Hakuin

Hakuin

Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1768) is a towering figure in Japanese Zen. He was widely respected during his lifetime for his extraordinary courage and determination as he strove tirelessly to revive a Zen tradition in crisis, he is today considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Japanese Zen, most especially the Rinzai Zen school.

Hakuin

Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1768) is a towering figure in Japanese Zen. He was widely respected during his lifetime for his extraordinary courage and determination as he strove tirelessly to revive a Zen tradition in crisis, he is today considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Japanese Zen, most especially the Rinzai Zen school.

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GUIDES

Kazuaki Tanahashi: A Guide for Readers

Related Reader Guides

Kazuaki Tanahashi

Kazuaki (Kaz) Tanahashi is a gem with many facets: peace and environmental activism, generosity,  art, poetry, creativity and more.

Below you will find many of his contributions in book form, sometimes as translator, sometimes as editor, sometimes as author, always as collaborator.  One of the things you will notice with any of the books Kaz is involved with is that they are a team effort, assisted by his vast network of friends and admirers.

We have separated his works across a few categories you can jump to from here: those on art and calligraphy; the great Zen master Dogen; Hanshan, Ryoken, and Soen Nakagawa; and the  Heart Sutra and other Zen chants.

We put this reader guide together to mark his 90th birthday which was celebrated at Green Gulch Zen Center in September, 2023, but his output has not slowed and additional books will be added here as they come out.

Kaz’s 90th Birthday Cake, with an image of him painting.
Kaz’s 90th Birthday Cake, with an image of him painting. Created by his daughter Karuna Tanahashi.

On Dogen

Unsurprisingly, Dogen has been a major focus of Kaz's translation work.  As the spearhead of a  project involving many from the San Francisco Zen Center community, Kaz has edited, compiled, introduced and translated multiple works of Dogen.  The first, Moon in a Dewdrop, is still in print but with another publisher.  The others are below, culminating in Dogen's masterpiece, The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.

essential dogen
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$21.95 - Paperback

On this volume, Kaz writes,

This volume is intended to make [Dogen's] writings easily accessible to readers, including those who are not familiar with Zen or Buddhism in general. Peter Levitt and I have selected passages from Dogen’s enormous body of work throughout his career and classified them according to theme. We hope that this approach will help those who are interested in his thinking and teachings on various topics. We have also included a selection of Dogen’s poems that, at a glance, might appear eccentric or absurd but may be more easily understood when placed in the context of his other writings.

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$24.95 - Paperback

Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen

Enlightenment Unfolds is a sequel to Kaz Tanahashi's previous collection, Moon in a Dewdrop.

Tanahashi has brought together his own translations of Dogen with those of some of the most respected Zen teachers and writers of our own day, including Reb Anderson, Edward Espe Brown, Norman Fisher, Gil Fronsdal, Blanche Hartman, Jane Hirschfield, Daniel Leighton, Alan Senauke, Katherine Thanas, Mel Weitzman, and Michael Wenger.

dogen beyond thinking
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Beyond Thinking: A Guide to Zen Meditation

On this volume, another collaboration of many contributors, Kaz writes,

For this book we have selected his essays, talks, and instructions that touch on various aspects of Zen meditation. We present the text in four parts: ‘‘Entering Zazen,’’ ‘‘Zazen Experience,’’ ‘‘Zazen in Community,’’ and ‘‘Zazen through the Seasons.’’

In focusing on Dogen's most practical words of instruction and encouragement for Zen students, this collection highlights the timelessness of his teaching and shows it to be as applicable to anyone today as it was in the great teacher's own time. Selections include Dogen's famous meditation instructions; his advice on the practice of zazen, or sitting meditation; guidelines for community life; and some of his most inspirational talks. Also included are a bibliography and an extensive glossary.

true dharma eye dogen
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$39.95 - Paperback

Distinct from the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye below, this is a collection of three hundred koans compiled by Dogen which presents readers with a uniquely contemporary perspective on his profound teachings and their relevance for modern Western practitioners of Zen. Following the traditional format for koan collections, John Daido Loori Roshi, an American Zen master, has added his own commentary and accompanying verse for each of Dogen’s koans. Kaz Tanahashi translated this work.  Zen students and scholars will find The True Dharma Eye to be a source of deep insight into the mind of one of the world’s greatest religious thinkers, as well as the practice of koan study itself.

Hardcover | Ebook 

$100.00 - Hardcover

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shobo Genzo, in Japanese) is Dogen's manum opus and a monumental work, considered to be one of the profoundest expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the most outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school.

Kazuaki Tanahashi and a team of translators that represent a Who’s Who of American Zen have produced a translation of the great work that combines accuracy with a deep understanding of Dogen’s voice and literary gifts. This volume includes a wealth of materials to aid understanding, including maps, lineage charts, a bibliography, and an exhaustive glossary of names and terms—and, as a bonus, the most renowned of all Dogen’s essays, “Recommending Zazen to All People.”

The Heart Sutra and Zen Chants

heart Sutra
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The Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra is among the best known of all the Buddhist scriptures. Chanted daily by many Zen students, it is also studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition, and it has been regarded with interest more recently in the West in various fields of study—from philosophy to quantum physics. In just thirty-five lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release from suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language. Kazuaki Tanahashi’s guide to the Heart Sutra is the result of a life spent working with it and living it.

