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| Buddha Facing the Wall: Interviews with American Zen Monks | ||
| 作者 | Jenkins, Sara |
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| 出版日期 | 1999.03 |
| 頁次 | 208 |
| 出版者 | Present Perfect Books |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.presentperfectbooks.com/ |
| 出版地 | Lake Junaluska, NC, US |
| 資料類型 | 書籍=Book |
| 使用語言 | 英文=English |
| 附註項 | From the Zen Monastery Practice Center under the guidance of Cheri Huber. |
| 關鍵詞 | Zen Monastery Practice Center;Monastic and Religious Life of Zen Buddhism, California;Zen Priests, California;Interviews; |
| 摘要 | Buddha Facing the Wall presents firsthand accounts of life in an American Zen monastery. Under the guidance of Zen
teacher Cheri Huber, students come to the Monastery for periods of intensive spiritual training ranging from a month to many years. Interviews with seventeen men and women living as monks offer vivid personal glimpses of how everything about the Monastery - from the daily schedule, through meetings with the teacher, to the silence itself - is designed to support the deep inner work that leads to spiritual transformation. An introduction provides basic information on the aims of monastic practice in general and the means of this tradition in particular, reflecting Robert Thurman's assertions that the goal of Buddhism is happiness, and the monastery is the institution devoted exclusively to the highest development of the individual. Each chapter contains descriptions of Zen practice in the context of monastic training, with examples drawn from personal experiences related by monks, along with selected complete interviews. Topics addressed include: * the paradox of solitude: Seeing through the illusion that we are separate selves allows us to discover a profound and joyous intimacy with all life. * the misconception that monastic life is an escape from life's problems: On the contrary, as these monks make clear, the monastery brings one face to face with one's suffering, and yet it is only by discovering the true source of suffering that one can move beyond it. * the Monastery building as a metaphor for spiritual practice: During the seven-year span (1991-98) in which three sets of interviews were conducted, the Monastery grew from 300 acres with two large tents and a scattering of hermitages to a fully equipped residential center for meditation retreats and spiritual training. The main Monastery building, constructed by the monks, joins rammed earth walls, tiled roof and floors, and handmade casement windows in a visual testament to monastic training. Because every aspect of construction was treated as meditation practice, qualities that flow from that practice -peace and clarity and compassion - seem to be embedded in the building itself. In the final interview, Cheri Huber describes her own experience as a monk and her extraordinary relationship with her teacher. This remarkably candid, humorous, thought-provoking, sometimes unsettling interview will be of great interest to readers of Cheri's books and to anyone who is curious about the personal experience of such a gifted spiritual teacher. In addition to offering an unprecedented view of how Buddhist monasticism is taking root in the U. S., Buddha Facing the Wall contains an unusual perspective on Buddhist-Christian practice. The Zen monks interviewed for this book include four devout Catholics (one is a nun, another a director of campus ministry) who discuss how meditation enhances their deep commitments to Christianity. The title Buddha Facing the Wall refers to the functional emphasis in Cheri's style of teaching: to indicate that practice, not personhood, is at the center of this tradition, the only Buddha figure is turned to face the wall, just like the students sitting in meditation. As in all of Cheri's teaching, spiritual practice is presented in ordinary language and is accessible to anyone. This book is linked to our first title on the teaching of Cheri Huber, Turning Toward Happiness:Conversations with a Zen Teacher and Her Students,, which included discussions with the people who originally went to live at this Monastery (four of those people are represented again in these interviews). |
| 目次 | Preface Introduction: Facing the Wall 1. Openness 2. Intimate and Nonpersonal 3. Silence 4. Solitude 5. Only One Rule 6. The Unexpected and the All Too Familiar 7. Building As Dharma 8. Compassion and the Paradox of No Escape 9. Freedom and the Paradox of Nothing to Do 10. Happiness 11. Monks in the World 12. From the Front of the Room: The Teacher's Perspective Epilog: Walking Outside From the Monastery Guidebood |
| ISBN | 0963078437 |
| 點閱次數 | 478 |
| 建檔日期 | 2002.04.22 |
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