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The Ceasing of Notions: An Early Zen Text from the Dunhuang Caves with Selected Comments
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About The Ceasing Of Notions: An Early Zen Text From The
Product Description Among the writings from the Dunhuang Caves, discovered in the mid-twentieth Century, are the Zen equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls--ancient texts unknown for centuries. The Ceasing of Notions is one such text. It takes a unique form: a dialogue between two imaginary figures, a master and his disciple, in which the disciple tenaciously pursues the master's pity utterances with follow-up questions that propel the dialogue toward ever more profound insights. And these questions prove to be the reader's very own. Soko Morinaga brings alive this compact and brilliant text with his own vivid commentary. This volume also includes a generous selection from Morinaga's acclaimed autobiography, Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of my Own Stupidity. Review "This powerful little book is a jewel of Zen Buddhism. Roshi Soko Morinaga goes right to the point of practice and realization." -- Joan Halifax, founding abbot, Upaya Zen Center "Provides food for thought for both experienced Zen students and new comers alike. The translation is eminently readable and Morinaga's commentary is useful and enjoyable to read. I recommend this to all who wish to learn more about the early teachings of Chan and I commend Wisdom Publications on a delightful volume that I am sure will be read more than once by myself." -- TheZenSite.com "A very accessible helpful commentary from one of the most revered Japanese Zen masters of his generation." -- Martin Collcutt, author Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan About the Author Soko Morinaga, was head of Hanazono University and abbot of Daishu-in in Kyoto, one of the twenty-four sub-temples of Daitoku-ji. After finding himself adrift following World War Two, he took up Zen training at Daishuin under Goto Zuigan, formerly abbot of Myoshin-ji and at that time abbot of Daitoku-ji. Morinaga later became the Dharma successor to Oda Sesso Roshi, becoming head monk of Daitoku-ji. He taught regularly at Rinzai temples in California and in England during the latter part of his life. He is author of Pointers to Insight: Life of a Zen Monk, The Ceasing of Notions: Zen Text from the Tun-Huang Caves, and Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity. Morinaga Roshi passed away in 1995. Martin Collcutt is a professor of East Asian studies and history at Princeton University, where he teaches Japanese intellectual and cultural history. He also has a particular interest in the introduction and development of the monastic practice in Japanese Rinzai Zen. In the 1960s he studied and practiced Zen in Japan and met Morinaga Roshi at Daishuin in Kyoto. Subsequently he served as Roshi's interpreter on some of his visits to the United States and England. His academic background in Japanese Zen and his personal and longstanding involvement with Morinaga Roshi and his teaching makes Professor Collcutt's informative introduction a valuable contribution to the understanding of this classic text. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. *from the foreword The Ceasing of Notions is the title given to the translation of the Chinese texts from Dunhuang, which are called the Jue-guan lun in Chinese and Zekkanron in Japanese. The vast caves near Dunhuang, an oasis on the ancient Silk Road in the Gansu province of western China, also known as the Mogao Caves and the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, comprised a network of 492 ancient temples. From the fourth until the fourteenth century, Buddhist monks at Dunhuangwho used the remote caves as places for prayer and meditation in their search for enlightenmentcollected scriptures, sacred paintings, and statues from western Asia and Tibet. Pilgrims passing through the area painted murals covering some four hundred and fifty thousand square feet inside the caves. Construction of the Buddhist cave shrines began around 366 CE as places to store scrip