The book is divided into six parts.  In Kaz's words:

"Part One, 'The Heart Sutra Here and Now,' presents a new translation of the text by Joan Halifax and myself. Our intention is to bring forth the sutra’s essential teaching of transcendence and freedom, which is often obscured by seemingly pessimistic and nihilistic expressions. We use the word “boundlessness” instead of the more common translation “emptiness” for the Sanskrit word shunyata. We use “free of the eyes, ears, nose . . .” instead of the usual rendition “no eyes, no ears, no nose . . .” Because we want to make the sutra accessible to non-Buddhists as well as Buddhists, we have replaced such traditional technical terms as bodhisattva and nirvana with more easily understandable words. I hope those of you who are used to chanting the common English versions of the sutra will find our translation helpful and thought-provoking. This first part also includes stories of my own affinity with the scripture and its potential to inspire us all.

Part Two, 'Story of the Sutra,' introduces ancient recountings of its use as a living text, as well as descriptions of my visits to temples in Korea and Japan, where I conducted research on the historical impact of the sutra.

Parts Three and Four, 'Modern Scholarship' and 'Most Recent Scholarship,' discuss scholarly findings over the course of two centuries about the formation and expansion of the text.

Part Five, 'Globalizing the Sutra,' discusses Chinese enthusiasm for and pan-Asian responses to the text, as well as examples of how the sutra has inspired modern scientists.

Part Six, 'Terms and Concepts,' includes semantic, etymological, and grammatical analyses of the Sanskrit and Chinese terms in the text. Most of the words in the sutra have Sanskrit origins, so looking at these terms is extremely fruitful. A Chinese version has become the standard text in East Asia, however, and was the basis for some of the translations of the sutra in European languages. Three English translations are also included here: the version by F. Max Müller from the late nineteenth century, as well as those by D. T. Suzuki and Edward Conze from the twentieth century."

Ruth Ozeki had this to say about this work:

“A masterwork of loving and meticulous scholarship, Kaz Tanahashi’s Heart Sutra is a living, breathing, deeply personal celebration of a beloved text, which all readers—Buddhists and non-Buddhists, newcomers to the teaching and seasoned scholars alike—will cherish throughout time.

The Online Course

kaz

Using Kaz’s book The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism as its text, this course delves deep into the history and lived experience of the Heart Sutra, posing questions and drawing connections to help you integrate this precious teaching into your daily life and awareness, whether you are encountering the sutra for the first time or have chanted it for decades. We invite you to join these two remarkable and wise teachers in exploring the boundless nature of all existence through this core text.

hs
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Zen Chants: Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary

A Zen chant is like a compass that sets us in the direction of the awakened life; it is the dynamic, audible counterpart to the silent practice of zazen, or sitting meditation; and it is a powerful expression of the fact that practice happens in community. Here is a concise guide to Zen chants for practitioners, as well as for anyone who appreciates the beauty and profundity of the poetry in dharma. An introduction to the practice is followed by fresh and carefully considered translations and adaptations of thirty-five chants—some common and others less well known—along with illuminating commentary.

The accompanying audio of this book:

On Ryoken, Hanshan, and Soen Nakagawa

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Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan

Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him. His poetry and art were wildly popular even in his lifetime. He is now regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Edo Period, along with Basho, Buson, and Issa. He was also a master artist-calligrapher with a very distinctive style, due mostly to his unique and irrepressible spirit, but also because he was so poor he didn’t usually have materials: his distinctive thin line was due to the fact that he often used twigs rather than the brushes he couldn’t afford. He was said to practice his brushwork with his fingers in the air when he didn’t have any paper. There are hilarious stories about how people tried to trick him into doing art for them, and about how he frustrated their attempts. As an old man, he fell in love with a young Zen nun who also became his student. His affection for her colors the mature poems of his late period. This collection contains more than 140 of Ryokan’s poems, with selections of his art, and of the very funny anecdotes about him.

The Complete Cold Mountain
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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Kaz translated this complete set of Hanshan's poems with Peter Levitt.

Welcome to the magical, windswept world of Cold Mountain. These poems from the literary riches of China have long been celebrated by cultures of both East and West—and continue to be revered as among the most inspiring and enduring works of poetry worldwide. This groundbreaking new translation presents the full corpus of poetry traditionally associated with Hanshan (“Cold Mountain”) and sheds light on its origins and authorship like never before. Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt honor the contemplative Buddhist elements of this classic collection of poems while revealing Hanshan’s famously jubilant humor, deep love of solitude in nature, and overwhelming warmth of heart. In addition, this translation features the full Chinese text of the original poems and a wealth of fascinating supplements, including traditional historical records, an in-depth study of the Cold Mountain poets (here presented as three distinct authors), and more.

Peter Levitt and Kazuaki Tanahashi
endless vow
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Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa

Endless Vow is the first English-language collection of the literary works of Soen Nakagawa Roshi. An intimate, in-depth portrait of the master of Eido Tai Shimano, his Dharma heir, introduces the poems, letters, journal entries, and other writings of Soen Roshi, which are illustrated with his calligraphies. In a postscript, some of his best-known American students—including Peter Matthiessen and Ruth McCandless—reminisce about this legendary figure of American Buddhist history.

Here is what Kaz has to say about the book,

Zen Master Soen Nakagawa was a key figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from Japan to the Western world. As abbot of the historic Ryutaku Monastery, he trained monks and lay practitioners. Among them were Robert Aitken and Philip Kapleau, who later became two of the first Westerners to teach Zen in the United States. Soen Roshi had a major impact upon Paul Reps, Maurine Stuart, Peter Matthiessen, Louis Nordstrom, Charlotte Joko Beck, and a great number of other Westerners whom he taught in and outside of Japan.

Soen Nakagawa was also an extraordinary poet. In Japan his haiku are renowned, even though no substantial collection of his work has been made available to the general public. Because he did not wish his anthologies to receive wide circulation in his lifetime, all four collections of his poems were published privately, in limited editions, for small circles of readers.

