Discover how the mysterious, powerful form of the koan—known for bringing about sudden enlightenment—can disrupt and illuminate your everyday understanding of life.
Traditionally, Zen koans—the teaching stories of Zen—are drawn from the words and teachings of ancient masters and primarily address the concerns of (male) monastic practitioners. In The Crow Flies Backward, Ross Bolleter changes all at. The 108 modern koans offered within address sexuality and childbirth, family, parenthood, work, money and even the nature time itself. These koans are drawn from a variety of modern sources: Western philosophy, the Bible, contemporary and classic literature from Proust to Lewis Carroll and Mary Oliver and Anne Carson, as well as stories provided by author’s encounters with his Zen students.
Bolleter’s commentaries provide guidance to the reader on how to engage with each koan and koans in general, and direct guidance to meditate with koans. An appendix offers rarely-seen intimate and in-depth accounts of the process of koan introspection, from four of the author’s senior students.

- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Crow Flies Backwards and Other New Zen Koans
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Information
Topic
Theology & ReligionSubtopic
BuddhismTable of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I: Prelude
- Part II: Commentaries on Western Koans
- Part III: The Crow Flies Backwardsand Other Western Koans
- Appendix: Personal Accounts
- Mari Rhydwen: Working on“Snow in a Silver Bowl”
- Bob Joyner: My Experience of Koan Work
- Phillip McNamara: Working with“Who Is Hearing That Sound?”
- Bibliography
- Credits
- Index
- About the Author
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access The Crow Flies Backwards and Other New Zen Koans by Ross Bolleter in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Buddhism. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.