Resources
I. SOURCES FOR TRAINING CLOTHING
Our standard practice uniform of keikogi and hakama is the same as that worn by practitioners of traditional Japanese arts like Kendo, Aikido or Kyudo. It is suitable for meditation as and all other activities at Daiyuzenji. Acceptable colors: indigo or white for the keikogi top, indigo or black for the hakama. The following suppliers are dependable and offer reasonably priced options:
- The Kiyota Company (no web site, but highly recommended for quality and fast shipping. Call Mr. Kiyota at 1-800-783-2232)
II. READING SUGGESTIONS
The following texts have been useful for our Zen students; some have been recommended by our teachers. This is not a comprehensive list by any means; please contact us if there's something you'd like to suggest for inclusion. Most books listed are available online or at local bookstores. Various translations of essential texts (e.g. sutras and koan collections) are also available online: do a search.
Recommended Text for Beginners:
- An Introduction to Zen Training, by Omori Sogen
Texts for Historical Background and Reference
- Buddha, by Karen Armstrong
- Basic Buddhist Concepts, by Kogen Mizuno
- What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula
- History of Zen Buddhism, Vol. 1 (India and China) and Vol. 2 (Japan), by Heinrich Dumoulin
- Buddhism in China, A Historical Survey, by Kenneth Kuan Sheng Ch'en
- Ch'an and Zen Teaching, by Charles Luk
- Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings, by Andy Ferguson
- The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, by Jeffrey L. Broughton
- Seeing through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan
Buddhism, by John R. McRae
- Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen, by Kenneth Kraft
- A Manual of Zen Buddhism, by D.T. Suzuki
- Art of the Zen Master [a biography of Omori Sogen], by Dogen Hosokawa
Buddhist Sutras and Writings by Zen Masters
- The Heart Sutra
- The Diamond Sutra, transl. by Red Pine
- The Lankavatara Sutra: An Epitomized Version, transl. by D.T. Suzuki
- The Vimilakirti Nirdesa Sutra, transl. by Burton Watson
- The Surangama Sutra
- The Lotus Sutra
- The Avatamasaka Sutra
- The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, transl. by Red Pine
- The Recorded Sayings of Ma-tsu
- The Recorded Sayings of Joshu
- The Zen Teaching of Huang-Po, transl. by John Blofeld
- The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang
- The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, by Burton Watson
- The Record of Lin-Chi, by Ruth Fuller Sasaki
- The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
- Dream Conversations, by Muso Soseki (transl. by Thomas Cleary)
- Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra, by Norman
Waddell
- Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin, by Hakuin Ekaku and
Norman Waddell
- The Zen Master Hakuin, Selected Writings, by Philip Yampolsky
- Fudochi Shimmyo Roku, by Takuan Soho (transl. by Tenshin Tanouye)
Texts for Students Engaged in Koan Training with a Teacher
- Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records, by Katsuki
Sekida
- The Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan, by Zenkei Shibayama
- The Zen Koan as a Means of Attaining Enlightenment, by D.T. Suzuki
- The Zen Koan: Its History and Use in Rinzai Zen, by Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller
Sasaki
- Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the Shumon Kattoshu, by Thomas Yuho Kirchner
- Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, by Victor Sogen Hori
- Zen Dust: The History of the Koan and Koan Study in Rinzai (Lin-chi) Zen, by Isshu
Miura
- Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp, by Torei Enji
Zen and Related "Ways"
- Zen and the Art of Calligraphy: The Essense of Sho, by Omori Sogen and
Terayama Katsujo
- "Zen and Budo", by Omori Sogen
- Zen and the Ways, by Trevor Legget
Misc. Other
- Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism, Toshihiko Izutsu