We have selected materials for this book largely from those four collections: Shigan (Coffin of Poems), 1936; Meihen (Life Anthology), 1949; Henkairoku (Journal of a Wide World) with Koun-sho (Ancient Cloud Selection), 1981; and Hokoju (Long Lasting Dharma Light), published posthumously in 1985. These selections are now presented in English for the first time.

On Art, Calligraphy, and Haiku

Painting Peace
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“Awakening,” says Kaz, “is to realize the infinite value of each moment of your own life as well as of other beings, then to continue to act accordingly.” This book is the record of a life spent acting accordingly: through his prose, poetry, letters, lyrics, and art, Tanahashi provides an inspirational account of a what it’s been like to work for peace and justice, from his childhood in Japan to the present day. Included are fascinating vignettes of the seminal figures who refined his views—among them Daniel Ellsberg, Gary Snyder, Mayumi Oda, and Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido—as well as striking examples of the art he has so famously used to bear witness to the infinite value of life.

It is such a wonderful that shows so many facets of his activism, generosity, commitment to peace, art, poetry, creativity and more.  It is incredible to hear about his training with Morihei Ueshiba, the role his father played in the military leading up to the war and the impact these had on Kaz.  It is sure to leave you with a deep appreciation of his work in all its variety.

heart of the brush
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This comprehensive and accessible introduction to the history and art of calligraphy as it’s been practiced for centuries in Asia offers the possibility of appreciating it in a hands-on way. It works as a guide for the beginner hoping to develop an appreciation for Asian calligraphy, for the person who wants to give calligraphy-creation a try, as well as for the expert or afficionado who wants nothing more than to exult in lovely examples of this art. After proving a brief overview, Kazuaki Tanahashi invites you to give it a try yourself, giving guidance for materials, and then instruction in the basic strokes. He then provides examples of 150 characters, from action to zen, with history and development of each, famous examples, stroke sequences, and the author’s interpretation of the character in styles that range from traditional to modern. It’s a calligraphy course in a book, but it’s also a book for hours of meditative browsing.

O'Leary describes it this:

The One Thousand Character Essay is both essay and visual art. For brush calligraphers who do not read Chinese, this text offers a rare opportunity (by looking at the bottom of the facing left-hand page for translation and then reading a column of characters on the right-hand page), to take in the visual aspects of a larger meaning, of several characters in a row. To compare, side by side and over and over, formal and cursive script. Then glance back again to the top of the left-hand page, for the specific
meaning of a particular character. For me, this was entering a calligraphic text as I never had before.

In recent years, some calligraphers have been taking cellphone photos of individual characters and then enlarging them on the phone screen to be able to study the detail of strokes and how the calligrapher formed them. It is mesmerizing to look so closely at Zhiyong’s art. This form of attention can seem to slow down time, and it feels like an opportunity for carefully observing that only museum conservators could have had until very recently. We encourage you to try this.

Kaz once said to me, “I believe in the power of writing. I believe in the power of art.” You hold in your hands the written art of space and time. Of black night sky and earth. Ochre earth.

The Online Course

kaz brush

In this online workshop, you can study with him up close, as he guides you in exploring the wondrous world of brush calligraphy.

In each of the eight workshop sessions, Kaz will guide you in making a close study of an ancient Chinese masterpiece. He will demonstrate the character himself and then comment on the work of several of his calligraphy friends to help you deepen your understanding. He ends each session with homework designed to help you cultivate your own calligraphy practice.

You don’t need to have any previous experience of calligraphy or know any East Asian language to take this course. It takes years of practice to be a good calligrapher, but in this workshop and through Kaz’s unique style of teaching, you will experience both a beginning and, at the same time, an advanced study of East Asian calligraphy.

Paperback

$24.95 - Paperback

In this translation collaboration between Kaz and Susan O'Leary, The Thousand Character Essay is China’s most widely used and beloved calligraphy textbook—sung to infants as a lullaby, used to teach reading and writing, employed as library index codes, and more. Composed by the literary giant Zhou Xingsi and handwritten by sixth-century Buddhist monk Zhiyong, this masterful work has endured for centuries as the standard guide for brush writing both in formal and cursive scripts. Delight in One Thousand Characters brings this sublime body of art-as-text to English-speaking readers, detailing the fascinating history, geographic range, and aesthetic nuance of the essay. Preserving the renowned beauty of Zhiyong’s only extant handwriting, the book includes a full one-hundred-strip edition of his calligraphy and offers corresponding commentary explaining the meaning of each character.

O'Leary describes it this:

The One Thousand Character Essay is both essay and visual art. For brush calligraphers who do not read Chinese, this text offers a rare opportunity (by looking at the bottom of the facing left-hand page for translation and then reading a column of characters on the right-hand page), to take in the visual aspects of a larger meaning, of several characters in a row. To compare, side by side and over and over, formal and cursive script. Then glance back again to the top of the left-hand page, for the specific
meaning of a particular character. For me, this was entering a calligraphic text as I never had before.

In recent years, some calligraphers have been taking cellphone photos of individual characters and then enlarging them on the phone screen to be able to study the detail of strokes and how the calligrapher formed them. It is mesmerizing to look so closely at Zhiyong’s art. This form of attention can seem to slow down time, and it feels like an opportunity for carefully observing that only museum conservators could have had until very recently. We encourage you to try this.

Kaz once said to me, “I believe in the power of writing. I believe in the power of art.” You hold in your hands the written art of space and time. Of black night sky and earth. Ochre earth.

white tea bowl
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A White Tea Bowl: 100 Haiku from 100 Years of Life

Kaz edited A White Tea Bowl, a selection of 100 haiku written by Mitsu Suzuki, the widow of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, which was published in celebration of her 100th birthday. The compelling introduction by Zen priest Norman Fischer describes the profound impact on her life and work of war in Japan and social upheaval in America.

