Chan Master Sheng Yen

Chan Master Sheng Yen

Chan Master Sheng Yen (1930–2009) was a widely respected Taiwanese Chan (Chinese Zen) master who taught extensively in the West during the last thirty-one years of his life, with twenty-one centers throughout North America, as well as dozens of others throughout the world. He co-led retreats with the Dalai Lama, and he is the author of numerous books in Chinese and English, including Song of Mind, The Method of No-Method, and his autobiography, Footprints in the Snow.

Chan Master Sheng Yen

Chan Master Sheng Yen (1930–2009) was a widely respected Taiwanese Chan (Chinese Zen) master who taught extensively in the West during the last thirty-one years of his life, with twenty-one centers throughout North America, as well as dozens of others throughout the world. He co-led retreats with the Dalai Lama, and he is the author of numerous books in Chinese and English, including Song of Mind, The Method of No-Method, and his autobiography, Footprints in the Snow.

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GUIDES

The Legacy of Master Sheng Yen

Chan Master Sheng Yen (1930–2009) was a widely respected Taiwanese Chan (Chinese Zen) master who taught extensively in the West during the last thirty-one years of his life. He had numerous teaching centers throughout North America, as well throughout the world. He co-led retreats with the Dalai Lama, and he is the author of numerous books in Chinese and English, including Song of Mind, The Method of No-Method, and his autobiography, Footprints in the Snow.

This reader’s guide offers a brief glimpse into his life, followed by a look at his publications available through Shambhala.

A Vow to Share the Buddha’s Teachings

Master Sheng Yen was born into a farming family that did not own the land they cultivated. The family was humble in origin and though poor, survived by growing crops near the banks of the Yangtze River with its unpredictable moods, which included frequent flooding. As with other Chinese families of that milieu, their beliefs were an amalgam of folk religion, ritual Daoism, Confucian ethics, and a smattering of Buddhism. At age thirteen, through a series of more or less unintended encounters, Master Sheng Yen left home and entered a Chan monastery near Shanghai, where he spent most of his time learning the ritual aspects of monastery life. Much of the livelihood of the monks was performing funeral rites for lay practitioners in return for offerings to the temple. During intervals when he did have exposure to the teachings of the Buddha, his young mind was so impressed that even then, though he had yet little idea how, he vowed to some day share his love of the Buddha’s teachings with sentient beings.

At age eighteen, his Buddhist training and studies were interrupted when he was conscripted into the Nationalist Army during the Communist revolution. Soon after, the Kuomintang withdrew to Taiwan along with the remains of the army, and the young soldier-monk ended up spending ten years of his precious youth as an officer in the Communication Corps. During his years as a soldier, Sheng Yen persevered in his practice, but he also spent as much time as he could reading whatever serious literature he could find, Buddhist and otherwise, and began to write essays.

In his Journey of Learning and Insight, he says: “My greatest gain in the army was to develop my writing skills. . . . Reading and writing helped me dissolve the anguish of reality and open up to inner brightness.”

Becoming a Scholar

For the sake of brevity, we will skip over many details of Master Sheng Yen’s growth as an author of Buddhist literature, but three critical episodes in his life should be mentioned. First, after returning to a monk’s life, he was abruptly told by his teacher, Master Dong Chu that he, Sheng Yen, was to be the new editor of Humanity Magazine, a journal of Chinese Buddhism. This was a task for which he had no prior experience, yet he thrived for two years and transformed the magazine’s mission. Second, beginning in 1961 he spent six years in solitary retreat in a mountainous area in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

There he dedicated himself to the study of the Buddhist sila (moral discipline) and vinaya (precepts). As part of his study he compiled a plethora of notes, at first not realizing that it would lead to his authoring a future classic, The Essentials of Buddhist Sila and Vinaya, which he completed before ending his retreat. Third, after emerging from retreat, his own sense of need to expand his scholastic horizons led him to enroll in 1969 at Rissho University in Tokyo, where he completed his doctorate in Buddhist literature in 1975. His doctoral thesis was on Chan Master Ouyi of the Ming Dynasty, but above and beyond earning his doctorate, he had proven himself capable of researching and authoring deeply complex Buddhist texts at the highest level of scholarship.

