Wisdom Publications :: Korean Buddhism

Korean Buddhism

Browse our selection of Korean Buddhist books and translations, from historical icons like Manhae, to great contemporary teachers like Master Jae Woong Kim.

Everything Yearned For

Manhae's Poetry of Love and Longing
Francisca Cho, Translator
David R. McCann, Foreword

Manhae (1879-1944), or Han Yongun, was a Korean Buddhist (Son) monk during the era of Japanese colonial occupation (1910-1945). Manhae is a political and cultural hero in Korea, and his works are studied by college students and school children alike.

Everything Yearned For is a collection of 88 love poems, evocative of the mystical love poetry of Rumi, and even reminiscent of the work of Pablo Neruda.Though Manahe's poetry can be read allegorically on many levels—political and religious—it is completely unlike any other poetry in Buddhist or secular realm.

The first poem, "My Lover's Silence," narrates the lover's departure and establishes the enduring themes of the work: The happiness of meeting, the sadness of separation, the agony of longing and waiting, and, most of all, the perfection of love in absence that demands the cost of one's ongoing life, as opposed to the relief of death. The Korean word translated in these poems as "love" and "lover" is nim, though nim has many and broad interpretations. Understandably, the identity of Manhae's lover, or "nim" has been the subject of much speculation.

Manhae writes in his own preface:

"Nim" is not only a human lover but everything yearned for. All beings are nim for the Buddha, and philosophy is the nim of Kant. The spring rain is nim for the rose, and Italy is the nim of Mazzini. Nim is what I love, but it also loves me. If romantic love is freedom, then so is my nim. But aren't you attached to the lofty name of freedom? Don't you also have a nim? If so, it's only your shadow. I write these poems for the young lambs wandering lost on the road home from the darkening plains."

ISBN:0-86171-489-X_|_192 pp_|_Our Price: $12 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Lotus

Kaz Tanahashi, Translator
Allan Baille, Photographs

In Lotus,Kaz Tanahashi and photographer Alan Baillie provide a super-close-up view of one of world culture's most famous flowers. Baillie's carefully assembled collection of photographs of the lotus capture the legendary flower throughout its "life," as it were: from seed to brilliant flower, and finally, into dust. Some of Baillie's photographs rival the best of the genre; these are truly "classical" in their approach. But he also provides a wholly fresh view, providing surprising images from each stage of the lotus's existence. Readers will alternate between swooning, and exclaiming, "I can't believe that's a flower!"

Editor Kaz Tanahashi, an expert of Asian cultures and storytelling, offers the perfect complement to the photography here. His introductory frontmatter tells of the lotus' prominence in various cultures, and the mystical and practical meanings that the flower continues to embody. Next to appear are his carefully selected poetry and prose-extractions, chosen to match Baillie's photographs, on facing pages. Each illuminates the other, making Lotus a gratifying way to relax, please the eyes, and feed the mind.

ISBN:0-86171-277-3_|_128 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Mindful Politics

A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place
Melvin McLeod, Editor

"I've studied politics my entire life. It's been because of my time working on this book that I've finally learned what's really important in politics." So says Melvin McLeod, editor of Mindful Politics, a book that transcends Right and Left, progressive and conservative, to get to the heart of what matters: how we can all make a positive difference in our complex political world.

This is not your typical political book. It's not written at a fever pitch, it doesn't use a good/bad binary, and it doesn't tout partisan policies. Instead, this timely collection addresses the less-discussed but more important questions about politics: What insight does religion have to offer politics? How can we as concerned citizens move beyond the particulars of legislation and party affiliation, and take direct action? How, amid divisive and challenging times, can personal growth and effective advocacy take place together?

In short, Mindful Politics offers the persectives of 34 important authors and thinkers on how each of us, right now, can make the world a better place.

McLeod includes essays and insights from some of the brightest, and most controversial, lights of Buddhism - and beyond.

