Two Zen Classics

<b>A new translation of</b> <i><b>The Gateless Gate</b></i> <b>and</b> <i><b>The Blue Cliff Records</b></i><b> two classic collections of Zen koans&#151;or guiding &#145;riddles&#146;&#151;used in the study of Zen Buddhism</b><br> <br> The strange verbal paradoxes called koans have been used traditionally in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this book <i>Mumonkan</i> (<i>The Gateless Gate</i>) and <i>Hekiganroku</i> (<i>The Blue Cliff Records</i>) both compiled during the Song dynasty in China are the best known and most frequently studied koan collections and are classics of Zen literature. They are still used today in a variety of practice lineages from traditional zendos to modern Zen centers.<br> &#160;<br> In a completely new translation together with original commentaries the well-known Zen teacher Katsuki Sekida brings to these works the same fresh and pragmatic approach that made his <i>Zen Training</i> so successful. The insights of a lifetime of Zen practice and his familiarity with both Eastern and Western ways of thinking make him an ideal interpreter of these texts.