Everywhere and Nowhere Are Home

After earning his degree and returning to Taiwan, Master Sheng Yen was unsure of his prospects for the future. But due to karmic affinity and good fortune, in 1975 he was invited to come to America by Mr. C. T. Shen, to the Temple of Great Enlightenment in Bronx, New York. There he started a Chan meditation class that was composed of a mix of Westerners and ethnic Chinese. From that time on, Master Sheng Yen began a journey of nearly thirty-two years, during which he jetted back and forth between America and Taiwan, while creating two thriving environments for Chan practice, and authoring a stunning array of scholarly and more accessible books. In a chapter in Chan Speaks, expounding on the saying by Master Linji (d. 866), “On the way, yet never having left home,” Master Sheng Yen said of himself: “I also experienced the type of life and attitude of monastics—having left home and now without a home, so that both everywhere and nowhere are home. . . . From birth to death we are on a journey and there is never a real home.”

In 2006, having endured chronic illness for several years, Master Sheng Yen left America forever, returning to Taiwan where he spent the remainder of his mortal life. There, he continued to direct the growth of the huge complex of practice and educational centers at Dharma Drum Mountain, while occasionally conducting retreats. He also engaged in one of his favorite post-retirement activities, producing an astounding series of Chan Buddhist calligraphy.  In 2009, shortly before passing away, Master Sheng Yen bequeathed his final and most touching literary work, his gatha of departing from the mortal realm:

 

Busy with nothing, growing old.
Within emptiness, weeping, laughing.
Intrinsically, there is no “I,”
Life and death, thus cast aside.

Master Sheng Yen’s Legacy

To speak of Master Sheng Yen’s legacy is a worthy endeavor, and it would be difficult to offer a full assessment here. For now we can enumerate some of his more tangible achievements: A body of 120-plus books and a large number of smaller monographs and essays; the founding of Dharma Drum Mountain, a large and thriving monastery and educational complex in Taiwan; the founding of the Chan Meditation Center in New York City, the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York State, and over fifty affiliated Chan practice centers in the USA, South America, Europe, and the Pacific Islands. He also tirelessly defined and promoted his programs for achieving “a pure land on Earth,” which he collectively referred to as Protecting the Spiritual and Natural Environment. He also founded the Dharma Drum lineage and transmitted to seventeen Dharma heirs, including eight monks and four nuns, and five Western lay disciples.

As to his spiritual legacy, what he bequeathed to us in terms of Buddhadharma and Chan realization is intimately personal to each individual, while being part of a collective spirituality that we all share, and endeavor to share, with others. To that extent, his legacy can be said to be extensive while still being a work in progress. When we contemplate this, it probably is precisely as he would see it, since Buddhist spiritual practice when properly understood, is forever a work in progress. It would seem then, that this is the way Master Sheng Yen would want it to be, because long before he became a famous Chan master, he said: “The universe may one day perish, yet my vows are eternal.”

Books by Master Sheng Yen

Calligraphy
Calligraphy

Calligraphy by Master Sheng Yen:

"Through the tangles of vines and tendrils,

and the knots of cords and ropes . . . . .

the thread is not clear."

—from The Poetry of Enlightenment

Master Shen Yeng

Chan Practice

Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism

This is an inspiring guide to the practice of Chan in the words of four great masters of the tradition. It includes teachings from contemporary masters Xuyun and Sheng Yen, and from Jiexian and Boshan of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

Books on Chan Practice by Master Sheng Yen

Attaining the Way

$24.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

Dharma Drum: The Life and Heart of Chan Practice

Here is a guide to the practice of Chan Buddhism. Part One presents Master Sheng Yen’s lively, anecdotal account of the history and main principles of the Chan tradition, along with his careful instructions for meditation. Part Two consists of 180 aphorisms and sayings that serve as inspirations to spiritual practice.

Dharma Drum

$29.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination

Here is a spiritual practice uncomplicated enough for anyone to learn, yet rich enough to be worked with for a lifetime. The traditional Chan practice called Silent Illumination begins with nothing more than putting aside all thoughts except the awareness of oneself “just sitting.” It’s so simple in execution that it has sometimes been called the “method of no-method.”

The Method of No-Method

$18.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

Shattering the Great Doubt: The Chan Practice of Huatou

Huatou—similar to the better-known Zen discipline of koan practice—is a traditional method for breaking through the trap of our habitual thinking into the spacious mind of enlightenment. In this book, Chan Master Sheng Yen brings the huatou practice to life.