Part I: 100 Haiku presents a kaleidoscope of poems by Mitsu Suzuki that touch all aspects of her being: her dedication to the Buddha way, the loneliness of a widow's life, her generational role as "Candy Auntie," her sensitive attunement to nature, and her moments of insight into the dharma. The more you read these haiku, the more their wisdom will emerge.

Part II: Pickles and Tea contains reminiscences and anecdotes about Mitsu Suzuki by those who lived and studied with her at the San Francisco Zen Center; often these meetings took place in Mitsu's kitchen where she provided countless cups of tea, cookies, and homemade pickles as well as sage advice.

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Zen in Japan: Up to the Meiji Restoration

Zen in Japan: Up to the Meiji Restoration

circle of the way

 

 

This is part of a series of articles on the arc of Zen thought, practice, and history, as presented in The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern WorldYou can start at the beginning of this series or simply explore from here. 

Twilight Landscape In the Style of Ikkyū Sōjun Japanese. From the Met.

Explore Zen Buddhism: A Reader's Guide to the Great Works 

Overview

Chan in China

Zen in Korea

Zen in Japan

> Zen in Japan up to the Meiji Restoration 

Additional Resources

The period after Dogen and the early period of Zen saw rich developments, including of course the Rinzai school and the Samurai which are covered in the sister guides to this article. Here are some of the works we publish from after the early period up to the 19th century Meiji Restoration when changes in power made for a more challenging environment for Zen practitioners and institutions throughout Japan.

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record is a fresh translation featuring newly translated commentary from Hakuin of the Rinzai sect of Zen and Tenkei Denson (1648–1735) of the Soto sect of Zen.

Ryokan

Chinese Poem Lamenting the Death of a Friend by Ryokan from the Met

Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him. His poetry and art were wildly popular even in his lifetime. He is now regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Edo Period, along with Basho, Buson, and Issa.

sky above

Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan

He was also a master artist-calligrapher with a very distinctive style, due mostly to his unique and irrepressible spirit, but also because he was so poor he didn’t usually have materials: his distinctive thin line was due to the fact that he often used twigs rather than the brushes he couldn’t afford. He was said to practice his brushwork with his fingers in the air when he didn’t have any paper. There are hilarious stories about how people tried to trick him into doing art for them, and about how he frustrated their attempts. As an old man, he fell in love with a young Zen nun who also became his student. His affection for her colors the mature poems of his late period. This collection contains more than 140 of Ryokan’s poems, with selections of his art, and of the very funny anecdotes about him.

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan

Deceptively simple, Ryokan's poems transcend artifice, presenting spontaneous expressions of pure Zen spirit. Like his contemporary Thoreau, Ryokan celebrates nature and the natural life, but his poems touch the whole range of human experience: joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, enlightenment and illusion, love and loneliness. This collection of translations reflects the full spectrum of Ryokan's spiritual and poetic vision, including Japanese haiku, longer folk songs, and Chinese-style verse. Fifteen ink paintings by Koshi no Sengai (1895–1958) complement these translations and beautifully depict the spirit of this famous poet.

One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan

The hermit-monk Ryokan, long beloved in Japan both for his poetry and for his character, belongs in the tradition of the great Zen eccentrics of China and Japan. His reclusive life and celebration of nature and the natural life also bring to mind his younger American contemporary, Thoreau. Ryokan's poetry is that of the mature Zen master, its deceptive simplicity revealing an art that surpasses artifice.

Ikkyu

Twilight Landscape

In the Style of Ikkyū Sōjun Japanese. From the Met.

Finally, there is the figure of Ikkyu (1394–1481).  While we do not have any stand-alone works on or by him, he appears in many, many works.  In The Circle of the Way, he gets a few pages that begins:

Of all Muromachi-period Zen monastics, with all of their talent and accomplishments, the monk most well known today was something of a black sheep. Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481) remains so popular in Japan that he has been portrayed in anime and the popular graphic art of manga.

Peter Matthiessen, In Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals, adds more color with his flowing prose, describing him as

A bastard son of the emperor, pauper, poet, twice-failed suicide, and Zen master, enlightened at last by the harsh call of a crow. At eighty-one Ikkyu became the iconoclastic abbot of Daitoku-ji. ('For fifty years I was a man wearing straw raincoat and umbrella-hat; I feel grief and shame now at this purple robe.')  His 'mad' behavior was perhaps his way of disrupting the corrupt and feeble Zen he saw around him: 'An insane man of mad temper raises a mad air,' he wrote.  He also said, 'Having no destination, I am never lost.' One infatuated scholar has called him 'the most remarkable monk in the history of Japanese Buddhism, the only Japanese comparable to the great Chinese Zen masters, for example, Joshu, Rinzai, and Unmon.' Ikkyu found no one he could approve as his Dharma successor. Before his death, civil disorders caused the near obliteration of Kyoto, forcing Rinzai Zen to follow Soto from the decadent capital city into the countryside.

After Ikkyu and Other Poems

After Ikkyu and Other Poems

by Jim Harrison

A collection of poems inspired by Ikkyu by the great novelist and essayist Jim Harrison who said of this work,

The sequence After Ikkyu- was occasioned when Jack Turner passed along to me The Record of Tungshan and the new Master Yunmen, edited by Urs App. It was a dark period, and I spent a great deal of time with the books. They rattled me loose from the oppressive, poleaxed state of distraction we count as worldly success. But then we are not fueled by piths and gists but by practice—which is Yunmen’s unshakable point, among a thousand other harrowing ones. I was born a baby, what are these hundred suits of clothes I’m wearing?

