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Opening a Mountain Koans of the Zen Masters
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Opening a Mountain Koans of the Zen Masters Hardcover - 2002

by Heine, Steven


From the publisher

With the growing popularity of Zen Buddhism in the West, virtually everyone knows, or thinks they know, what a koan is: a brief and baffling question or statement that cannot be solved by the logical mind and which, after sustained concentration, can lead to sudden enlightenment. But the truth
about koans is both simpler--and more complicated--than this.
In Opening a Mountain, Steven Heine shows that koans, and the questions we associate with them--such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"--are embedded in larger narratives and belong to an ancient Buddhist tradition of "encounter dialogues." These dialogues feature dramatic and often
inscrutable contests between masters and disciples, or between masters and an array of natural and supernatural forces: rouge priests, "wild foxes," hermits, wizards, shapeshifters, magical animals, and dangerous women. To establish a new monastery, "to open a mountain," the Zen master had to tame
these wild forces in regions most remote from civilization. In these extraordinary encounters, fingers and arms are cut off, pitchers are kicked over, masters appear in and interpret each other's dreams, and seemingly absurd statements are shown to reveal the deepest insights. Heine restores these
koans to their original traditions, allowing readers to see both the complex elements of Chinese culture and religion that they reflect and the role they played in Zen's transformation of local superstitions into its own teachings.
Offering a fresh approach to one of the most crucial elements of Zen Buddhism, Opening a Mountain is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the full story behind koans and the mysterious worlds they come from.

First line

The cases in this chapter deal with encounters that Zen masters had with images and symbols of nature animated by supernatural properties that are reflected in popular religious beliefs.

Details

  • Title Opening a Mountain Koans of the Zen Masters
  • Author Heine, Steven
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages XIV, 200 pages.
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, USA, New York
  • Date January 10, 2002
  • ISBN 9780195135862

About the author


Steven Heine is Professor of Religious Studies and History at books on Zen Buddhism, including (with Dale S. Wright) The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism (OUP). He lives in Hollywood, Florida.
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