Shattering the Great Doubt

$24.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

Commentaries

Complete Enlightenment: Zen Comments on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment

This book is the first authoritative translation and commentary on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, a central text that shaped the development of East Asian Buddhism and Chan. This new translation with commentary preserves all the liveliness and nuance of the text in the original Chinese.

Commentaries by Master Sheng Yen

Complete Enlightenment

$27.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

Faith in Mind: A Commentary on Seng Ts’an’s Classic

“Faith in Mind”—a sixth-century poem by the third Chan patriarch, Seng Ts’an—is one of the most beloved and commented upon Zen texts. Master Sheng Yen’s commentary reveals the text to be a useful and practical guide to meditation practice.

Faith in Mind

$21.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

The Infinite Mirror: Commentaries on Two Chan Classics

In this book, Master Sheng Yen illuminates the ancient texts of the Chinese Zen tradition by showing their practicality for modern students. The texts, written by two of the founders of the Ts’ao-tung sect of Chan Buddhism, are poems entitled Inquiry into Matching Halves and Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi. Both emphasize the Chan view that wisdom is not separate from vexation, and both speak of the levels of awareness through which one must pass on the way to realization.

The Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Chan Masters

For the masters of the Chan tradition, poetry was a form of creative expression, but even more than that, it was a primary vehicle for teaching. Here Sheng Yen presents ten teaching poems from the ancient masters, with illuminating commentary. (See our reader's guide to Buddhist Poetry here.)

The Poetry of Enlightenment

$18.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xin Ming

This book takes the form of a week-long retreat with Master Sheng Yen, with each chapter in the form of an evening talk given on a particular section of the classic “Song of Mind” text.

Song of Mind

$19.95 - Paperback

By: Chan Master Sheng Yen

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Buddhist Poetry - A Reader Guide

Recent Releases

Until NIrvana Time

$21.95 - Paperback

Until Nirvana's Time: Buddhist Songs from Cambodia

By Trent Walker

Until Nirvana’s Time presents forty-five Dharma songs, whose soaring melodies have inspired Cambodian Buddhist communities for generations. Whether recited in daily prayers or all-night rituals, these poems speak to our deepest concerns—how to die, how to grieve, and how to repay the ones we love.

Introduced, translated, and contextualized by scholar and vocalist Trent Walker, this is the first collection of traditional Cambodian Buddhist literature available in English. Many of the poems have been transcribed from old cassette tapes or fragile bark-paper manuscripts that have never before been printed. A link to recordings of selected songs in English and Khmer accompanies the book.

Click here to listen to songs from the book, performed by Trent Walker.

Chan and Zen Poetry

The Poetry of Zen, edited by Sam Hamill & J.P. Seaton

Here, poet-translators Sam Hamill and J.P. Seaton offer up a rich sampling of poems from the Chinese and Japanese Zen traditions, spanning centuries of poets, from Lao Tzu to Kobayashi Issa. While a few of the poets included were not Zen practitioners, their poems nonetheless illustrate a strong Zen influence. Hamill and Seaton open the anthology with an overview of the Zen poetic tradition, and provide historical, philosophical, and biographical context to the works throughout, showing readers how poetry “is one of the many paths to enlightenment” (7). With a compact trim size, this collection makes a wonderful travel companion.

The Poetry of Zen Edited by Sam Hamill and J. P. Seaton

$18.95 - Paperback

Poetry from Chinese Chan Masters

By Indara (因陀羅) (Yintuoluo) (Emuseum) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Chan Masters, by Chan Master Sheng Yen

Look inside the minds of enlightened masters with this collection of Ch’an teaching poems. Chan Master Sheng Yen offers commentary on ten poems by ancient Chinese Ch’an masters, selected both for their simplicity of language and depth of meaning. Written by Ch’an practitioners post-enlightenment, these poems touch on the experience of Ch’an, how to practice, cultivating the right attitude, and obstacles to avoid, as well as offering a glimpse into the state of mind of enlightenment.

