The essence of Zen is contained here. First compiled in 16th and 17th century Japan, the sayings range from profound to mystifying to comical. A Zen Forest is, according to poet Gary Snyder, “the meeting place of the highest and the most humble: the great poets and the ‘old women’s sayings.’” Translator Soiku Shigematsu, abbot of Shogennji Zen Temple in Shimizu, Japan, has rendered the pieces into poetic English that illuminates some aspect of Zen, from satori to the meaning of enlightened activity. The words will open windows to the Zen world, while reminding us that “however wonderful an expression may be, it will be a stake that binds you unless you keep yourself free from it.”

What appears at first glance to be another gathering of quotations is in fact a collection of symbolic verse taken from the body of literature that Zen students in China and Japan used to have to memorize in order to choose the appropriate phrase to express their understanding of a koan or their answer to a master’s question. For that reason they read more like a list of idioms and proverbs than short, pithy teachings. Nonetheless they embody wisdom in their expressed view of things. This is one of my favorites:

Climb barefoot
a mountain of swords!
Enter the fire
wearing fur! ( )

The Essence of Zen is contained here. First compiled in 16th and 17th century Japan, the sayings range from profound to mystifying to comical. A Zen Forest is, according to poet Gary Snyder, “the meeting place of the highest and the most humble: the great poets and the ‘old women’s sayings.’” Translator Soiku Shigematsu, abbot of Shogennji Zen Temple in Shimizu, Japan, has rendered the pieces into poetic English that illuminates some aspect of Zen, from satori to the meaning of enlightened activity. The words will open windows to the Zen world, while reminding us that “however wonderful an expression may be, it will be a stake that binds you unless you keep yourself free from it.