Elegant Failure

A Guide to Zen Koans

By Richard Shrobe

$24.95
SKU
9781930485259
- Paperback
This product is currently out of stock but expected to become available again within two to three months. Please check Additional Formats below for other editions.
Shambhala Publications
05/25/2010
Pages: 256
Size: 6 x 9
ISBN: 9781930485259
Details

This book is also included in our Reader's Guide on Korean Zen where you will find other important Zen classics.


Zen koans are stories of exchanges between Zen masters and their disciples at the moment of enlightenment or near-enlightenment. These stories have long fascinated Western readers because of their wisdom, humor, and enigmatic quality. Drawing on over thirty years of practice and teaching, Richard Shrobe (himself a recognized Zen Master) has selected twenty-two cases from The Blue Cliff Record, Book of Serenity, and Wu-men-kuan that he has found to be deeply meaningful and helpful for meditation practice. In Elegant Failure, he provides a wealth of background information and personal anecdotes for each koan that help to illuminate its meaning without detracting from its paradoxical nature. As Shrobe reminds us, “The main core of Zen teaching is the bare bones of what is there. In a certain sense, embellishing a story takes away from the central teaching: Don’t embellish anything, just be with it as it is.”