Two Arrows Meeting in Mid Air-The Zen Koan

'The sincere practitioner of zazen will absorb much atmosphere and insight from this fine collection of astonishing observations and exchange, which will water the ground where a true perception of reality may flourish.'-From the Preface by Peter Muryo Matthiessen

Through a comprehensive

Show More

introduction and twenty-one chapters centered on koans from classic collections, western literary sources, and modern encounters, this book explains the relevance of koan study to Zen training today. It illuminates the value of koans in the practice of self-realization and their aliveness within the teacher-student relationship. Most importantly, the uniqueness of the koan as a means of studying the self is clearly shown in the context of the Buddhadarma-not as an archaic curiosity but as a vibrant opportunity to fully appreciate this life.

Two Arrows Meeting in Mid Air is one of the few commentaries on Zen koans by an American Zen master. John Daido Loori draws on his many dharma discourses to provide a detailed examination of each koan, connecting the contemporary reader to the traditional zen lineages. This collection will prove an invaluable reference on koan study for those pursuing a greater understanding of Zen Buddhism.

John Daido Loori is the spiritual leader an abbot of the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York, and the founder and director of the Mountains and Rivers Order. Trained in koan zen as well as in the subtle school of Master Dogen's Zen, he is a dharma heir of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi. He is the author of Mountain Record of Zen Talks and The Eight Gates of Zen.

Contents

Foreword by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi
Preface by Peter Muryo Matthiessen
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Original source
2 Perils, pearls, and the path
3 The time and season fo great peace
4 Declaration of interdependence
5 Chao-chou's Mu
6 Chao-chou's dog
7 Ordinary mind is tao
8 Lin-chi's great enlightenment
9 Striking the mortar, shaking the sieve
10 Nan-ch'uan's peony
11 Yun-men's two sicknesses
12 Yun-yen's great compassion
13 Advice of the caterpillar
14 The stone lion
15 The thirteenth daughter's dharma
16 Tao-wu tends the sick
17 Pai-chang and the fox
18 Teachings of the insentient
19 Born as the earth
20 Secred wildness
21 The last work
Notes
Questions and answers
Ancestral lineage
Glossary
About Zen Mountain Monastery

Show Less