Zen: Simply Sitting: A Zen Monk's Commentary on the Fukanzazengi Universal Guide on the Correct Practice of Zazen

Zen: Simply Sitting: A Zen Monk's Commentary on the Fukanzazengi Universal Guide on the Correct Practice of Zazen by Coupey, Philippe. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781890772611.

Long-time Zen teacher Philippe Coupey offers readers a fresh, sometimes irreverent, perspective of an ancient classic - the Fukanzazengi, a short basic text on how to practice zazen, written by the Master Dogen in 1227. The Fukanzazengi is highly venerated within the Zen tradition, and is systematically recited in Zen temples. Dogens actual text is only three to four pages long, yet it has been a source of inspiration and guidance for both beginners and advanced students for centuries. Whats new in Zen, Simply Sitting is that Dogens text has been put into everyday English, and given a contemporary context by Philippe Coupey. Only a few other formal commentaries on this text are available today. Some are highly scholarly, and therefore too heavy for the average reader. Others lack the guts and immediacy of Coupeys approach to this timeless teaching. The commentaries contained here are based on the work of Coupeys own distinguished master Taisen Deshimaru.