The Zen of Vimalakirti

<p>In <em>The Zen of Vimalakirti</em> W.J. Louis taking the widely celebrated Mahayana text as inspiration describes the nature and meaning of Buddhist practice and liberation from the perspective of a Black American layman.</p><p>The Zen of Vimalakirti is a three part essay. The first part on the subject of Right Livelihood assesses the layman's work-life as a valuable opportunity for Zen practice. The second part is a comparative analysis of the Vimalakirti Sutra and the philosophy of Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou. The third part uses Zen Ancestor Huineng's Platform Sutra as a springboard for a discussion on tea preparation as a meditative practice.</p><p>This essay began as a personal endeavor for Louis - one in which he wrote to wrap his own mind around the potential for legitimate Zen practice as a working person. Ultimately it is the culmination of over 15 years of informal study. Readers will gain an understanding of Zen not as an unnecessarily lofty concept but as a down-to-earth way of seeing.</p>