Naked in the Zendo

Naked in the Zendo: Stories of Uptight Zen, Wild-Ass Zen, and Enlightenment Wherever You Are

While not by Ikkyu, he makes an appearance  in this work over a few very entertaining and moving pages.

Zen in the Age of Anxiety

Zen in the Age of Anxiety: Wisdom for Navigating Our Modern Lives

Ikkyu makes an appearance for several pages of Tim Burkett's excellent work which includes translations, by John Stevens, of several of his poems

You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight

Dainin Katagiri Roshi shares this story about Ikkyu in this work:

A man who was soon going to die wanted to see Zen master Ikkyu. He asked Ikkyu, ‘‘Am I going to die?’’ Instead of giving the usual words of comfort, Ikkyu said, ‘‘Your end is near. I am going to die, too. Others are going to die.’’ Ikkyu was saying that we can all share this suffering. Persons who are about to
die can share their suffering with us, and we can share our suffering with those who are about to die.

Ikkyu’s statement comes from a deep understanding of human suffering. In facing your last moment, you can really share your life and your death.

minding mind

Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation

One of the meditation manuals in this work date from pre-Meiji Restoration Japan.

The second, An Elementary Talk on Zen, is attributed to Man-an, an old adept of a Soto school of Zen who is believed to have lived in the early seventeenth century. The Soto schools of Zen in that time traced their spiritual lineages back to Dogen and Ejo , but their doctrines and methods were not quite the same as the ancient masters’, reflecting later accretions from other schools.

Man-an’s work is very accessible and extremely interesting for the range of its content. In particular, it reflects a modern trend toward emphasis on meditation in action, which can be seen in China particularly from the eleventh century, in Korea from the twelfth century, and in Japan from the fourteenth century.

Pure Land: History, Tradition, and Practice

This recent work by Professor Charles B. Jones, a leading scholar on Pure Land Buddhism, goes into much detail of Pure  Land and its intertined relationship with Zen.  The sections on Japan include its introduction from China, Ryonin and the Yuzi Nenbutsu, Honen and Jodo Shu, Shinran and the Jodo Shinshu, and Ippen and the Jishu.

Continue to our next article in the series: A Readers Guide to the Heart Sutra >

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Hakuin Ekaku: A Reader's Guide

Hakuin Ekaku

circle of the way

 

 

This is part of a series of articles on the arc of Zen thought, practice, and history, as presented in The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern WorldYou can start at the beginning of this series or simply explore from here. 

The Circle of the Way devotes ten pages to Hakuin, who we know quite a bit about:

Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) lived most of his life in Hara, near present-day Numazu in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, an area graced by the iconic Mount Fuji. At the age of fourteen he was ordained in a small temple in Hara, Shoin-ji. After he realized enlightenment he served as abbot in Shoin-ji for the rest of his life. Yet Hakuin’s unassuming life had an enormous impact on the Rinzai Zen practiced today. Indeed, it’s often said that all modern Rinzai masters trace their lineage back through Hakuin. And we know quite a bit about Hakuin’s life, or at least Hakuin’s version of it, because he wrote extensively about it.

The following selection was adopted from an earlier article by legendary Shambhala editor and Zen specialist Dave O'Neal, who retired from Shambhala a few years ago and is much missed

 

Two and a half centuries after his death, the thing Hakuin (c.1685–1768) is most remembered for is his line "What is the sound of one hand? " which, for some unknown reason, became the most famous of all koans—those notoriously confounding questions Zen masters use to check their students' awakening. It pops up in the strangest places whenever Zen inscrutability needs to be demonstrated: it's been the title of a novel, of a movie—and even the answer to a question on Jeopardy.  It's hard to know what Hakuin would have thought of his inadvertent contribution to twenty-first-century popular culture, but if the record he left us in words and images is any indication, he had a fine and subtle sense of humor. He'd likely have gotten a kick out of the Simpsons episode in which Lisa poses the famous case to her aggressively indifferent brother Bart.

Cartoon sitcoms aside, Hakuin Ekaku is undeniably one of the most important of all Zen masters. He came into the Rinzai school of Zen and revitalized it during a period when its very survival was in question, focusing practice back on the basics of zazen and koan study. He was the quintessential Zen master of the people, who extended his teaching far beyond the monastery to include folks from all walks of life.  All modern Rinzai masters trace their lineage back through Hakuin. Among the more well-known of them to teach recently in the West have been Soen Nakagawa Roshi, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi,  and Maurine Stuart Roshi, one of the first female Zen masters in America.

Compared to a lot of figures from the eighteenth century, we actually know a good deal about the details of Hakuin's life-primarily through his own autobiographical writings, Goose Grass and Wild Ivy, and also through his student Torei Enji's Biography of Zen Priest Hakuin.

 

 Two Blind Men on a Bridge. Ink on paper, 28 x 83.8 cm. Manayan Collection.

Two Blind Men on a Bridge. Ink on paper, 28 x 83.8 cm. Manayan Collection.

 

Hakuin was born around 1686 in a small village near the base of Mount Fuji. At age fifteen he secured grudging permission from his parents to enter life at nearby  Shoin-ji temple, from which he was eventually sent to Daisho-ji (also near his home village), where he spent his novitiate and where he read the entire Lotus Sutra. He's said to have found the esteemed scripture deeply disappointing, as it "consisted of nothing more than simple tales about cause and effect." He didn't change his low opinion about it until the night of his enlightenment twenty-five years later.