$18.95 - Paperback

The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan, translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi & Peter Levitt

Capturing readers with its insightful, light, humorous, and often rebellious spirit, Hanshan’s Cold Mountain poems have long been enjoyed by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. This new translation of these centuries-old writings by Kaz Tanahashi and Peter Levitt presents readers not only the full body of poems in its entirety, but also provides a wealth of insight into the poets behind the poems, full Chinese text of the poems, historical context, and the Buddhist elements present throughout the collection. The translators’ deep appreciation for Hanshan shines through the collection. Translator Peter Levitt notes in the introduction, “Because of the compassionate discernment, profound tranquility, unexpected insight, and the occasional outrageous humor of his poetry, Kaz Tanahashi and I have gratefully considered Hanshan one of life’s treasured companions for fifty years. As a result of the kinship we feel with him, we gathered together, translated, and now offer readers the most complete version of the poet’s work to date in the English language” (2).

The Complete Cold Mountain

$22.95 - Paperback

Poetry from Japanese Zen Masters

The Poetry of Ryokan

Widely admired both for his character and poetry, Ryokan remains one of the key poets of the Zen tradition. Though written in eighteenth century Japan, Ryokan’s poems seem to transcend time and space, with reflections on the human experience that are as relevant to today’s readers as they were centuries ago.

Ryokan

“Who says my poems are poems?
My poems are not poems.
When you know that my poems are not poems,
Then we can speak of poetry!”

 

*Image by Ryōkan (English: Replica before 1970) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

$18.95 - Paperback

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan, translated & edited by John Stevens

Providing brief biographical context, John Stevens introduces us to the world and work of Ryokan. The collection demonstrates the spirit of Ryokan’s Zen outlook, with poems covering the full spectrum of the human experience and focusing on “things deep inside the heart.” Throughout the text are ink paintings by Koshi no Sengai, a devotee of Ryokan, many of which include calligraphy of Ryokan’s verses.

$19.95 - Paperback

One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan, translated & introduced by John Stevens

In comparison to Dewdrops, this collection offers a more detailed introduction to the life of Ryokan and his relationship to Zen Buddhism. Ryokan was not married to one poetic style, and thus this collection is broken up into classical Chinese style poems, and Japanese waka and haiku, organized by season.

$18.95 - Paperback

Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan, translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi

For readers who want to take a really deep dive into Ryokan, this is the collection to read. Not only does Tanahashi present Ryokan’s poetry (organized chronologically), but he also offers selections of Ryokan’s calligraphy, maps of relevant sites for readers’ reference, a detailed biographical introduction, notes on individual poems, an analysis of Ryokan’s poetic forms, and a collection of anecdotes about the beloved Zen poet.

The Poetry of Saigō

Saigyō, the Buddhist name of Fujiwara no Norikiyo (1118–1190), is one of Japan’s most famous and beloved poets. He was a recluse monk who spent much of his life wandering and seeking after the Buddhist way. Combining his love of poetry with his spiritual evolution, he produced beautiful, lyrical lines infused with a Buddhist perception of the world.

This world—

strug jewels

of dew

on the frail thread

a spider spins.

Gazing at the Moon: Buddhist Poems of Solitude, translated by Meredith McKinney, presents over one hundred of Saigyō’s tanka—traditional 31-syllable poems—newly rendered into English by renowned translator Meredith McKinney. This selection of poems conveys Saigyō’s story of Buddhist awakening, reclusion, seeking, enlightenment, and death, embodying the Japanese aesthetic ideal of mono no aware—to be moved by sorrow in witnessing the ephemeral world.

$16.95 - Paperback

Check out the interview with Meredith McKinney on the Books on Asia Podcast!

Indian Buddhist Poetry

Songs of the Sons and Daughters of Buddha: Enlightenment Poems from the Theragatha and Therigatha, translated by Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman

More than two thousand years ago, the earliest disciples of the Buddha put into verse their experiences on the spiritual journey—from their daily struggles to their spiritual realizations. Over time the verses were collected to form the Theragatha and Therigatha, the “Verses of Elder Monks” and “Verses of Elder Nuns” respectively. Renowned poets Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman have translated the most poignant poems in these collections, bringing forth their visceral, immediate qualities.

$16.95 - Paperback

Tibetan Buddhist Poetry

Gendun Chopel: Tibet’s Modern Visionary, by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

The debut title in Shambhala’s Lives of the Masters series, Gendun Chopel offers an in-depth look at the life and writings of the Tibetan Buddhist visionary, by scholar Donald Lopez. While much of this book is a biographical exploration of Gendun Chopel, Lopez also provides a wealth of Gendun Chopel’s writings, believing that “one learns a great deal about an author by actually reading what they wrote” (x). More than a Buddhist visionary, Gendun Chopel is considered one of Tibet’s greatest poets of the twentieth century, and thus included among these writings is a significant selection of poetry. As a student and writer of poetry throughout his life, he mastered many poetic forms, and often composed poems spontaneously.

