Zen Sand : : The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice / / Victor Sogen Hori; ed. by Victor Sogen Hori.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter UHP eBook Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Hori, Victor Sogen,
• HerausgeberIn: Hori, Victor Sogen,
• TeilnehmendeR: Hori, Victor Sogen.
• MitwirkendeR: Hori, Victor Sōgen,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2003]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2003
• Language: English
• Series: Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture ; 24
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (784 p.)

Zen Sand is a classic collection of verses aimed at aiding practitioners of kôan meditation to negotiate the difficult relationship between insight and language. As such it represents a major contribution to both Western Zen practice and English-language Zen scholarship.In Japan the traditional Rinzai Zen kôan curriculum includes the use of jakugo, or "capping phrases." Once a monk has successfully replied to a kôan, the Zen master orders the search for a classical verse to express the monk's insight into the kôan. Special collections of these jakugo were compiled as handbooks to aid in that search. Until now, Zen students in the West, lacking this important resource, have been severely limited in carrying out this practice. Zen Sand combines and translates two standard jakugo handbooks and opens the way for incorporating this important tradition fully into Western Zen practice. For the scholar, Zen Sand provides a detailed description of the jakugo practice and its place in the overall kôan curriculum, as well as a brief history of the Zen phrase book. This volume also contributes to the understanding of East Asian culture in a broader sense.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction: Capping-Phrase Practice in Japanese Rinzai Zen -- Phrases -- Four-Character Phrases -- Five-Character Phrases -- Six-Character Phrases -- Seven-Character Phrases -- Eight-Character Phrases -- Nine-Character Phrases -- Ten-Character Phrases -- Eleven-Character Phrases -- Twelve-Character Verses -- Thirteen-Character Phrases -- Fourteen-Character Verses -- Fifteen-Character Phrases -- Sixteen-Character Phrases -- Seventeen-Character Phrases -- Eighteen-Character Phrases -- Nineteen-Character Phrases -- Twenty-Character Phrases -- Twenty-One-and-More Character Phrases -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index