Samrai Zen

[Seiryu]

I have never heard of this collection of Koans before and I'm curious to know if anyone knows more about the background of this koan collection.

Thanks


http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Zen-Warri ... 001&sr=8-1

[Jundo]

Re: Samrai Zen

I have never heard of this collection of Koans before and I'm curious to know if anyone knows more about the background of this koan collection.

Thanks


http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Zen-Warri ... 001&sr=8-1

Hi Seiryu,

It is a Rinzai collection from the 13th century. At that time, Rinzai Zen was very close to the Shogun and Samurai, patronized by the warrior class. The collection's name thus comes from the original compilers selecting Koans they thought appropriate for their Samurai students and patrons, although I think the Koans are standards without any particular connection to the Samurai or martial arts alone. There are many many of these minor Koan collections, just as there are so many poetry or song collections. Basically, anyone could pick and choose their favorites, write them down ... and a new collection was born. The 1920's reprint on which this collection was based was from a time, of course, when militarism and "samurai" culture was being much revived in Japan.

The translator, Trevor Leggett, is a martial artist who has published some good books on Rinzai flavored Zen. Most of the introduction to the book can be found here.

http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=0vbE ... &q&f=false

Gassho, Jundo

[Onken]

Re: Samrai Zen

Speaking of Rinzai schools....here are some pics i took while at Tenryuji in Kyoto. Enjoy!

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/nycbudo/