The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment

Front Cover
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Feb 27, 1989 - Religion - 480 pages
In this classic work of spiritual guidance, the founder of the Rochester Zen Center presents a comprehensive overview of Zen Buddhism. Exploring the three pillars of Zen—teaching, practice, and enlightenment—Roshi Philip Kapleau, the man who founded one of the oldest and most influential Zen centers in the United States, presents a personal account of his own experiences as a student and teacher, and in so doing gives readers invaluable advice on how to develop their own practices. Revised and updated, this 35th anniversary edition features new illustrations and photographs, as well as a new afterword by Sensei Bodhin Kjolhede, who succeeded Kapleau as spiritual director of the Rochester Zen Center. A moving, eye-opening work, The Three Pillars of Zen is the definitive introduction to the history and discipline of Zen.
 

Contents

YASUTANIROSHIS INTRODUCTORY LECTURES
3
The Parable of Enyadatta
62
YASUTANIROSHIS COMMENTARY TEISHO
75
The Commentary
82
YASUTANIROSHIS PRIVATE ENCOUNTERS WITH
95
The Encounters
110
BASSUIS DHARMA TALK ON ONEMIND
174
The Talk
180
EIGHT CONTEMPORARY ENLIGHTENMENT
211
YAEKO IWASAKIS ENLIGHTENMENT LETTERS
299
The Letters and Comments
307
DOGEN ON BEINGTIME
327
POSTURES
346
Afterword by Bodhin Kjolhede
389
Pronunciation Guide to Japanese Words
427
Copyright

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About the author (1989)

Roshi Philip Kapleau was the founder of the Rochester Zen Center and the author of numerous books, including Zen: Merging of East and West and The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment. Kapleau studied and taught Zen for more than 50 years, completing over sixteen years of study and practice in both Japan and America. He died in 2004.

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