Book Review of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings Complied by Paul Reps
The compilation of Zen stories and parables in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones was compiled by Paul Reps, and published by Doubleday.
The book is 174 pages and easy to read for beginner practitioners, experienced students and teachers, or anyone vaguely interested in Zen teachings.
The book has been extremely well put together and there are adequate lessons for all to gleam understanding from.
When reading the Zen stories of old, one feels right at home with these ancient teachers and way-showers.
Through this compilation, it is as if the reader has a front-court seat at the wildest, calmest, and most plainly profound of interactions between Zen teachers and students of old.
Included are 101 Zen Stories which are the experiences of students and teachers over seven hundred years, a second book, called The Gateless Gate, which is the collection of forty-eight Zen koans, - riddles meant to inspire and awaken, 10 Bulls, which is the famous Zen commentary on the various stages of awareness, Centering, an ancient transcript thought to be one of the first Zen teachings in existence.
This book is a wealth of experience in itself, and the reviewer would suggest reading it to anyone interested in religion, spirituality, self-help, or the healing arts.
Its messages are timeless and timeless messages are very timely in our modern face-paced technological world.
In bookstores even an avid reader would have to purchase several large books on Zen and Buddhism in general in order to locate all of the fables, stories, and tales included in this collection.
The stories are labelled, numbered, and the poems or songs within them are nicely labelled in italics.
There are even illustrations accompanying the famous '10 Bulls' parable of Zen.
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is the definitive Zen compilation.
The book is 174 pages and easy to read for beginner practitioners, experienced students and teachers, or anyone vaguely interested in Zen teachings.
The book has been extremely well put together and there are adequate lessons for all to gleam understanding from.
When reading the Zen stories of old, one feels right at home with these ancient teachers and way-showers.
Through this compilation, it is as if the reader has a front-court seat at the wildest, calmest, and most plainly profound of interactions between Zen teachers and students of old.
Included are 101 Zen Stories which are the experiences of students and teachers over seven hundred years, a second book, called The Gateless Gate, which is the collection of forty-eight Zen koans, - riddles meant to inspire and awaken, 10 Bulls, which is the famous Zen commentary on the various stages of awareness, Centering, an ancient transcript thought to be one of the first Zen teachings in existence.
This book is a wealth of experience in itself, and the reviewer would suggest reading it to anyone interested in religion, spirituality, self-help, or the healing arts.
Its messages are timeless and timeless messages are very timely in our modern face-paced technological world.
In bookstores even an avid reader would have to purchase several large books on Zen and Buddhism in general in order to locate all of the fables, stories, and tales included in this collection.
The stories are labelled, numbered, and the poems or songs within them are nicely labelled in italics.
There are even illustrations accompanying the famous '10 Bulls' parable of Zen.
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is the definitive Zen compilation.
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