon exhorts students to seek the Buddha by seeing their own nature, the Wake-up Sermon defends his premise that the most essential method for reaching enlightenment is beholding the mind. The original Chinese text, presented on facing pages, is taken from a Ch'ing dynasty woodblock edition.

Eugen Herrigel, a German professor of Philosophy in Tokyo, took up the study of archery as a step toward an understanding of Zen Buddhism. This book is the account of the six years he spent as a student of one of Japan's great kyudo (archery) masters, and of how he gradually overcame his initial inhibitions and began to feel his way toward new truths and ways of seeing.

Each of us carries a song inside us, the song that makes us human. Zen Guitar provides the key to unlocking this song--a series of life lessons presented through the metaphor of music.

Philip Sudo offers his own experiences with music to enable us to rediscover the harmony in each of our lives and open ourselves to Zen awareness uniquely suited to the Western Mind. Through fifty-eight lessons that provide focus and a guide, the reader is led through to Zen awareness. This harmony is further illuminated through quotes from sources ranging from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis. From those who have never strummed a guitar to the more experienced, Zen Guitar shows how the path of music offers fulfillment in all aspects of life--a winning idea and an instant classic.

Zen Buddhism is a form of Mahāyāna Buddhism that originated in China and is strongly focused on meditation. It is characteristically sceptical towards language and distrustful of conceptual thought, which explains why Zen Buddhist sayings are so enigmatic and succinct. But despite Zen Buddhism's hostility towards theory and discourse, it is possible to reflect philosophically on Zen Buddhism and bring out its philosophical insights.

In this short book, Byung-Chul Han seeks to unfold the philosophical force inherent in Zen Buddhism, delving into the foundations of Far Eastern thought to which Zen Buddhism is indebted. Han does this comparatively by confronting and contrasting the insights of Zen Buddhism with the philosophies of Plato, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and others, showing that Zen Buddhism and Western philosophy have very different ways of understanding religion, subjectivity, emptiness, friendliness and death.

This important work by one of the most widely read philosophers and cultural theorists of our time will be of great value to anyone interested in comparative philosophy and religion.

A great way to deepen your spiritual life is to take a deep dive into a tradition other than your own-especially if you have a competent guide, and Rabbi Rami is an extraordinary guide. Not into Zen? Not a Jew? Not a problem. Anyone on any path will benefit enormously from this profoundly illuminating book. --Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West

First to articulate the meditation method known to contemporary Zen practitioners as shikantaza (just sitting) Chinese Zen master Hongzhi is one of the most influential poets in all of Zen literature. This translation of Hongzhi's poetry, the only such volume available in English, treats readers to his profound wisdom and beautiful literary gift. In addition to dozens of Hongshi's religious poems, translator Daniel Leighton offers an extended introduction, placing the master's work in its historical context, as well as lineage charts and other information about the Chinese influence on Japanese Soto Zen.

Both spiritual literature and meditation instruction, Cultivating the Empty Field is sure to inspire and delight.

Under the guidance of such celebrated masters as Ed Parker and the immortal Bruce Lee, Joe Hyams vividly recounts his more than 25 years of experience in the martial arts. In his illuminating story, Hyams reveals to you how the daily application of Zen principles not only developed his physical expertise but gave him the mental discipline to control his personal problems-self-image, work pressure, competition. Indeed, mastering the spiritual goals in martial arts can dramatically alter the quality of your life-enriching your relationships with people, as well as helping you make use of all your abilities.

If you want to live life as an active agent for change: begin here. Originally formulated by Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War, Interbeing is a call to collective awakening and a guidebook for getting there.

The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings are a radical expression of Buddhist ethics and morality that offer essential insights for existing mindfully, and not burning out. This fourth edition introduces the most up-to-date revision of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, with fresh commentary on living in contemporary society. Extra depth is added with a new foreword by Sister Chan Khong, one of the first 6 people to be ordained as a monastic by Thich Nhat Hanh, who opens a vivid personal window into the history and lineage of these trainings.

Imagine yourself in Kyōto, Japan, gazing at an ancient temple garden. How would you contextualize what you are seeing? What is the history of this centuries-old contemplative art form of Zen gardening? What are its symbols and concepts?

Richly illustrated with full-color photographs, Gardens of Awakening guides you through a series of Zen temple gardens, most of which were created from the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries. Some are teeming with plants and flowing water, while others have only rocks and sand. All share in the Zen aesthetics of awakening.

Through essays and commentary on Mitsue Nagase's striking photographs, beloved Zen artist and translator Kazuaki Tanahashi presents the gardens in terms of seven qualities that arise from Zen practice: direct, ordinary, vigorous, gleaming, pivotal, nondual, and inexhaustible. Relating these qualities to the development of Zen culture and its influence on Japanese art, Gardens of Awakening invites you deep into the heart of Zen.

In The Way of the Living Sword, Munenori gives an in-depth explanation of the connection between physical martial arts and the mental process of Zen. While Munenori and Musashi were both avid students of Zen, Munenori was more fascinated by the academic aspects of the philosophy.

Munenori stretches the consciousness of even the most enlightened martial artist. Martial arts devotees will experience many flashes of revelation as Tarver explores the various aspects of Munenori's approach.

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