The relatives and servants we meet are but guests on market day.
The rise of power, wealth, and arrogance are pleasures in a dream.
Happiness alternates with sorrow, summer changes to winter.
Thinking of this, a song spontaneously came to me.

Gendun Chopel

$22.95 - Paperback

$39.95 - Paperback

The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee

Translated under the direction of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, this collection offers more than one hundred vajra dohas of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, by more than thirty lineage holders, including Tilopa, Milarepa, and the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. Contained in these songs are teachings on karma, bodhicitta, devotion, and the Buddhist path. Trungpa Rinpoche writes in his Foreword, “these songs should be regarded as the best of the butter which has been churned from the ocean of milk of the Buddha’s teachings” (xiii).

$39.95 - Paperback

Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre

Renowned scholar Roger Jackson takes on the subject in the chapter ‘Poetry in Tibet: Glu, mGur, sNyan ngag and “Songs of Experience”.  He explores Tibetan poetry from its earliest forms to the present including Trungpa Rinpoche and Allen Ginsberg.

The rise of power, wealth, and arrogance are pleasures in a dream.
Happiness alternates with sorrow, summer changes to winter.
Thinking of this, a song spontaneously came to me.

The Treasury of Knowledge

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye’s ten volume Treasury of Knowledge includes the volume Indo-Tibetan Classical Learning & Buddhist Phenomenology (Book Six, Parts One & Two). Chapter eight catalogues the elements and components of Tibetan poetry including the types of composition (metrical, prose, and a mix of the two) as well as poetic ornaments.

$49.95 - Hardcover

Songs of Spiritual Experience: Tibetan Buddhist Poems of Insight and Awakening, selected & translated by Thupten Jinpa & Jas Elsner

Published in English for the first time, this collection of fifty-two poems by realized masters, from classic to contemporary, represents the full range of Tibetan Buddhist lineage traditions. Organized thematically, these songs address impermanence, guru devotion, emptiness, and other key themes of Tibetan Buddhism. Also included are a detailed glossary and exploration of the Tibetan tradition of nyamgur (“experiential songs”), offering a comprehensive look at poetry’s role within Tibetan Buddhism. A foreword for the collection is provided by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The introduction forms one of the best introductions to Tibetan poetry available.  Here is a taste:

"Many of the greatest Tibetan poems demand of the reader an attentiveness to a complex line of thought and philosophical reasoning, albeit in the heightened forms of verse combined with the inspiration of imagery. For the poet, the ideal reader is one whose reading of the poem becomes itself an act of meditation, penetrating the depths of human experience with an insight tempered by sensitivity.

$22.95 - Paperback

Listen to Thubten Jinpa discuss the Songs of Spiritual Experience

Other Media on Tibetan Buddhist Poetry

Watch this episode from the Tsadra Foundation’s Translation and Transmission conference in 2017 with leading scholars of Tibetan poetry.

kavya poetry

Poems of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

trungpa cal

While Trungpa Rinpoche was a Tibetan, his poetry is unique and has therefore been included in the contemporary Buddhist poetry section.

When Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche arrived in the United States, he asked, “Where are your poets? Take me to your poets!” Not only was Trungpa Rinpoche a spiritual teacher, but he was also an avid poet and dharma artist. Below, we describe the differences between our multiple collections of his work:

$19.95 - Paperback

Timely Rain: Selected Poetry of Chogyam Trungpa

Timely Rain is a collection of new and previously published poems, edited and curated by David I. Rome. While First Thought Best Thought presents poems in roughly chronological order, this collection is organized thematically, with each thematic section in chronological order. This allows readers to more easily navigate the poems, while also witnessing the evolution of Trungpa’s expressiveness and state of mind. Editor David Rome reflects in his Afterword that “poetry is also a refuge for Trungpa, perhaps the only place where he is able to step out of all the roles and self-inventions and speak truthfully from—and to—his own heart” (193). Themes contained herein include loneliness, samsara and nirvana, love, and sacred songs.

