''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones'' is a 1957 publication by

Paul Reps Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

combining four separate texts on

nondual Nondualism, also called nonduality and nondual awareness, is a fuzzy concept originating in Indian philosophy and religion for which many definitions can be found, including: nondual awareness, the nonduality of seer and seen or nondiffer ...

practice: * '' 101 Zen Stories'' * ''

The Gateless Gate ''The Gateless Barrier'' ( Mandarin: 無門關 ''Wúménguān''; Japanese: 無門関 ''Mumonkan''), sometimes translated as ''The Gateless Gate'', is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen maste ...

'' (Mumonkan) * ''

Ten Bulls Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures ( Chinese: ''shíniú'' 十牛 , Japanese: ''jūgyūzu'' 十牛図 , korean: ''sipwoo'' 십우) is a series of short poems and accompanying drawings used in the Zen tradition to describe the stages of a pra ...

'' * ''

Centering Centring, centre, centering"Centering 2, Centring 2" def. 1. Whitney, William Dwight, and Benjamin E. Smith. ''The Century dictionary and cyclopedia''. vol. 2. New York: Century Co., 1901. p. 885., or center is a type of formwork: the temporary str ...

'' ( Vigyan Bhairav Tantra)

101 Zen Stories

''101 Zen Stories'' is a 1919 compilation of

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Jap ...

s including 19th and early 20th century

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s compiled by

Nyogen Senzaki Nyogen Senzaki (千崎如幻, 1876–1958) was a Rinzai Zen monk who was one of the 20th century's leading proponents of Zen Buddhism in the United States. Early life Details of Senzaki's early life are unclear. Town records in Fukaura, Aom ...

, and a translation of ''

Shasekishū The , also read as ''Sasekishū'',Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten (1986:896-897)Kubota (2007:166) translated into English as ''Collection of Stone and Sand'',Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a five-volume collection of Buddhist parables written by the Japan ...

'', written in the 13th century by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Zen master

Mujū Mujū Dōkyō ( ja, 無住道曉; 1 January 1227 - 9 November 1312), birth name Ichien Dōkyō, was a Buddhist monk of the Japanese Kamakura period. He is superficially considered a Rinzai monk by some due to his compilation of the ''Shasekishū' ...

(無住) (literally, "non-dweller"). The book was reprinted by

as part of ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones''. Well-known koans in the collection include ''A Cup of Tea'' (1), ''The Sound of One Hand'' (21), ''No Water, No Moon'' (29), and ''Everything is Best'' (31).

Gateless Gate

''The Gateless Gate'' (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

: 無門關 ''Wúménguān'';

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 無門関 ''Mumonkan''), more accurately translated as ''The Gateless Barrier'', is a collection of 48

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia *Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldwel ...

(

)

s compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master

Wumen Huikai Wumen Huikai (; Wade-Giles: Wu-men Hui-k'ai; ja, Mumon Ekai) (1183–1260) was a Chinese Chán (Japanese: Zen) master during China‘s Song period. He is most famous for having compiled and commentated the 48-koan collection ''The Gateless Barri ...

(無門慧開; Japanese: ''Mumon Ekai''; 1183–1260). Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen.

Ten Bulls

''Ten Bulls'' or ''Ten Ox Herding Pictures'' (十牛;

: ''jūgyū'',

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: ''shíniú'') is a series of short poems and accompanying pictures used in the

tradition to illustrate the stages of a practitioner's progression towards the purification of the mind and enlightenment,廓庵《十牛圖頌》考：從牧牛圖頌談起
/ref> as well as his or her subsequent return into the world while acting out of wisdom. An equivalent series of stages is depicted in the Nine Stages of Tranquility,Piya Tan (2004), ''The Taming of the Bull. Mind-training and the formation of Buddhist traditions'', dharmafarer.org
/ref> used in the

Mahamudra Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmudr ...

tradition, in which the mind is represented by an elephant and a monkey.Dharma Fellowship, ''Deepening Calm-Abiding - The Nine Stages of Abiding''
/ref>
/ref> This formulation originates with Asaṅga (4th CE), delineating the nine mental abidings in his ''Abhidharmasamuccaya'' and the ''Śrāvakabhūmi'' chapter of his '' Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra''. It is also found in the '' Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra'' of Maitreyanātha, which shows considerable similarity in arrangement and content to the Bodhisattva-bhūmi-śāstra. The ''Dharma Fellowship, a

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

(Mahamudra) organisation, notes that the practice starts with studying and pondering the dharma, where-after the practice of meditation commences.Dharma Fellowship, ''Deepening Calm-Abiding - The Nine Stages of Abiding''
/ref>

Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

The '' Vigyan Bhairav Tantra'' is a chapter from the ''Rudrayamala Tantra''. It was introduced to the west by

, a student of

Lakshman Joo Swami Lakshman Joo (9 May 1907 – 27 September 1991) was a mysticism, mystic and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism. He was known as Lal Sahib ("Friend of God") by followers. Biography Lakshman Joo was born in a Kashmiri Hindu Brahmin family ...

. Reps brought the text to wider attention by including an English translation in his popular book ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones''. Cast as a discourse between the god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and his consort

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...

, it briefly presents 112 meditation methods or centering techniques ('' dharana''s).Paul Reps, ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings'' ()

Notes

References

;Printed references ;Web-references {{reflist, group=web Books about Zen Kashmir Shaivism