Thunderous Silence

Thunderous Silence throws light on the Heart Sutra--a pithy encapsulation of the essence of Perfection of Wisdom literature--using stop-by-step analysis and an easy, conversational voice. Dosung Yoo examines the sutra phrase by phrase, using rich explanations and metaphors drawn from Korean folklore, quantum physics, Charles Dickens, and everything in between to clarify subtle concepts for the reader. This book invites us to examine the fundamentals of Buddhism--the Four Noble Truths, emptiness, enlightenment--through the prism of the Heart Sutra. Both those new to Buddhism and longtime practitioners looking to revisit a core text from a fresh perspective will find this work appealing.

The Thunderous Silence of Love narrates the experience of Lulu, a vivacious teenager whose life is transformed by an experience in a far away country. The story of the protagonist captures the impulsive and tumultuous emotions of youth from the pedestal of artistic suspense and a lucid language. The writer takes the reader on a memorable journey not just into the life of a down-to-earth and willful character, but importantly into various cultures, faiths and attitudes. Lulu soon personifies the challenges inherent in missionary work, the terrors of being captured and tortured, the sweetness of escape and the humbling realization of the awesome power of a benevolent Creator. In spite of her religious upbringing and in spite of leading a life she believed was consistent with the tenets of her faith, she eventually encounters the beacon of her life in an unexpected way that confounds the reader's imagination.

Thirty years after the publication of his classic work Dōgen Kigen—Mystical Realist, Hee-Jin Kim reframes and recasts his understanding of Dōgen's Zen methodology in this new book. Through meticulous textual analyses of and critical reflections on key passages primarily from Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, Kim explicates hitherto underappreciated aspects of Dōgen's religion, such as the ambiguity of delusion and also of enlightenment, intricacies of negotiating the Way, the dynamic functions of emptiness, the realizational view of language, nonthinking as the essence of meditation, and a multifaceted conception of reason. Kim also responds to many recent developments in Zen studies that have arisen in both Asia and the West, especially Critical Buddhism. He brings Dōgen the meditator and Dōgen the thinker into relief. Kim's study clearly demonstrates that language, thinking, and reason constitute the essence of Dōgen's proposed Zen praxis, and that such a Zen opens up new possibilities for dialogue between Zen and contemporary thought. This fresh assessment of Dōgen's Zen represents a radical shift in our understanding of its place in the history of Buddhism.

A compact summary like Probing the Sutras has been sorely needed for some time, as more and more Westerners have dipped into meditation without any understanding of its predominantly Buddhist scriptural underpinning. This concise, well-informed introduction to the history and contents of eleven seminal Buddhist sutras also provides suggestions for reflection, meditation, and practical applications related to the key teachings of each scripture. Readers of Probing the Sutras will be able to develop a framework for understanding Buddhist doctrines--and see the unique pearls of wisdom contained within each sutra.

This ambitious work provides a systematic study of Chinese theories of reading and writing in intellectual thought and critical practice. The author maintains that there are two major hermeneutic traditions in Chinese literature: the politico-moralistic mainstream and the metaphysico-aesthetical undercurrent. In exploring the interaction between the two, Ming Dong Gu finds a movement toward interpretive openness. In this, the Chinese practice anticipates modern and Western theories of interpretation, especially literary openness and open poetics. Classic Chinese works are examined, including the Zhouyi (the I Ching or Book of Changes), the Shijing (the Book of Songs or Book of Poetry), and selected poetry, along with the philosophical background of the hermeneutic theories. Ultimately, Gu relates the Chinese practices of reading to Western hermeneutics, offering a cross-cultural conceptual model for the comparative study of reading and writing in general.

Mark Twain once said, “The two greatest days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why.” But what happens when you know the why but can't figure out how to make it happen? It is this journey between the realization of your purpose and its actualization that Randall Worley calls process. Purpose, which answers why, can be realized in moment. However, process, which must answer how, is not actualized as quickly. In other words, “becoming an overnight success takes years.” Purpose has been a hot topic for several years, capturing the attention of those adrift in a culture of apathy and aimlessness. It is certainly a far more palatable subject in today’s culture of self-improvement than is process, because it seems to offer a free carpet ride from here to there. Your destiny, however, is not downloadable. The dream of your future is free, but the journey will demand a price. Yet it is in the sacrifice and effort of process that God will turn your purpose into a world-changing reality.

Maurine Stuart (1922–1990) was one of a select group of students on the leading edge of Buddhism in America: a woman who became a Zen master. In this book, she draws on down-to-earth Zen stories, her friendships with Japanese Zen teachers, and her experiences as a concert pianist to apply the inner meanings of Buddhism to practicing the basic ethics of daily living—nowness, unselfishness, compassion, and good will toward every living being. She emphasizes that inner growth comes through our own efforts and intuition, especially as we cultivate them through meditation practice. We can then take what we have learned in meditation and use it to respond to our daily lives in a straightforward and creative way, guided not by concepts or dogma, but by direct insight into the reality of the present moment.