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Unborn, Revised and Expanded: The Life and…
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Unborn, Revised and Expanded: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693 (edition 2000)

by Bankei, Norman Waddell (Introduction), Norman Waddell (Translator)

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In 1633, at age eleven, Bankei Yotaku was banished from his family's home because of his consuming engagement with the Confucian texts that all schoolboys were required to copy and recite. Using a hut in the nearby hills, he wrote the word Shugyo-an, or "practice hermitage," on a plank of wood, propped it up beside the entrance, and settled down to devote himself to his own clarification of "bright virtue." He finally turned to Zen and, after fourteen years of incredible hardship, achieved a decisive enlightenment, whereupon the Rinzai priest traveled unceasingly to the temples and monasteries of Japan, sharing what he'd learned. "What I teach in these talks of mine is the Unborn Buddha-mind of illuminative wisdom, nothing else. Everyone is endowed with this Buddha-mind, only they don't know it." Casting aside the traditional aristocratic style of his contemporaries, he offered his teachings in the common language of the people. His style recalls the genius and simplicity of the great Chinese Zen masters of the T'ang dynasty. This revised and expanded edition contains many talks and dialogues not included in the original 1984 volume.… (more)
Member:thaimatt
Title:Unborn, Revised and Expanded: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693
Authors:Bankei
Other authors:Norman Waddell (Introduction), Norman Waddell (Translator)
Info:North Point Press (2000), Edition: Revised Edition, Paperback, 156 pages
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The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693 by Bankei

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Wise and amusing. While insisting that he has only one message, which he will repeat unrelentingly and without digression, he actually roams widely over many subjects with dozens of marvellous stories and observations. His message? Not a single person is unenlightened., As you read these words right now, you are reading them as Buddha. The proof? While you are looking at this computer screen, "if a sparrow chirps behind you, you don't mistake it for a crow; you don't mistake the sound of a bell for that of a drum." This is proof that the Buddha-mind is unborn and wonderfully illuminating. QED. ( )
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Waddell, NormanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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In 1633, at age eleven, Bankei Yotaku was banished from his family's home because of his consuming engagement with the Confucian texts that all schoolboys were required to copy and recite. Using a hut in the nearby hills, he wrote the word Shugyo-an, or "practice hermitage," on a plank of wood, propped it up beside the entrance, and settled down to devote himself to his own clarification of "bright virtue." He finally turned to Zen and, after fourteen years of incredible hardship, achieved a decisive enlightenment, whereupon the Rinzai priest traveled unceasingly to the temples and monasteries of Japan, sharing what he'd learned. "What I teach in these talks of mine is the Unborn Buddha-mind of illuminative wisdom, nothing else. Everyone is endowed with this Buddha-mind, only they don't know it." Casting aside the traditional aristocratic style of his contemporaries, he offered his teachings in the common language of the people. His style recalls the genius and simplicity of the great Chinese Zen masters of the T'ang dynasty. This revised and expanded edition contains many talks and dialogues not included in the original 1984 volume.

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