{"id":17333,"date":"2017-10-15T11:52:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=17333"},"modified":"2017-10-15T11:52:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T18:52:42","slug":"introduction-zen-koans-now-available-pre-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2017\/10\/introduction-zen-koans-now-available-pre-order.html","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to Zen Koans is Now Available for Pre-Order"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Introduction<\/a>
\nMy next book is now available for pre-order through Amazon.<\/p>\n

Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In her forward to the book Roshi Joan Halifax says,\u00a0\u201cThis marvelous book opens the treasure house of Zen and yet, happily, does not dispel its mystery.<\/i> James Ford, an excellent storyteller and longtime Zen practitioner, presents a detailed and beautiful description of the craft of zazen, including \u201cjust sitting\u201d and various forms of breath meditation\u2014but focuses primarily on koan introspection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power of koans, these \u2018public cases\u2019\u00a0from China, has never ceased to enrich my own experience of Zen. They are a medium of exploration of the history, culture, and view of Zen, but most importantly are a medium of awakening.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames Ford is fundamentally a koan person, and for this, the book is particularly rich, opening the practice of koans in a splendid way. I am grateful for his long experience as a teacher and practitioner of this rare and powerful practice. Since the word koan<\/i>has found its way into popular English usage, I am grateful too for the more nuanced and fertile view of koans that Ford presents. His definition of the word is telling: \u201ca koan points to something of deep importance, and invites us to stand in that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has also has created a wonderful translation of the Heart Sutra, Zen\u2019s central scripture\u2014and carefully opens up the heart of the Heart Sutra through scholarship and practice. Rich in textual sources and woven throughout with the perspectives of contemporary teachers, Introduction to Zen Koans<\/i>\u00a0sheds new light on ancient teachings. Through it, the reader will discover the importance of lineage, the traceless traces of the Zen ancestors, and the places of \u201cjust sitting\u201d and koan practice as paths to awakening, as the great doorways into Zen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n