Book of Householder Koans (eBook)

"e;These two extraordinary Zen Teachers offer a cutting-edge immersion into the koans of our actual lives, issue by issue, urging us to plunge in, and be intimate with what actually is, in this very moment. Flowing beneath the surface of these contemporary koans is an ocean of traditional koans and old Buddhist stories and themes, all intermingled with the immediacy of contemporary life. A guaranteed American Zen classic!"e; Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, author of Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life's Challenges"e;Radical, useful, and wild, this rich collection of householder koans opens a treasure house of wisdom for all. What a wonderful adventure in the practical mind and heart of true Zen and true life."e; Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot of Upaya Zen Center In The Book of Householder Koans Nakao and Marko wonderfully carry into contemporary life the spirit and color of the zen koan tradition in all its mystery and brazenness and, at the same time, provide a wonderfully wise, knowing, and light-hearted look at how we can live this one precious unrepeatable human life in beauty. The koan stories they provide (submitted by many of their students) are pithy, funny, and perfectly apt for the times we live in. What a lively book! Norman Fischer, poet, Zen priest, and author most recently of The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path I was blown away by the force of The Book of Householder Koans as it establishes Western Zen as a new center of enlightenment. Roshis Myonen Eve Marko and Egyoku Wendy Nakao present Zen koans, exquisitely digested from everyday life, that retain the ancient and authentic power to stop you in your tracks while they beckon you onward. Read this book, emerging from two female Zen masters lifetimes of practice, and enter an intimate world that opens your awareness in relationship, work, and current worldly puzzles. Grace Schireson, author of Wild-Ass Zen, Enlightenment Wherever You Are, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens and Macho Maters, and Naked in the Zendo: Stories of Uptight Zen, and editor of Zen Bridge: The Zen Teachings of Keido Fukushima In this wonderful collection, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao write that Zen is about letting go of our fixed opinions. One opinion about Zen, when it came to this country, is that it is for monks and priests who live in monasteries or as hermits. In fact, most Zen students nowadays are householders who have issues that are different from those of our ancestor monks in China. The training for priests cannot be the same as the training for householders. Householders lives are messy. Roshis Eve and Wendy use the ancient wisdom of Zen to illuminate modern-day practice. Their insight and compassion have provided us with an important collection of koan stories that illustrate how Zen can bring deep insight to all meditators, whether householders, the homeless, women, men, or even ordained priests. Roshi Gerry Shishin Wick, spiritual director of Great Mountain Zen Center, and author of The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans The only real Zen is the Zen of our actual lived lives. Zen s koans are stories that take us to where we really live, that show us who we are when we let go of the false stories we ve been trapped within. The collections of these true stories, which open our hearts, started in China. And China gave us many that we cherish to this day. Others come from Korea and Vietnam and Japan. And now, in The Book of Householder Koans, we are given a selection collected from four Western countries by two preeminent American Zen masters. And this is real Zen. These are the true stories of who we have always been from before the creation of the stars and planets. This is Zen made out of our bones and marrow, our tears and laughter. This amazing book is one of a handful written in this time that will be recalled as classics of our way. If you ve never practiced Zen, read this book. If Zen has been your way for 40 years, read this book. It opens our way and reminds us of where to find it. The Book of Householder Koans is a direct pointing to our heart s longing. True stories. James Ishmael Ford, author of Introduction to Zen Koans and If You're Lucky, Your Heart Will Break The Book of Householder Koans is like a sumptuous feast. The teachings, deep-rooted in Zen practice, bring to the table all the ingredients of our life, including heartbreak, fury, and joy. This book shows us that in each moment there is an opportunity to enter a gate to wakefulness, receptivity, and love. Savor each morsel! Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up The Book of Householder Koans is a remarkable, inspiring, and ground-breaking book that revolutionizes the age-old tradition of Zen koan practice and plunges it right into the heart of our contemporary, 21st-century lives. As Zen teachers, authors Nakao and Marko have been deeply immersed for decades in the practice of life clarifying itself right in the midst of its most knotty challenges and confusions. Along with 66 new koans gathered from householders around the world, they offer their profound insight and expertise to help contemporary readers spring open even the most seemingly unresolvable of personal, modern dilemmas. Beautifully written with a life-affirming wisdom and spirit, this book will come to be a modern classic that helps us to live with a clarity, freedom, and joy beyond what we had imagined possible. Open the covers, take the plunge! Peter Levitt, author of The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan and One Hundred Butterflies, and guiding teacher of Salt Spring Zen Circle in British Columbia A wonderful book on koan comparable with koan books from the Song Dynasty China. Wendy and Eve pull no punches in laying out Zen practice in daily life and the challenges we face in leading a full and inclusive life. In fact, they leave no places to escape to. They deal with everything: relationship, work, family, aging, addiction, emotion, and ambiguity, to mention but a few. I don t usually read Zen books, yet this one had me riveted from page one. All they left me after reading, was to just do it. Roshi Charles Tenshin Fletcher, abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center and author of The Way of Zen I wish I d been able to read the Book of Householders Koans to help integrate practice with my everyday life when I started Zen training. This book is not only for householders, it s for everyone. Using both the rich stories of ancient Zen masters and current everyday people, the authors explore the human journey: relationships, raising children, work, illness, old age, death, how to ground spiritual practice. This book is a guide for collective awakening, as if one were sitting in a circle with friends with everyone being heard from sharing their questions, dilemmas, learnings transparently and intimately. And from that sharing, the reader s heart-mind-spirit is expanded through the common threads that unite us all, grounded in the everyday, no matter where we are in our life. The wisdom of these two Zen teachers, Egyoku Roshi and Myonen Roshi, is very accessible, encouraging and freeing. I highly recommend this book it s a treasure trove, a true find!"e; Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi, marriage and family therapist This beautiful book is an important resource for Zen in our time. This collection opens our eyes to the koan of our life right now. Easy and fun to read, the householder koans are not just for Zen students, but relatable for all. Maezumi Roshi would encourage his students to study the ancient texts, and then he would say I want you to create the modern Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye). Reading the householder koans, I felt that I was encountering a fresh expression of true dharma that maintains the spiritual rigor of old texts. I love these new koans. I love how the layout is reminiscent of traditional koan presentation with verses and comments. And I love how relevant these koans are for our time. The authors are encouraging all of us to create our own householder koans, and I am finding myself seeing koan everywhere. It is a lot of fun and encourages me to see my whole life as spiritual practice. Congratulations to the authors for creating a seminal work. It is a gift for everyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of life. Anne Seisen Saunders, Abbot, Sweetwater Zen Center; President, White Plum Asanga Amidst the hustle, bustle, and fragmentation of today s world taking care of the kids, dealing with disappointments and relationships, facing illness and old age The Book of Householder Koans reminds us that koans are not separate from our life but are, indeed, the stuff of living and loving. Filled with real-life situations shared by people around the world, this wonderful book takes koan practice to a new level, encouraging us to open to all aspects of daily life and to embrace its richness. This is a book to be savored. Diane Rizzetto, author of Waking Up to What You Do and Deep Hope Thank you, thank you, thank you ! At last, here is a book that highlights the awakenings of everyday people in the midst of heart-rending, courageous challenges. Grab a copy of The Book of Householder Koans and you will experience a remarkable shift in Zen literature, one that closes the gap between contemporary practitioners and our ancestors. What a revolution in Zen training, and yet how intimately these wise authors, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao, align to Buddha s primary teaching that Buddha nature resides and manifests within each one of us. Anita Feng (Jeong Ji), author of the novel Sid, and guiding teacher at Blue Heron Zen Community in Seattle, WA