Dream Conversations is a collection of a renowned Japanese master's written replies to questions about the true nature of Zen. In short, simply worded teachings, Muso Kokushi (1275-1351), also known as Muso Soseki, exposes common misconceptions with unprecedented clarity, offering psychological insights designed to lead the reader into the depths of authentic Zen experience. These incisive teachings will be especially valuable for today's Zen students, as they struggle with their own confusion and misunderstandings about the true path of Zen.

Living and Dying with Grace is a book of aphoristic Sufi teachings on how to make one's way in the world--especially on how to bring spiritual insight to the affairs of daily life. Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, contains a vast body of knowledge concerning the inner development of the complete human being. Among the greatest of Sufi masters, Hadrat 'Ali (598-661 CE), cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is regarded as a paragon of compassion and virtue and a master of both exoteric and esoteric knowledge. He was not only a great warrior, statesman, and scholar, but...

Kensho is the transformative glimpse of the true nature of all things. It is an experience so crucial in Zen practice that it is sometimes compared to finding an inexhaustible treasure because it reveals the potential that exists in each moment for pure awareness free from the projections of the ego. Among the selected Zen works are a number of important texts focusing on the profound subtleties of this essential Zen awakening and the methods used in its realization.

This collection of eminently practical advice from the likes of Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Pythagoras, and Aristotle covers subjects as diverse as money, child-raising, politics, philosophy, law, and relationships--all aspects of life and how to live it.
Thomas Cleary has translated these sayings and aphorisms from the Arabic sources that preserved Greek thought throughout the Middle Ages. Many of the texts no longer exist in the original Greek. Included in the book is an appendix that presents resonant sayings and fragments from Buddhist, Taoist, and Muslim sources, demonstrating the...

One of the most comprehensive manuals written on the essential points of Buddhist meditation is "The Great Stopping and Seeing," a monumental work written by sixth century Buddhist master Chih-i. Stopping and Seeing, the first translation of this essential text, covers the principles and methods of a wide variety of Buddhist meditation techniques and provides an in-depth presentation of the dynamics of these practices.

For all its emphasis on the direct experience on insight without reliance on the products of the intellect, the Zen tradition has created a huge body of writings. Of this cast literature, the writings associated with the so-called Five Houses of Zen are widely considered to be preeminent. These Five Houses--which arose in China during the ninth and tenth centuries, often referred to as the Golden Age of Zen--were not schools or sects but styles of Zen teaching represented by some of the most outstanding masters in Zen history. The writing of these great Zen teachers are presented here, many...

Zen Buddhism emerged in China some fifteen centuries ago and remained the most dynamic and influential spiritual movement in Asia for more than a millennium. Though the teachings of the first Zen masters are sometimes considered innovation, they were actually a return to the core of Buddhist teaching and to an understanding of the importance of the personal experience of enlightenment.
This anthology presents talks, sayings, and records of heart-to-heart encounters to show the essence of Zen teaching through the words of the Zen masters themselves. The selections have been made from the...

Taoist teachings have arisen in many forms: abstract aphorisms, philosophical discussions, legends, fables--even jokes. All are represented here, culled from the most popular Taoist classics: the Tao-te Ching, Chuang-tzu, Huai-nan-tzu, and Wen-tzu, stories from the -Tales of Inner Meaning, - and teachings of the Taoist patriarch Ancestor Lu. The spirit of the Tao manifests in myriad images, brought to life in this superb translation--from the ever-keen blade of a Taoist butcher to the mechanical miracles of inventor Ken Shiwa, from little boys baiting the great Confucius to...

The benefits of sexual bliss were not lost on the ancients, who knew well its powers to enhance health, concentration, and peace of mind. These ancient Chinese Taoist texts explain the transformative effects sex can have when properly and wisely practiced, demonstrating Taoism's emphasis on cultivating life's "three treasures"--vitality, energy, and spirit--in all the activities of daily life. The texts are part of the famous Mawangdui finds, Han Dynasty tombs that yielded the richest cache of ancient medical manuscripts ever found in China. The first three texts, Ten Questions, Joining Yin...

The Prajnaparamita (-perfection of wisdom-) sutras are one of the great legacies of Mahayana Buddhism, giving eloquent expression to some of that school's central concerns: the perception of shunyata, the essential emptiness of all phenomena; and the ideal of the bodhisattva, one who postpones his or her own enlightenment in order to work for the salvation of all beings.

The Prajnaparamita literature consists of a number of texts composed in Buddhist India between 100 BCE and 100 CE. Originally written in Sanskrit, but surviving today mostly in their Chinese versions, the...