Four years after his entry into the monastic life, his teacher allowed him to set off on pilgrimage to study with Zen masters all over Japan. This pilgrimage ended up lasting fourteen years, ending only when he was called back to become priest at Shoin-ji, which had fallen into near-ruin during the years he was away. It became his place of practice and teaching for the rest of his life. An example of the intensity with which Hakuin practiced comes from Torei's biography:

He endured great privation without ever deviating from his spare, simple way of life. He didn't adhere to any fixed schedule for sutra-chanting or other temple rituals. When darkness fell, he would climb inside a derelict old palanquin and seat himself on a cushion he placed on the floorboard. One of the young boys studying at the temple would come, wrap the master's body in a futon, and cinch him up tightly into this position with ropes. There he would remain motionless, like a painting of Bodhidharma, until the following day when the boy would come to untie him so that he could relieve his bowels and take some food. The same routine was repeated nightly.

On a spring night in 1726, when he was forty-one, after numerous other "small" enlightenment experiences, Hakuin attained final, decisive awakening while reading the passage in the Lotus Sutra (the same scripture he'd scorned as a youth) that declares a bodhisattva's mission as one of practicing beyond enlightenment until all beings are saved. That passage became the theme of the rest of his life. Up until that night, Hakuin's practice was directed toward his own awakening. But from that moment on, his life was completely devoted to leading others to liberation—something for which he seems to have had a talent. Students gathered around him in increasing numbers, and before long, monks, nuns, and laypeople from all over Japan began to make their way to this once-obscure temple to hear Hakuin expound on the dharma. The countryside around Shoin-ji sometimes came to resemble a big Zen camp meeting.

Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin

The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin

Hakuin left over fifty written works, most of them based on recorded talks, several of which have been translated into English by the great modern Hakuin scholar Norman Waddell, and several of which Shambhala has been honored to publish. The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin is a translation of the work whose Japanese title translates "Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the Records of Sokko," which is considered one of his most important works, most representative of his teaching in general. It's a great place to start with Hakuin, and it includes the wonderfully titled talk "Licking Up Hsi-keng's Fox Slobber."

In this work, Hakuin sets forth his vision of authentic Zen teaching and practice, condemning his contemporaries, whom he held responsible for the decline of Zen, and exhorting his students to dedicate themselves to “breaking through the Zen barrier.” Included are reproductions of several of Hakuin’s finest calligraphies and paintings.

Wild Ivy

Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin

There is no better place to start to explore Hakuin then with his own words and these can be found in Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin.

A fiery and intensely dynamic Zen teacher and artist, Hakuin (1685–1768) is credited with almost single-handedly revitalizing Japanese Zen after three hundred years of decline. As a teacher, he placed special emphasis on koan practice, inventing many new koans himself, including the famous “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” This English translation of Hakuin’s intimate self-portrait includes reminiscences from his childhood, accounts of his Zen practice and enlightenment experiences, as well as practical advice for students.

Beating the Cloth Drum

Beating the Cloth Drum: Letters of Zen Master Hakuin

The seriousness of Hakuin's efforts to save all beings, including lay-beings, is demonstrated in his correspondence, some of which has been collected and translated into English (again, by the indefatigable Norman Waddell) under the title Beating the Cloth Drum. It's full of his advice for practice and life to both monks and laypeople, and it includes an especially interesting  series of intimate letters between Hakuin and his dharma heir and biographer, Torei.  This book provides a rare, intimate look at Hakuin the man, through this personal correspondence. Beating the Cloth Drum contains twenty-eight of Hakuin's letters to students, political figures, fellow teachers, laypeople, and friends. Each letter is accompanied by extensive commentary and notes. They showcase Hakuin's formidable, thoughtful, and sometimes playful personality—and they show that the great master used every activity, including letter-writing, as an opportunity to impart the teachings that were so close to his heart.

Secrets of theBlue Cliff

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record is a fresh translation featuring newly translated commentary from  Hakuin and Tenkei Denson (1648–1735) of the Soto sect of Zen. This translation and commentary on The Blue Cliff Record sheds new light on the meaning of this central Zen text. It includes Hakuin's commentary on all 100 cases of that classic collection. Unfortunately, it contains only excerpts-as his complete commentary on Blue Cliff runs to over 900 pages!

Hakuin on KENSHO

Hakuin on Kensho: The Four Ways of Knowing

Kensho is the Zen experience of waking up to one’s own true nature—of understanding oneself to be not different from the Buddha-nature that pervades all existence. The Japanese Zen Master Hakuin (1689–1769) considered the experience to be essential. In his autobiography he says: “Anyone who would call himself a member of the Zen family must first achieve kensho-realization of the Buddha’s way. If a person who has not achieved kensho says he is a follower of Zen, he is an outrageous fraud. A swindler pure and simple.”

Hakuin’s short text on kensho, “Four Ways of Knowing of an Awakened Person,” is a little-known Zen classic. The “four ways” he describes include the way of knowing of the Great Perfect Mirror, the way of knowing equality, the way of knowing by differentiation, and the way of the perfection of action. Rather than simply being methods for “checking” for enlightenment in oneself, these ways ultimately exemplify Zen practice. Albert Low has provided careful, line-by-line commentary for the text that illuminates its profound wisdom and makes it an inspiration for deeper spiritual practice.

Kensho

Kensho: The Heart of Zen

Kensho is the transformative glimpse of the true nature of all things. It is an experience so crucial in Zen practice that it is sometimes compared to finding an inexhaustible treasure because it reveals the potential that exists in each moment for pure awareness free from the projections of the ego. Among the traditional Zen works are a number of important texts focusing on the profound subtleties of this essential Zen awakening and the methods used in its realization. The selections here include several works by Hakuin, whose teachings emphasize the techniques used in the cultivation and application of kensho and the importance of going beyond the experience itself to apply Zen insight to the full range of human endeavors.

This is also included in Volume III of Classics of Buddhism and Zen: The Collected Translations of Thomas Cleary.

