The Golden Age Of Zen: Zen Masters Of The T'Ang Dynasty

Book Summary

The great Chinese Zen masters of the 7th through 10th centuries laid the foundation for all subsequent developments within Zen Buddhism. Flowering forth magnificently during these centuries, the profound teachings of these Masters, which is given voice in the pages of this book, may be equaled by some of their spiritual descendants but it has never been surpassed. All readers seeking the spring of Zen will find in these pages the refreshing words--sometimes enigmatic and profound, sometimes practical and humorous--of the earliest exponents of the tradition. This classic work has been compared to the writings of D. T. Suzuki in importance, and it carries the same imprint of authenticity. Additionally, however, the author--whose correspondence with Suzuki is included in the appendix of the book--reinforces several fascinating parallels between Zen and Christian mysticism by his inclusion of a masterful introduction by Thomas Merton, whose writings on Zen and Christianity are well known. All in all, The Golden Age of Zen, which traces the origins of Zen in Taoism and reflects the adamantine vision of the first T'ang masters, is a perfectly flowing study of the early history of the Zen tradition, and is destined to be an important source book on Zen for generations to come.

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