Golden Age Of Zen: Zen Masters Of The T: Zen Masters of the T'ang Dynasty (Spiritual Masters)

When it comes to the 20th century’s religion-philosophy pioneers and their classic books that introduced Zen Buddhism to the western world, many point to D.T. Suzuki’s “An Introduction to Zen Buddhism,” Alan Watt’s “The Way of Zen,” R.H. Blyth’s “Zen and Zen Classics” series and, of course, Shunryu Suzuki’s “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.” For me, John Wu’s “The Golden Age of Zen: Zen Masters of the T'ang Dynasty” belongs right there with the aforementioned seminal texts but, unfortunately, for whatever reason(s) this gem is sometimes overlooked.To begin with, the book features a marvelous (and lengthy) introduction by Thomas Merton. This alone sets the book apart from the rest and, being a longtime admirer of Merton, I found that the book gets off to a well-considered and comprehensive beginning. In his introduction Merton wrote, “This book will be a good place to make the acquaintance of what can be called the very quintessence of Buddhist wisdom, in the Golden Age of Chinese Zen.” As an aside, for those like me who are interested in and enjoy Merton’s dialogues on Eastern Religions with his contemporaries at the time (including John Wu and D.T. Suzuki), I highly recommend the “Fons Vitae Thomas Merton Series” on Buddhism and on the Tao.The remainder of the book finds the author delving deep into the essential aspects of 7th-10th century Chinese Chan (Zen) Masters and their teachings. This book belongs to “The Library of Perennial Philosophy” which, in their words is: “dedicated to the exposition of the timeless Truth underlying the diverse religions. This Truth, often referred to as the Sophia Perennis—or Perennial Wisdom—finds its expression in the revealed Scriptures as well as the writings of the great sages and the artistic creations of the traditional worlds.”I highly recommend the books in The Library of Perennial Philosophy, and warmly invite potential readers to purchase and explore John Wu’s classic work on Zen and its founding Patriarchs and Awakened Luminaries, while at the same time being mindful of this sagely advice from Hui-neng: “What has been communicated to you is really no secret at all. But if you turn your light inward, the secret is within you.”

This book reminds me of my first encounters with Zen as a teenager. I used to read with amazement and wonder about the Zen masters of old with their strange speech, their erratic behavior, their sticks, their wisdom. This book presents ancient Chinese Zen in all its imaginative color. Mr. Wu's commentary is precise and penetrating: he clearly knows his Zen, and he explains it well without giving too much away. I would recommend this book for anyone, but especially for those new to Zen.As for the review that says Mr. Wu is a Christian, this has no bearing or impact on his understanding. Zen is without colors, boundaries, or borders. Dr. Suzuki encountered this book toward the end of his life and commented favorably on it. I would ignore the prior reviewer and quickly snap up this gem of a book.

I was disappointed to discover that the man who wrote this book is not a Zen Buddhist, but a Christian. Though he is a Chinese scholar of Zen, it seems his understanding is filtered through his relationship with Christianity, hence the long forward by the author's good friend Thomas Merton trying to show some similarities between Zen and Christianity. I suppose this would have been a great book to have when it was published 40 years ago or so, but really there are so many better books available now which show a greater understanding and realization of Zen practice than this one. I would spend your money elsewhere.

This book encapsulates the spirit of Zen/Chan Buddhism in a remarkable fashion and provides the seeker with illuminating insights and reflections on the pilgrimage that leads from the unreal to the Real as established by the earliest spiritual masters of this school. It provides an essential survey of these formative years that are less known to non-specialists or those that are not students of Zen/Chan Buddhism, but no less deserve to be widely read and absorbed. The transcendent wisdom (prajñā) of the Buddhist tradition cuts through the bifurcation of the subject-object perception to see beyond the world of dualism, to realize the Void or Emptiness (Śūnyatā) of conditioned reality communicating its ungraspable quality. Shih-te vividly states that there is only one Self and no other to be realized: “My self-nature and yours are one”. Through diligent and continual practice of zazen (seated meditation) the primordial, unborn and undying self-nature known as one’s “Original Face” can be apprehended. What becomes clear through the teachings of Zen/Chan is that spirituality is not to be found anywhere else but in the abidance of the here and now, this present moment which itself is like a gōng'àn (Japanese: kōan) as Nan-ch’üan confirms, “Tao is nothing else than your ordinary mind, your everyday life.” -Parabola: The Search for Meaning, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Summer 2021)

I enjoyed this book very much even though Zen/Ch'an is not my home ground. It was wonderful to read many of the oft quoted lines/quips/insights of various Ch'an masters set into biographical details of their lives and the actual living context that gave rise to them. Mr Wu's own insight is not lacking and I have found much to add to my "Clippings" file!The Introduction/Preface by Thomas Merton - quite lengthy, yet not a word too long - is worth the price of the book in itself.All in all a wonderful book, which I will read again.

A treasury of information.

I would not say that it is new, but judging from the primitive style of printing, the book has been well kept. I have no complain for that!