Flowers Fall

Flowers Fall: A Commentary on Zen Master Dogen's Genjokoan

Dogen's Genjokoan is often considered to be the key text within Dogen's masterwork, Shōbō Genzō. The Genjokoan addresses in terse and poetic language many of the perennial concerns of Zen, focusing particularly on the relationship between practice and realization.

In The Circle of the Way, Barbara O'Brien discusses the Five Ranks and says,

Hakuin describes the second rank, the universal with the particular, as experiencing all phenomena—people, halls and pavilions, plants and trees, mountains and rivers—as one’s own “original, true, and pure aspect.” Viewing the phenomenal world is like looking in a mirror and seeing oneself, Hakuin said. All appearances are the precious mirror. Hakuin quotes Eihei Dogen’s “Genjokoan”—“To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.” “This is just what I have been saying,” Hakuin added.

Zen Words from the Heart

Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra

Hakuin's commentary on the Heart Sutra is a Zen classic that reflects his dynamic teaching style, with its balance of scathing wit and poetic illumination of the text. Hakuin's teaching style was what might be referred to today as "in your face. " This quality is nowhere more apparent than in his commentary on the Heart Sutra, which is based on talks he gave around age sixty, at the height of his influence. He inscribed   the book's original title page with these words: "written by Hakuin Ekaku, edited by hunger and cold, revised by cold and hunger." Hakuin pokes fun at Avalokitesvara, at Shariputra—and at his listeners—throughout.

Hakuin's sarcasm, irony, and invective are ultimately guided by a compassion that seeks to dislodge students' false assumptions and free them to realize the profound meaning of the Heart Sutra for themselves. The text is illustrated with Hakuin's own calligraphy and brush drawings.

The fact is that only a small portion of Hakuin's work has been translated into English at this point. We can only hope that a new generation of scholars will continue the work of bringing Hakuin's teaching into our language. In the meantime, we can exult in his art—for which no translation is necessary—and we can be grateful for the work of people like Norman Waddell, through whom we've come to know texts like Hakuin's delightful "Song of Zazen":

Hotei Watching Mice Sumo. Ink on paper, 37.2 x 52.4 cm. Ginshu collection.

Hotei Watching Mice Sumo. Ink on paper, 37.2 x 52.4 cm. Ginshu collection.

Boundless and free is the sky of Samadhi!

Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Truly, is anything missing now?

Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,

This very place is the Lotus Land,

This very body, the Buddha.

Norman Waddell, trans.  The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin.  p. xvii.

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The Great Koan Collections

The Great Koan Collections

circle of the way

 

 

This is part of a series of articles on the arc of Zen thought, practice, and history, as presented in The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern WorldYou can start at the beginning of this series or simply explore from here. 

Ox Gognan from the Met

It was during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) that the great gongan (Chinese) or koan collections were put to paper: The Blue Cliff Record (Bìyán Lù or Hekiganroku), The Gateless Barrier (Wúménguān or Mumonkan), The Book of Serenity (Cóngróng lù or Shōyōroku), and The Record of Empty Hall, though the latter is less known to westerners.

The Circle of the Way gives a brief history of koan practice:

Xuedou Chongxian (980–1052) was a master of the Yunmen house who liked to write commentaries. It was said that he had a strong Confucian education before he became a Buddhist monk, and he applied a Confucian appreciation of literary scholarship to his study of Buddhism. One day he asked his teacher, “The ancient masters did not produce a single thought—where is the problem?” The teacher hit Xuedou twice with his whisk, and Xuedou became enlightened.

Among the texts attributed to Xuedou is a collection of one hundred gongan to which Xuedou added his own verses as commentary. This was the Xuedou heshang baice songgu or “Xuedou’s verses on the old cases.” These were probably not the first collection of “old cases,” but these cases would become the basis of the first of the great koan collections, the Biyan lu, known in English as the Blue Cliff Record.

Circle of the Way

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In The Way of Ch'an, David Hinton contextualizes the emergence of koan as follows:

"The other great innovation in Sung Dynasty Ch’an is the sangha-case collection. As we have seen, the Ch’an written tradition is composed primarily of prose works by and about Ch’an masters, records of their lives and teachings. These records contain a great deal of conventional explanatory teaching, which is necessary to prepare students for Ch’an’s wordless insight. That direct insight is conveyed in the more literary dimension of those records: poetry, which was perfectly suited to the quick, deep insights of Ch’an; and storytelling typified by poetic distillation—enigmatic sayings and wild antics intended to upend reason and tease mind past the limitations of logical thought. These are performative, rather than explanatory—enacting insight rather than talking about it. As such, they operate with poetic wildness and immediacy, rather than the usual explanatory or utilitarian discourse. In this, they come as close as language can to Ch’an’s transmission outside of words and teaching.

Ch’an teachers began drawing especially revealing moments from the records of earlier teachers, moments that distill the essential insights of Ch’an, and assigning them as puzzles for students to ponder.2 These scraps of story came to be known as kung-an (公案, now widely known in its Japanese pronunciation koan), a term that had come into use prior to the Sung, no later than the eighth century."

He further explains that

"Eventually, in tenth-century Sung China, teachers began gathering these sangha-cases into collections used for training students. Three of these collections established themselves as the enduring classics, perennially employed over the centuries in China, then Japan, and on into Zen practice around the world today: Blue-Cliff Record, Carefree-Ease Record, No-Gate Gateway. Such sangha-case collections are now generally considered mere collections of stories that provide an occasion for teaching. But in fact they are carefully constructed literary/philosophical texts designed to create—in and of themselves and without further explanation—a direct and immediate experience in the reader: the experience of enlightenment."

Way od Chan

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Below are some of the works we publish that relate to this time period.

Blue Cliff Record

The Blue Cliff Record

We have two works specific to the Blue Cliff Record.  There is Cleary's classic translation of the collection itself.

