Jundo
03-31-2017, 05:02 AM
Dear All,
We are already past the middle of David Loy's short book, so a good time to announce our next "Wordless Book Club" selection ...
LIVING BY VOW
A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts
Shohaku Okumura
http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/living-vow
The wonderful Soto Zen teacher, Shohaku Okumura Roshi, looks at most of the Chants that one encounters around here at Treeleaf, such as the Heart Sutra, the Identity of Relative and Absolute, the Four Vows and Verse of Atonement and more!
From a review ...
Living By Vow written by Shohaku Okumura is a wonderful guidebook for any Zen Buddhist Practitioner. Master Okumura has brought the Zen Master out of Japan and into our living room as he weaves some of the common Soto Zen chants and text around the core Buddhist principals as reflected in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Okumura uses his vast knowledge of the Japanese language, customs and culture, mixed into a blender with his years of experience teaching in the West to produce a book that is both practical and relevant for a Buddhist practice in the 21st Century.
Starting with the Bodhisattva Vows, Okumura covers 8 of the chants and vows most central to Soto Zen, and by extension, the Mahayana tradition. Within each chapter of Living by Vow, Okumura provides lessons based on his years of experience and understanding of Buddhist principals. As he gives us a history lesson of the meaning of the English, Japanese and Sanskrit words, and relating them to different legacy teachers interpretations and lessons, or his own, he is breathing new life into chants whose words can become stale over time.
...
As the title states, this is a practical book. Okumura is giving us direct instructions and ways and means that support all aspects of our Buddhist practice. From chanting, to meditation, to making the vows we take real and personal. Not just static words that are recited at a ceremony, but vows and lessons that we should take with us on our personal journey each and every day.
I would absolutely recommend this book for both beginners and advanced practitioners alike. It is a book that one will want to read many times for the important insights on the human condition and Zen practice it contains. If you desire to become more intimate with your Zen practice this book will become a regular source of knowledge and encouragement.
https://orderengagedbuddhists.com/2014/04/25/book-review-living-by-vow/
http://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/styles/book_detail_cover/public/book_covers/Living%20By%20Vow.jpg?itok=HeK5UbAVhttp://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/styles/author_detail_photo_thumbnail/public/author_images/Shohaku-Okumura-2.jpg?itok=lY7BJ8PR
Shohaku Okumura is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He is a graduate of Komazawa University and has practiced in Japan at Antaiji, Zuioji, and the Kyoto Soto Zen Center, and in Massachusetts at the Pioneer Valley Zendo. He is the former director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. His previously published books of translation include Shobogenzo Zuimonki, Dogen Zen, Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo, and Opening the Hand of Thought. Okumura is also editor of Dogen Zen and Its Relevance for Our Time; and SotoZen. He is the founding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community, based in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.
(Gee, Okumura Roshi tends to be a bit media shy, but maybe I can try to get him here as a visiting Teacher for a Zazenkai? Let me see.)
Gassho, J
SatToday
We are already past the middle of David Loy's short book, so a good time to announce our next "Wordless Book Club" selection ...
LIVING BY VOW
A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts
Shohaku Okumura
http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/living-vow
The wonderful Soto Zen teacher, Shohaku Okumura Roshi, looks at most of the Chants that one encounters around here at Treeleaf, such as the Heart Sutra, the Identity of Relative and Absolute, the Four Vows and Verse of Atonement and more!
From a review ...
Living By Vow written by Shohaku Okumura is a wonderful guidebook for any Zen Buddhist Practitioner. Master Okumura has brought the Zen Master out of Japan and into our living room as he weaves some of the common Soto Zen chants and text around the core Buddhist principals as reflected in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Okumura uses his vast knowledge of the Japanese language, customs and culture, mixed into a blender with his years of experience teaching in the West to produce a book that is both practical and relevant for a Buddhist practice in the 21st Century.
Starting with the Bodhisattva Vows, Okumura covers 8 of the chants and vows most central to Soto Zen, and by extension, the Mahayana tradition. Within each chapter of Living by Vow, Okumura provides lessons based on his years of experience and understanding of Buddhist principals. As he gives us a history lesson of the meaning of the English, Japanese and Sanskrit words, and relating them to different legacy teachers interpretations and lessons, or his own, he is breathing new life into chants whose words can become stale over time.
...
As the title states, this is a practical book. Okumura is giving us direct instructions and ways and means that support all aspects of our Buddhist practice. From chanting, to meditation, to making the vows we take real and personal. Not just static words that are recited at a ceremony, but vows and lessons that we should take with us on our personal journey each and every day.
I would absolutely recommend this book for both beginners and advanced practitioners alike. It is a book that one will want to read many times for the important insights on the human condition and Zen practice it contains. If you desire to become more intimate with your Zen practice this book will become a regular source of knowledge and encouragement.
https://orderengagedbuddhists.com/2014/04/25/book-review-living-by-vow/
http://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/styles/book_detail_cover/public/book_covers/Living%20By%20Vow.jpg?itok=HeK5UbAVhttp://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/styles/author_detail_photo_thumbnail/public/author_images/Shohaku-Okumura-2.jpg?itok=lY7BJ8PR
Shohaku Okumura is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He is a graduate of Komazawa University and has practiced in Japan at Antaiji, Zuioji, and the Kyoto Soto Zen Center, and in Massachusetts at the Pioneer Valley Zendo. He is the former director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. His previously published books of translation include Shobogenzo Zuimonki, Dogen Zen, Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo, and Opening the Hand of Thought. Okumura is also editor of Dogen Zen and Its Relevance for Our Time; and SotoZen. He is the founding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community, based in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.
(Gee, Okumura Roshi tends to be a bit media shy, but maybe I can try to get him here as a visiting Teacher for a Zazenkai? Let me see.)
Gassho, J
SatToday