Zen & Oriental Art is an indispensable, beautifully illustrated introduction to the influences of Zen Buddhism on Oriental painting, folk art, and architecture, with a special section on the role of Zen in twentieth-century art and architecture in the West. Author, Dr. Munsterberg quite naturally begins with an explanation of Zen Buddhism itself, and the historical development of Zen in India and China. Zen's particularly rapid adoption in Japan is covered in the next chapter, which is followed by sections on the Zen art of ink painting in both China and Japan. Also described are the influences of Zen on Japanese architecture, and the intimate connection of the religion with the Japanese tea ceremony. Of particular interest to Western readers is the chapter on Zen and twentieth-century Western art. "A knowledgeable and affable guide." —The Japan Times "There is a peacefulness that comes over one just leafing through this book." --Antiquarian Bookman

Representing work by some of the leading scholars in the field, the chapters in this handbook survey the transformation and innovation of religious traditions and practices in contemporary Japan.

In Zen Buddhism, the concept of freedom is of profound importance. And yet, until now there has been no in-depth study of the manifestation of this liberated attitude in the lives and artwork of Edo period Zen monk-painters. This book explores the playfulness and free-spirited attitude reflected in the artwork of two prominent Japanese Zen monk-painters: Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) and Sengai Gibon (1750-1837). The free attitude emanating from their paintings is one of the qualities which distinguish Edo period Zen paintings from those of earlier periods. These paintings are part of a Zen ink painting tradition that began following the importation of Zen Buddhism from China at the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185-1333). In this study, Aviman elaborates on the nature of this particular artistic expression and identifies its sources, focusing on the lives of the monk-painters and their artwork. The author applies a multifaceted approach, combining a holistic analysis of the paintings, i.e. as interrelated combination of text and image, with a contextualization of the works within the specific historical, art historical, cultural, social and political environments in which they were created.

Long Strange Journey presents the first critical analysis of visual objects and discourses that animate Zen art modernism and its legacies, with particular emphasis on the postwar “Zen boom.” Since the late nineteenth century, Zen and Zen art have emerged as globally familiar terms associated with a spectrum of practices, beliefs, works of visual art, aesthetic concepts, commercial products, and modes of self-fashioning. They have also been at the center of fiery public disputes that have erupted along national, denominational, racial-ethnic, class, and intellectual lines. Neither stable nor strictly a matter of euphoric religious or intercultural exchange, Zen and Zen art are best approached as productive predicaments in the study of religion, spirituality, art, and consumer culture, especially within the frame of Buddhist modernism. Long Strange Journey’s modern-contemporary emphasis sets it off from most writing on Zen art, which focuses on masterworks by premodern Chinese and Japanese artists, gushes over “timeless” visual qualities as indicative of metaphysical states, or promotes with ahistorical, trend-spotting flair Zen art’s design appeal and therapeutic values. In contrast, the present work plots a methodological through line distinguished by “discourse analysis,” moving from the first contacts between Europe and Japanese Zen in the sixteenth century to late nineteenth–early twentieth-century transnational exchanges driven by Japanese Buddhists and intellectuals and the formation of a Zen art canon; to postwar Zen transformations of practice and avant-garde expressions; to popular embodiments of our “Zenny zeitgeist,” such as Zen cartoons. The book presents an alternative history of modern-contemporary Zen and Zen art that emphasizes their unruly and polythetic-prototypical natures, taking into consideration serious religious practice and spiritual and creative discovery as well as conflicts over Zen’s value amid the convolutions of global modernity, squabbles over authenticity, resistance against the notion of “Zen influence,” and competing claims to speak for Zen art made by monastics, lay advocates, artists, and others.

Introduction by Paula Arai. This is the first collection to offer selections from the foundational texts of the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Zen traditions in a single volume. Through representative selections from their poetry, letters, sermons, and visual arts, the most important Zen Masters provide students with an engaging, cohesive introduction to the first 1200 years of this rich -- and often misunderstood -- tradition. A general introduction and notes provide historical, biographical, and cultural context; a note on translation, and a glossary of terms are also included.

In this second volume of his classic history, one of the world's foremost Zen scholars turns his attention to the development of Zen in Japan.

This is and is not a how to book. What I mean is that it's not the book you want to pick up to improve your roll cast (at least not directly) but it may improve your outlook on life. It may not help you find fish but it may help you find yourself and that is what I truly believe fly fishing is all about.

Examining inscriptions on landscape paintings and related documents, this book explores the views of the "two jewels" of Japanese Zen literature, Gido Shushin (1325-1388) and Zekkai Chushin (1336-1405), and their students. These monks played important roles as advisors to the shoguns Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) and Yoshimochi (1386-1428), as well as to major figures in various michi or Ways of linked verse, the No theatre, ink painting, rock gardens, and other arts. By applying images of mountain retreats to their busy urban lives in the capital, these Five Mountain Zen monks provoke reconsiderations of the relation between secular and sacred and nature and culture.

Now back in print, these two classics by Raymond "Duke" Moore explore the power of Zen and the meditation in the Martial Arts. Fighting Spirit of Zen is Duke's 1974 treatise on how the spirit of Zen relates to the martial arts, and life generally. First published in 1980, Holistic Meditation tells how this powerful technique can help you succeed in your goals. * Jerry Kunzman: "Duke was one of a kind and, like the other 'greats of yesteryear', can never be replaced. But his words and teachings can live forever in his writings." * Rick Alemany: "We were all fortunate to have known Duke. He was way ahead of his time and it was a great loss to the Martial Arts world when he passed." * James Moses: "This text teaches meditation as a skill that can be learned, taught, practiced, and mastered." * Ferol Arce: "Duke always had a twinkle in his eyes, and always made you feel as though you were on the right track with what ever you were trying to accomplish."