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The Rinzai Zen Handbook
Ogawa Tairyū (Research Fellow, Myōshin-ji Committee for Education)
Shinozuka Junkai (Research Fellow, Myōshin-ji Committee for Education)
Shimizu Ikkō (Research Fellow, Hanazono University Historical Museum)
Noguchi Zenkei (Director, Myōshin-ji Department of Education)
Hirota Sōgen (Director, Myōshin-ji Committee for Education)
Horino Shinchō (Curator, Zuigan-ji Art Museum)
Honda Dōryū (Chairman, Myōshin-ji Committee for Education)
Marumo Shunkō (Research Fellow, Myōshin-ji Committee for Education)
Copyright © by the Myoshinji Temple Office
Translated by Thomas Yūhō Kirchner
Published by the Myoshinji Temple Office
     64 Myoshinji-cho, Hanazono, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
size : B6 softcover / All color / 124pages
price : 1100yen(tax included)
Book details (name of author, etc.):2021/02/01
The Rinzai Zen Handbook is a translation of the Japanese Rinzai Zen Handobukku 臨済禅ハンドブック (2018), a short textbook on the Japanese Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism intended for use by the Myōshin-ji clergy. For the English edition a number of minor revisions and additions have been made to the original Japanese contents for the sake of clarity. In addition, English translations of a number of short texts commonly used in Rinzai Zen have been included in the Appendix. These texts are: the Heart Sutra, Hakuin Zenji’s Song of Zazen, The Bodhisattva Vows, The Universal Dedication, The Five Reflections, Guidelines for Everyday Spirituality, and Teachings for Spiritual Practice.
Since this text is intended for distribution and use primarily in Japan, the names of Chinese people and places have been rendered in their Japanese pronunciations, except in the case of Chinese names familiar to English-speaking readers (such as the Yangtze River and the Longmen Caves). Indian names and terms are generally rendered in their Sanskrit form.
It is Myōshin-ji’s hope that this publication will help spread understanding of the Rinzai Zen tradition among English-speaking readers.

[Contents]
Preface
Chapter One: A Brief Overview of Religion (by Noguchi Zenkei)
  1. The Concept of “Religion”
  2. Defining Religion
  3. Categories of Religion
  4. The Three Major World Religions
  5. The Aim of Religion
Chapter Two: An Outline of Buddhism (by Honda Dōryū)
  1. The Names of the Buddha
  2. The Life of Shakyamuni
  3. The Basic Doctrines of Buddhism
  4. The Propagation and Development of Buddhism
  5. The Zen School’s Concept of Shakyamuni
  Column: “The Twelve-linked Chain of Causation”
Chapter Three: A History of the Chinese Zen School (Marumo Shunkō)
  1. The Wellsprings of the Zen Tradition: Dhyāna and Yoga in India
  2. The Transmission of Buddhism to China
  3. Bodhidharma, the First Ancestor of Chinese Zen
  4. The Transmission of the Dharma to Eka, the Second Ancestor
  5. The East Mountain School of Zen
  6. Buddhism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties
  7. Enō, the Sixth Ancestor
  8. Baso Dōitsu and Hyakujō Ekai: The Establishment of Zen Monasticism
  9. The Five Houses and Seven Schools
  10. Song-dynasty Buddhism
  11. Koan-Gazing Zen and Silent-Illumination Zen
  12. Zen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Chapter Four: The History of Zen in Japan (by Hirota Sōgen)
  1. The Transmission and Acceptance of Buddhism in Japan
  2. Saichō and Kūkai
  3. Buddhism during the Kamakura Period
  4. The Zen Masters Yōsai and Dōgen, Founders of the Japanese Rinzai and Sōtō Schools
  5. The Spread of Zen to the Provinces
  6. The Gozan and Rinka Monasteries
  7. Zen in the Early Modern Age
  8. The Modernization of Zen
  Column “The Head Temples of the Rinzai and Ōbaku Schools”
Chapter Five: The History of Myōshin-ji (by Hirota Sōgen)
  1. Zen Master Kanzan Egen and the Establishment of Myōshin-ji
  2. Myōshin-ji: Adversity to Prosperity
  3. Rinzai Zen Reform Movements
  4. Myōshin-ji in the Early Modern Age
  Map of the Myōshin-ji Precincts
  Column “The Zen Masters Kanzan Egen and Musō Soseki
Chapter Six: The Teachings of Zen (by Ogawa Tairyū)
  1. The Fundamental Stance of the Zen School
  2. The Rinzai School
  3. The Teachings of the Myōshin-ji Branch of Rinzai Zen
  4. The Path to Enlightenment (The Ten Oxherding Pictures)
Chapter Seven: Learning from the Sutras (by Shinozuka Junkai)
  1. What Are the Sutras?
  2. Sutras Used in the Zen School
  3. The Texts of the Nikka Kyōten
  4. Why Chant the Sutras?
Chapter Eight: Traditional Zen Ceremonies (by Honda Dōryū & Noguchi Zenkei)
  1. Principal Ceremonies of the Zen Temple Calendar
  2. Higan-e
  3. Urabon-e
  4. Funerals and Memorial Services
Chapter Nine: The Cultural Manifestations of Zen (by Shimizu Ikkō)
  1. Architecture
  2. Gardens
  3. The Tea Ceremony
  4. Calligraphy and Painting
  5. Buddhist Statuary
Chapter Ten: Buddhist Terminology (by Horino Shinchō)
  1. The Nature of Buddhist Terminology
  2. Basic Buddhist Terms
Chapter Eleven: The Wisdom of Zen Phrases (by Horino Shinchō)
  1. The Nature of Zen Phrases
  2. Typical Zen Phrases
Appendix
Guidelines for Reciting the Sutras
INDEX

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