Mudra Chogyam Trungpa

$16.95 - Paperback

Mudra: Early Poems and Songs

Mudra is a selection of spontaneous, celebratory poems of devotion written by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche between 1959 and 1971. Trungpa opens his collection with two translations of Jigme Lingpa and Patrul Rinpoche, explaining that “they are the vajra statement which frees the people of the dark ages from the three lords of materialism and their warfare.” Also included are ten traditional Zen oxherding pictures along with Trungpa’s unique commentary.

$24.95 - Paperback

First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems

Dictated (Trungpa composed poems verbally to a scribe) around the time of his arrival in the United States, this collection of poems, with an introduction by Allen Ginsberg, encapsulates Trungpa’s creative energy. His vision of joining East and West shines through each poem, combining classical Tibetan poetic influences with a modern American poetic style. As the collection progresses chronologically, readers witness Trungpa’s increasing familiarity and comfort with American culture. The collection’s title pays homage to William Blake’s “First thought is best in Art, second in other matters,” while also invoking the notion of beginner’s mind. As Ginsberg writes in his introduction, here is an “amazing chance to see his thought process step by step, link by link, cutting through solidifications of opinions & fixations” (xv).

Buddhist Songs and Poetry from Southeast Asia

Until NIrvana Time

$21.95 - Paperback

Until Nirvana's Time: Buddhist Songs from Cambodia

By Trent Walker

Until Nirvana’s Time presents forty-five Dharma songs, whose soaring melodies have inspired Cambodian Buddhist communities for generations. Whether recited in daily prayers or all-night rituals, these poems speak to our deepest concerns—how to die, how to grieve, and how to repay the ones we love.

Introduced, translated, and contextualized by scholar and vocalist Trent Walker, this is the first collection of traditional Cambodian Buddhist literature available in English. Many of the poems have been transcribed from old cassette tapes or fragile bark-paper manuscripts that have never before been printed. A link to recordings of selected songs in English and Khmer accompanies the book.

Click here to listen to more songs from the book, performed by Trent Walker.

Contemporary Buddhist Poetry

The First Free Women: Original Poems Inspired by the Early Buddhist Nuns, by Matty Weingast

Composed around the Buddha’s lifetime, the original Therigatha (“Verses of the Elder Nuns”) contains the poems of the first Buddhist women: princesses and courtesans, tired wives of arranged marriages and the desperately in love, those born into limitless wealth and those born with nothing at all. The authors of the Therigatha were women from every kind of background, but they all shared a deep-seated desire for awakening and liberation.

In The First Free Women, Matty Weingast has reimagined this ancient collection and created an original work that takes his experience of the essence of each poem and brings forth in his own words the struggles and doubts, as well as the strength, perseverance, and profound compassion, embodied by these courageous women.

$18.95 - Paperback

Beneath a Single Moon: Buddhism in Contemporary American Poetry, edited by Kent Johnson & Craig Paulenich

For readers who prefer a more modern aesthetic, Beneath a Single Moon is a delightful read. This anthology features more than 250 poems by forty-five contemporary American poets, supplemented with essays exploring spiritual poetic practice. Among those included in this collection are John Cage, Diane di Prima, Norman Fischer, Allen Ginsberg, Susan Griffin, Anne Waldman, Philip Whalen, and Gary Snyder, who also provides the book’s introduction. Offering a refreshing look at spiritual poetry, the editors explain that “the variousness of the work [stands] very much at odds with the fairly common notion of American ‘Zen’ poetry as a literary remnant of the sixties, with derivative, and generally identifiable ‘Eastern’ criteria. It [is] even more intimately at odds, perhaps, with the well-diffused perception—at least in the West—of Buddhism as collectivizing and inimical to individual spirit” (xv-xvi).

$29.95 - Paperback

After Ikkyu & Other Poems, by Jim Harrison

Those who find spiritual poetry can become too rigid or serious will find this to be a refreshing departure from the norm. These raw and often pithy poems by novelist Jim Harrison draw inspiration from his many years of Zen practice, and in perfect Zen spirit, they reveal a poet and practitioner who does not take himself too seriously. In his introduction Harrison explains, “It doesn’t really matter if these poems are thought of as slightly soiled dharma gates or just plain poems. They’ll live or die by their own specific density, flowers for the void” (ix).

After Ikkyu and Other Poems

$12.95 - Paperback

Listen to a sample from Jim Harrison's original reading of After Ikkyu. Audiobook available on Audible and Apple.

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