![]() ![]() ZFZB is actually 4 books- My favorite section is and was the one titled “Centering” which I haven’t been able to find yet on the net. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, compiled by Paul Reps, was one of my first non-scriptural Buddhist texts I encountered and had a profound influence on my thinking as a kid-adult. The first Buddhist oriented book I read was the Dhammapada, which is kind of like the “Dick & Jane” of the Pali Canon. ![]() I was looking for explanations for things I was experiencing and for tools for greater understanding. ![]() Little flower–but if I c~~ld understand what you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is.When I was about 8 I started reading everything I could find in the religion section at the downtown Multnomah County library. But, for the moment I’m simply presenting them as the occur in the anthology, separated out from the Chinese and Japanese cases.ġ. Upon a first read there appear to be some errors in biblical attributions. He presented a bunch of these in a row, then began to intersperse them with more traditional koans. What follows are eighteen cases from Western sources Shimano dropped into that Miscellaneous collection part of his proposed curriculum. Or, as I suggested in my study of koans, the grammar, or language of dragons. They’re usually short and give us the sense of how to engage koans, the language of koans if you will. ![]() In his draft document Eido Roshi mixed these in with what in many traditions are called “Miscellaneous Koans.” These are in-house collections used in specific lineages and follow the breakthrough koan, in our Japanese derived traditions flowing from the great Eighteenth century Hakuin Ekaku, that breakthrough koan is almost always Mu. And it included a number of koans derived from the Western traditions. Truthfully, I can testify to this out of my own life, as well.Īll that said, there’s this wonderful collection in draft form. But, a complete spiritual life requires other things, as well. I can testify to this out of my own life. The dynamic mystery constantly unfolding. Or, perhaps more correctly everything as that openness. It genuinely helps us to see into the fundamental matter of our wild openness as well as the preciousness of everything thing as it arises and falls within that openness. There’s that, as well.įor me a very important lesson in this is that koan introspection is not everything. I know and deeply respect several of his dharma successors. The upshot was that Shimano was removed from leadership in the sangha he led and only a few years later he died disgraced.Īnd, he was a creative and successful guide along the koan way. There are other words that perhaps are more appropriate. Seduce feels the mildest of possible terms for his misconduct. He was charged with targeting vulnerable women and taking advantage of his position as a prominent spiritual leader to seduce them. In the final years before his death this erupted into the public sphere. And throughout his teaching career there were rumors of sexual misconduct. He was a very important figure in the establishment of Zen in the West. Shimano Roshi is at the very least a controversial figure. So, I was pleased when a friend pointed me to a draft copy of a koan curriculum for Western students compiled in 1990 by the late Eido Tai Shimano. ![]()
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