Zen Echoes

Classic Koans with Verse Commentaries by Three Female Chan Masters

Beata Grant

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781614291879
• eBook ISBN:
  9781614292043
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

The voices of three female Zen masters reverberate in this much-needed collection.

Too often the history of Zen seems to be written as an unbroken masculine line: male teacher to male student. In this timely volume, Beata Grant shows us that women masters do exist—and have always existed.

Zen Echoes is a collection of classic koans from Zen’s Chinese history that were first collected and commented on by Miaozong, a twelfth-century nun so adept that her teacher, the legendary Dahui Zonggao, used to tell other students that perhaps if they practiced hard enough, they might be as realized as her. Nearly five hundred years later, the seventeenth-century nuns Baochi and Zukui added their own commentaries to the collection. The three voices—distinct yet harmonious—remind us that enlightenment is at once universal and individual.

In her introduction to this shimmering translation, Professor Grant tells us that the verses composed by these women provide evidence that “in a religious milieu made up overwhelmingly of men, there were women who were just as dedicated to Chan practice, just as advanced in their spiritual realization, and just as gifted at using language to convey that which is beyond language.”

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword by Susan Moon
• Introduction
• The Text of The Concordant Sounds Collection of Verse Commentaries
• Preface by Layman Zhang Dayuan
• The Cases and Verses
• Case 1: The World-Honored One Ascends the Seat
• Case 2: A Non-Buddhist Achieves Realization
• Case 3: A Woman Comes Out of Samadhi
• Case 4: Aṅgulimāla and the Difficult Delivery
• Case 5: The Mind That Emerges from the Empty Void
• Case 6: Mañjuśrī Asks Vimalakīrti about Nonduality
• Case 7: A Monk Asks Dongshan about Nirvana
• Case 8: The World-Honored One Holds Up a Flower
• Case 9: Bodhidharma’s Sandal
• Case 10: Bodhidharma Pacifies Huike’s Mind
• Case 11: The Fifth Patriarch Is Entrusted with the Dharma
• Case 12: The National Teacher Calls Out Three Times
• Case 13: Mazu’s Deafening Shouts
• Case 14: Baizhang’s Fox
• Case 15: Not Mind, Not Buddha
• Case 16: Nanquan Kills the Cat
• Case 17: Nanquan’s Circle
• Case 18: Layman Pang’s Awakening
• Case 19: Daowu Sings Out Loudly
• Case 20: Jiashan’s Awakening
• Case 21: The Real Buddha Sits Within
• Case 22: Zhaozhou Checks Out the Old Woman
• Case 23: Zhaozhou’s “Go and Wash Your Bowl”
• Case 24: Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?
• Case 25: Zhaozhou Tests Two Hermits
• Case 26: Linji’s Shout
• Case 27: The True Man Without Rank
• Case 28: Linji’s Host and Guest
• Case 29: Xuefeng’s Gobblers of Dregs
• Case 30: Deshan’s Blows
• Case 31: Xinghua Levies a Penalty
• Case 32: Chen Cao Checks Out the Monks
• Case 33: Yantou the Ferryman
• Case 34: Xuefeng’s Turtle-Nosed Snake
• Case 35: Xuefeng’s Twenty Blows
• Case 36: Lan’an’s Being and Nonbeing
• Case 37: Bajiao’s Staff
• Case 38: Baofu’s Unpolished Mind
• Case 39: Every Day Is a Good Day
• Case 40: Chen Cao Asks about the Teachings
• Case 41: Fayan’s Fish-Drum
• Case 42: Fried Sesame Cakes
• Case 43: Dahui Holds Up a Bamboo Whisk
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Translator
• Also Available from Wisdom Publications
• About Wisdom Publications
• Copyright