Bankei Zen: Translations from The Record of Bankei

The teachings of the groundbreaking Buddhist Zen Master: "Should remain for years to come the standard source book for the Western student of Zen" (Douglas Harding, The Middle Way).

The eccentric Bankei (1622–1693) has long been an underground hero in the world of Zen. At a time when Zen was becoming overly formalized in Japan, he stressed its relevance to everyday life, insisting on the importance of naturalness and spontaneity. This volume presents his teachings—as refreshing and iconoclastic today as they were three hundred years ago—in a fluent translation by Peter Haskel, accompanied by a vivid account of Bankei's life and times, illustrations, and extensive notes for the scholar.