A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts Free
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FREE LIVING BY VOW: A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO EIGHT ESSENTIAL ZEN CHANTS AND TEXTS PDF Shohaku Okumura | 350 pages | 06 Dec 2012 | Wisdom Publications,U.S. | 9781614290100 | English | Somerville, United States Living By Vow: A practical introduction to eight essential Zen chants and texts – Wild Goose Sangha Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U. Please sign in to write a review. If you have changed your email address then contact us and we will update your details. Would you like to proceed to the App store Living by Vow: a Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts download the Waterstones App? We have recently updated our Privacy Policy. The site uses cookies to offer you a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you accept our Cookie Policy, you can change your settings at any time. We can order this Usually dispatched within 1 week. Quantity Add to basket. This item has been added to your basket View basket Checkout. Added to basket. In My Own Way. 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Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Living by Vow by Shohaku Okumura. This immensely useful book explores Zen's rich tradition of chanted liturgy and the powerful ways that such chants support meditation, expressing and helping us truly uphold our heartfelt vows to live a life of freedom and compassion. Exploring eight of Zen's most essential and universal liturgical texts, Living by Vow is a handbook to walking the Zen path, and Shohaku Oku This immensely useful book explores Zen's rich tradition of chanted liturgy and the powerful ways that such chants support meditation, expressing and helping us truly uphold our heartfelt vows to live a life of freedom and compassion. Exploring eight of Zen's most essential and universal liturgical texts, Living by Vow is a handbook to walking the Zen path, and Shohaku Okumura guides us like an old friend, speaking clearly and directly of the personal meaning and implications of these chants, generously using his experiences to illustrate their practical significance. A scholar of Buddhist literature, he masterfully uncovers the subtle, intricate web of culture and Living by Vow: a Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts that permeate these great texts. Esoteric or challenging terms take on vivid, personal meaning, and old familiar phrases gain new poetic resonance. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published June 26th by Wisdom Publications first published June 12th More Details Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Living by Vowplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating Living by Vow: a Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts. More filters. Sort order. Mar 26, David Guy rated it really liked it. In this book Shohaku Okumura goes over much of the liturgy of a Soto Zen Center, interpreting it and explaining it. Okumura is probably the leading writer about Soto Zen in English, and this is another invaluable text. Aug 21, Frank Jude rated it really liked it Shelves: buddhismchan-zen- seon-thienmeditationphilosophy-spirituality. He is the Dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama. Based upon lectures he offered on some of the verses and sutras essential to Zen Buddhist practice, you can Living by Vow: a Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts more about Zen here than in half a dozen other books filled with the obfuscation s Shohaku Okumura has written a valuable Zen text, as his subtitle puts it: "A Practical Introduction To Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts. Based upon lectures he offered on some of the verses and sutras essential to Zen Buddhist practice, you can learn more about Zen here than in half a dozen other books filled with the obfuscation so prevalent in Zen literature. When we put our voice out into the world, we are expressing a particular relationship to it, underscoring how we intend to live our life. Vows are related to the idea of "vocation" which has its root in the Latin vocare meaning "to call. Vocation is practice not as some rehearsal, but as what we are. As I tell my students, one hopes the doctor who "practices" medicine is not practicing on you but is expressing their dedication. One of the more refreshing qualities about this book is the non-dogmatic and ultimately non-sectarian vision of Okumura. He offers the translations used in his particular lineage, but fleshes out his explanation by looking to other translations, showing the importance of a more expansive perspective. Also, Okumura's tone is casual and personal; he'll share from his own experience, sometimes saying how some text or another was confusing to him when he first was introduced to it, and how his understanding of some texts have changed over time. This is authentic of a living practice of intimacy. As a Zen Naturalist, I was especially surprised -- and pleasantly so -- by the many times Okumura would, almost humorously, pull the rug out from the mystical and hagiographic elements of Buddhism. There are many places similar to this "bringing down to Earth" including when themes of spirits arise in Buddhist teachings. This makes me sad. But I think that as symbols of nature -- symbols of forces that can become very fearsome or harmful -- these spirits can be a kind of blessing. Where I might part company with Okumura is when he assumes that the only way we can feel an intimacy with nature is through such spirits. As a Zen Naturalist, intimacy with nature comes from the scientific understanding that we are -- as star dust -- a way the cosmos becomes self-aware! That to me is the source of a religious awe free from all supernaturalism. More surprising for me -- and something that strengthened my trust in Okumura's teaching -- is when, in discussing "The Heart Sutra," he writes: Many people believe in transmigration from one lifetime to another. I don't believe in this, but I know we transmigrate within this life. Finally, given how Zen has often been presented as "beyond good and evil" and "amoral" no small thanks to D. It becomes a meaningless method to simply calm our minds and reduce our stress. If our life is harmful to others and we practice meditation to relax and gain more energy for self-centered activities, our practice has nothing to do with Buddhist teachings. Sep 24, Mariah rated it it was amazing. There is just so much to process on every page. I truly loved it. His descriptions of zazen, little tidbits he inserts about his practice over a lifetime, and his exploration of translations are phenomenal. The chapter on the Heart Sutra was definitely my favourite, but every chapter had something unique to offer. I plan on keeping this Living by Vow: a Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts in my library for a long time! Good for reflection, but definitely not a quick read. Although I will add that my partner has read this book three times! This is a good introduction to Soto Zen texts, but it may help if one has read about Zen in the past or practices zazen. Aug 18, M. Easton rated it it was amazing. He breaks down the translations from Chinese into Japanese and then into English, pointing to slightly different connotations and how the texts shift slightly across languages. Oct 13, Linus rated it it was amazing.