The Blue Cliff Record is a translation of the Pi Yen Lu, a collection of one hundred famous Zen koans accompanied by commentaries and verses from the teachings of Chinese Zen masters. Compiled in the twelfth century, it is considered one of the great treasures of Zen literature and an essential study manual for students of Zen.

 

 

Secrets of theBlue Cliff

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record is a fresh translation featuring newly translated commentary from two of the greatest Zen masters of early modern Japan, Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) of the Rinzai sect of Zen and Tenkei Denson (1648–1735) of the Soto sect of Zen. This translation and commentary on The Blue Cliff Record sheds new light on the meaning of this central Zen text.

Gateless Barrier

The Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan

For more than seven centuries the Mumonkan has been used in Zen monasteries to train monks and to encourage the religious development of lay Buddhists. It contains forty-eight koans, or spiritual riddles, that must be explored during the course of Zen training. Shibayama Zenkei (1894–1974), an influential Japanese Zen teacher and calligrapher who traveled and lectured throughout the United States in the 60s and 70s, offers his own commentary alongside the classic text. The Gateless Barrier remains an essential text for all serious students of Buddhism.

 

Passing Through the Gateless Barrier

Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Koan Practice for Real Life

Gateways to awakening surround us at every moment of our lives. The whole purpose of koan (gongan, in Chinese) practice is to keep us from missing these myriad opportunities by leading us to certain gates that have traditionally been effective for people to access that marvelous awakening. The forty-eight kōans of the Gateless Barrier (Chinese: Wumenguan; Japanese: Mumonkan) have been waking people up for well over eight hundred years. Chan teacher Guo Gu provides here a fresh translation of the classic text, along with the first English commentary by a teacher of the Chinese tradition from which it originated. He shows that the kōans in this text are not mere stories from a distant past, but are rather pointers to the places in our lives where we get stuck—and that each sticking point, when examined, can become a gateless barrier through which we can enter into profound wisdom.

No Gate Gateway

No-Gate Gateway: The Original Wu-Men Kuan

A monk asked: “A dog too has Buddha-nature, no?” And with the master’s enigmatic one-word response begins the great No-Gate Gateway (Wu-Men Kuan), ancient China’s classic foray into the inexpressible nature of mind and reality. For nearly eight hundred years, this text (also known by its Japanese name, Mumonkan) has been the most widely used koan collection in Zen Buddhism—and with its comic storytelling and wild poetry, it is also a remarkably compelling literary masterwork. In his radical new translation, David Hinton places this classic for the first time in the philosophical framework of its native China, in doing so revealing a new way of understanding Zen—in which generic “Zen perplexity” is transformed into a more approachable and earthy mystery. With the poetic abilities he has honed in his many translations, Hinton brilliantly conveys the book’s literary power, making it an irresistible reading experience capable of surprising readers into a sudden awakening that is beyond logic and explanation.

Two Zen Classics

Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and the Blue Cliff Records

There is an excellent commentary on both The Blue Cliff Record and the Gateless Barrier by Katsuki Sekida (1893–1987), who began practicing in Japan but then taught in Hawaii and the UK.

Book of Serenity

Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues

The Book of Serenity is a translation of Shoyo Roku, a collection of one hundred Zen koans with commentaries that stands as a companion to the other great Chinese koan collection, the Blue Cliff Record (Pi Yen Lu). A classic of Chan (Chinese Zen) Buddhism, Book of Serenity has been skillfully rendered into English by the renowned translator Thomas Cleary.

Compiled in China in the twelfth century, the Book of Serenity is, in the words of Zen teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson, "an auspicious peak in the mountain range of Zen literature, a subtle flowing stream in the deep valleys of our teaching, a treasure house of inspiration and guidance in studying the ocean of Buddhist teachings." Each one of its one hundred chapters begins with an introduction, along with a main case, or koan, taken from Zen lore or Buddhist scripture. This is followed by commentary on the main case, verses inspired by it, and, finally, further commentary on all of these. The book contains a glossary of Zen/Chan terms and metaphors.

Recordof Empty Hall

The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans

The Record of Empty Hall was written by Xutang Zhiyu (1185–1269), an important figure in  Chan Linji (Rinzai in Japan) Buddhism and in its transmission to Japan. Although previously little-known in the West, Xutang's work is on par with the other great koan collections of the era, such as The Blue Cliff Record and Book of Serenity.

Translated by Zen teacher Dosho Port from the original Chinese, The Record of Empty Hall opens new paths into the earthiness, humor, mystery, and multiplicity of meaning that are at the heart of koan inquiry. Inspired by the pithy, frank tone of Xutang's originals, Port also offers his own commentaries on the koans, helping readers to see the modern and relatable applications of these thirteenth-century encounter stories. Readers familiar with koans will recognize key figures, such as Bodhidharma, Nanquan, and Zhaozhou and will also be introduced to teaching icons not found in other koan collections. Through his commentaries, as well as a glossary of major figures and an appendix detailing the cases, Port not only opens up these remarkable koans but also illuminates their place in ancient Chinese, Japanese, and contemporary Zen practice.

Although the Blue Cliff Record and the Book of Serenity, two of the important collections in the Harada-Yasutani curriculum, share more than one-third of the same cases, only five cases from The Record of Empty Hall are from Blue Cliff Record and only one occurs in the Book of Serenity. In addition, the Blue Cliff Record, Book of Serenity, and the Gateless Barrier share many kōan and they also share from the same set of teachers. The Record of Empty Hall stands out both for sharing  cases both from what are now the most well-known kōan texts, and also for a selection of unusual teachers from the lamp collections. To name a few: Shíshì, Zhāngjìng, Sānjuéyìn, and Yèxiàn.

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