The Story of Zen

ISBN 9781896559513
464 pages, paperback, 6 x 9 inches

THE STORY OF ZEN is a complete overview of the ideas, history, evolution, and practice of Zen Buddhism, based on interviews with more than 100 Zen teachers and senior students in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Rick McDaniel, the author, is a long-time Zen practitioner and well-known expert in his field; this is his sixth book on the subject of Zen. The foreword is by Genjo Marinello Roshi, and the afterword is by Dosho Port Roshi.

Part One of the book situates Zen within the larger context of Buddhism, recounting Shakyamuni Buddha's life story, what he taught, how it evolved through time into the Mahayana, and how it continued to evolve upon its encounter with Daoism in China.

Part Two of the book explains the essence of Chan (in China), Zen (in Japan), how Westerners first encountered Zen, and how Zen expanded out of Asia as a result of that encounter.

Part Three of the book explores the Zen Boom of the 1960s, the challenges and scandals of the 1980s, and how modern American Zen has revisioned and grown from those difficulties. Of particular interest are contemporary voices of Zen teachers and senior students today, with an eye on the future of Zen practice, incorporating such modern social issues as feminism, racism, and environmental activism.

The book includes a bibliography and a glossary.

"Rick McDaniel has done something extraordinary by writing a book that traverses the evolution of Zen Buddhism from the historical Buddha to the present. Relating moving traditional and mythological stories and compelling personal accounts, and without sugarcoating pitfalls and shortcomings, he brings the whole scope of the tradition alive for the reader." -- Genjo Marinello Roshi [from the foreword]

Contents

5 Foreword

13 Preface

Part One

21 The Buddha

55 What He Taught

85 The Mahayana

105 Daoism

Part Two

131 Chan

167 Zen

199 Encounter

229 Out of Asia

Part Three

263 The Zen Boom

311 Things Fall Apart

343 Revisioning

377 Contemporary Voices

423 Epilogue at Springwater

439 Afterword

445 Acknowledgments

449 Bibliography

455 Glossary

463 About the Author