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Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness

Zen Talks on the Sandokai
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( 410 ratings, 29 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness is a collection of lectures by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, given in 1970 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. These teachings revolve around the Sandokai, a poem by the 8th-century Zen master Sekito Kisen, which explores how the oneness and multiplicity of things coexist. Suzuki Roshi's lectures illuminate this profound, ancient poem for his Western students, conveying deep insight, humour, and intimacy with Zen practice. Included are his students' questions with direct answers and meditation instructions, providing valuable guidance on understanding "things-as-it-is" through Zen.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book suits readers interested in Zen Buddhism, spiritual philosophy, and those seeking a deeper understanding of Eastern meditation teachings. It appeals to both dedicated practitioners and thoughtful newcomers wanting sophisticated, accessible insight into Zen thought.

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Like Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, it is a collection of lectures that reveal the insight, humor, and intimacy with Zen that made Suzuki Roshi so influential as a teacher.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

When Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind was published in 1972, it was enthusiastically embraced by Westerners eager for spiritual insight and knowledge of Zen. The book became one of the most successful treatises on Buddhism in English, selling more than one million copies to date.

Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness is the first follow-up volume to Suzuki Roshi's important work. Like Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, it is a collection of lectures that reveal the insight, humour and intimacy with Zen that made Suzuki Roshi so influential as a teacher.

The "Sandokai"β€”a poem by the 8th-century Zen master Sekito Kisen (Ch. Shitou Xiqian)β€”is the subject of these lectures. Given in 1970 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the lectures are an example of a Zen teacher in his prime elucidating a venerated, ancient and difficult work to his Western students. The poem addresses the question of how the oneness of things and the multiplicity of things coexist (or, as Suzuki Roshi expresses it, "things-as-it-is").

Included with the lectures are his students' questions and his direct answers to them, along with a meditation instruction. Suzuki Roshi's teachings are valuable not only for their spiritual insights but also for their relevance to modern life.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Suzuki Roshi's voice as both gentle and sophisticated, far from a simplified self-help style, offering profound philosophical instruction. Kobal Scott Whitney of Parabola highlights the continuation of the authentic teaching style first seen in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Donna Seaman of Booklist notes the text’s depth and Suzuki's considerable teaching gifts, reflected in its eloquent and humorous approach to the complex topic of the Sandokai.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520232129

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 November 2001

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Illustration: 1 b-w photograph, 1 line illustration

Contributors:

  • Edited by Mel Weitsman
  • Edited by Michael Wenger

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 272g

Pages: 199

About the Author

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi came to the United States in 1959, leaving his temple in Yaizu, Japan, to serve as priest for the Japanese American congregation at Sokoji Temple in San Francisco. In 1967 he and his students created the first Zen Buddhist monastery in America at Tassajara in the coastal mountains south of San Francisco. Suzuki Roshi died in 1971 at age 67, a year and a half after delivering his teaching on the Sandokai. He may have had a premonition of his coming death when he said that it was common for Zen teachers in the Soto tradition to lecture on the Sandokai near the end of life. Mel Weitsman is the former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and current abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. Michael Wenger is Dean of Buddhist Studies at the San Francisco Zen Center.

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