Zen Conversations

42 Zen Teachers talk about the scope of Zen teaching and practice in North America ... Discovering Zen / The Function of Zen / Zen Practice / Adapting Zen to the West / Compassionate Action / Ecodharma Geoffrey Shugen Arnold / Chimyo Atkinson / Mitra Bishop / Melissa Myozen Blacker / Domyo Burk / Shinge Chayat / Wayne Coger / Mike Fieleke / Diane Fitzgerald / Koun Franz / Patrick Gallagher / Genru Gauntt / Bernie Glassman / Sunyana Graef / Ruben Habito / Taigen Henderson / Robert Kennedy / Bodhin Kjolhede / Rebecca Li / Albert Low / David Loy / Elaine MacInnes / Genjo Marinello / Myokyo McLean / Seiho Morris / John Negru / Dang Nghiem / Rinzan Pechovnik / Phap Vu / Dosho Port / Yoshin Radin / Bobbie Rhodes / David Dae An Rynick / Hozan Alan Senauke / Henry Shukman / Shodo Spring / Joan Sutherland / John Tarrant / Robert Waldinger / Rinsen Weik / Zen Mountain Monastery / Tetsugan Zummach

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.

Master Sheng-yen combines wisdom gained from years of study and practice with knowledge of the contemporary world to show how Chan and Buddha’s teachings are still relevant today. Beginners, as well as those already on the path, will find clear and useful guidance as the revered teacher answers questions from his students on the simple yet elusive principles of Chan (Zen) practice.

Discover how mindfulness can help you resolve the inevitable problems that arise in your personal and professional relationships in this “groundbreaking, creative” guide to Zen-based conflict resolution (Jan Chozen Bays) Conflict is going to be part of your life—as long as you have relationships, hold down a job, or have dry cleaning to be picked up. Bracing yourself against it won’t make it go away, but if you approach it consciously, you can navigate it in a way that not only honors everyone involved but makes it a source of deep insight as well. Seasoned mediator Diane Hamilton provides the skill set you need to engage conflict with wisdom and compassion, and even—sometimes—to be grateful for it. She teaches how to: • Cultivate the mirror-like quality of attention as your base • Identify the three personal conflict styles and determine which one you fall into • Recognize the three fundamental perspectives in any conflict situation and learn to inhabit each of them • Turn conflicts in families, at work, and in every kind of interpersonal relationship into win-win situations Full of practical exercises that can be applied to any kind of relationship, Everything Is Workable gives readers the tools they need to cultivate dynamic, vital, and effective relationships in their personal lives and at work.

TV, radio, traffic, telephones, pagers - our minds are bombarded daily by constant noise and clutter. No wonder so many people find it increasingly difficult to listen and comprehend. Simple pieces of information such as names go "in one ear and out the other." Poor listening may have tragic consequences such as the Challenger disaster and the Potomac River crash of 1982, or it can result in smaller tragedies such as lost promotions, stalled marriages, and troubled children. Rebecca Shafir assures us that we can transform every aspect of our lives, simply by relearning how to listen. The Zen of Listening is grounded in the Zen concept of mindfulness, a simple yet profound way of learning how to filter our distractions and be totally in the present. Rather than a list of tricks, this book is an all-encompassing approach allowing you to transform your life. Readers will be amazed at how simply learning to focus intently on a speaker improves the relationship, increases attention span, and helps develop negotiating skills. Learn the great barricades of misunderstanding, find out how to listen to ourselves, discover how to listen under stress, and boost our memory. This is a fun and practical guide filled with simple strategies to use immediately to enjoy our personal and professional lives to the fullest.

This book is the first to engage Zen Buddhism philosophically on crucial issues from a perspective that is informed by the traditions of western philosophy and religion. It focuses on one renowned Zen master, Huang Po, whose recorded sayings exemplify the spirit of the 'golden age' of Zen in medieval China, and on the transmission of these writings to the West. The author makes a bold attempt to articulate a post-romantic understanding of Zen applicable to contemporary world culture. While deeply sympathetic to the Zen tradition, he raises serious questions about the kinds of claims that can be made on its behalf.

The perfect gift for fans of The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges's "The Dude", and anyone who could use more Zen in their lives. Zen Master Bernie Glassman compares Jeff Bridges’s iconic role in The Big Lebowski to a Lamed-Vavnik: one of the men in Jewish mysticism who are “simple and unassuming,” and “so good that on account of them God lets the world go on.” Jeff puts it another way. “The wonderful thing about the Dude is that he’d always rather hug it out than slug it out.” For more than a decade, Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges and his Buddhist teacher, renowned Roshi Bernie Glassman, have been close friends. Inspiring and often hilarious, The Dude and the Zen Master captures their freewheeling dialogue and remarkable humanism in a book that reminds us of the importance of doing good in a difficult world.