ISBN:0-86171-298-6_|_320 pp_|_Our Price: $13.56 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Nightly Wisdom

Buddhist Inspirations for Sleeping, Dreaming, and Waking Up
Josh Bartok, Editor
Gustavo Szpilman Cutz, Editor

Includes inspiring nighttime reflections from:

Shakyamuni Buddha * The Dalai Lama * Padmasambhava * Eihei Dogen * Ajahn Brahm * Susan Murphy * Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche * Ezra Bayda * Gyatrul Rinpoche * Lama Yeshe * Geshe Lhundub Sopa * Serinity Young * Kalu Rinpoche * Robert Langan * Barry Magid * Venerable Yin-Shun * Manhae * Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche * B. Alan Wallace

…and many more!

Nightly Wisdom mines a rich vein of Buddhist teachings on such topics as lucid dreaming, Tibetan "dream yoga"--the art of extending meditation into the boundless world of dreams--and relaxing into restful sleep. In addition to inspiration and encouragement, you'll find here simple practices for transforming your sleep into something that's beneficial in entirely new ways, as well as practices for greeting each morning with fresh eyes-and an open heart.

Featuring poetry and prose from sources modern and ancient (including the Buddha himself), Nightly Wisdom is a bedside keepsake, perfect for anyone who has wants to wake up to the entirety of life or bring fresh wisdom into that third of our lives we spend in bed.

ISBN:0-86171-549-7_|_304_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

No River to Cross

Trusting the Enlightenment that’s Always Right Here
Zen Master Daehaeng (Daehaeng Kun Sunim), Author

It is often said that enlightenment means "crossing over to the other shore," that far-off place where we can at last be free from suffering. Likewise, it is said that Buddhist teachings are the raft that takes us there.

In this sparkling collection from one of the most vital teachers of modern Korean Buddhism, Zen Master Daehaeng shows us that there is no raft to find and, truly, no river to cross. She extends her hand to the Western reader, beckoning each of us into the unfailing wisdom accessible right now, the enlightenment that is always, already, right here.

A Zen (or seon, as Korean Zen is called) master with impeccable credentials, Daehaeng has developed a refreshing approach; No River to Cross is surprisingly personal. It's disarmingly simple, yet remarkably profound, pointing us again and again to our foundation, our "True Nature"—the perfection of things just as they are.

ISBN:0-86171-534-9_|_136 pp_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

One Hundred Days of Solitude

Losing My Self and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat
Jane Dobisz, Author

In One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing My Self and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat,American teacher of Korean Zen Jane Dobisz (Zen Master Bon Yeon), recalls her first solitary meditation stint in the woods. Luckily, this is not just a recounting of a winter's worth of cabin fever. Instead, Dobisz takes us into her cabin, and into her mind, as she tries--at least temporarily--to live a Walden-like existence.

All the bowing and meditating and wood-chopping that is part and parcel of her retreat is hardly first nature, but the good-humored and tenacious Dobisz is able to adapt, and to relate her hundred days with moving insight and humanity. Her Solitude in fact offers us all a chance to commune with her and to look inside and rediscover our own grace.

ISBN:0-86171-538-1_|_160_|_Our Price: $11.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

Polishing the Diamond

Reflections of a Korean Buddhist Master
Master Jae Woong Kim, Author
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Foreword

In Polishing the Diamond, Enlightening the Mind, Master Jae Woong Kim explains the teachings of The diamond Sutra, one of the most beloved and profound scriptures in East Asian Buddhism, believed to contain the heart of the Buddha’s teachings.

Through forthright instruction, allegorical tales, and heartfelt personal stories about his own teacher, Master Kim reveals the technique of “surrendering”—;an accessible practice to help keep the peacefulness of sitting meditation in any situation. This simple technique cuts through even the hardest of contemporary spiritual concerns. Master Kim’s warm personal reminiscences and practical meditation advice are both a testament to the vitality of Korean Buddhism today and a timeless expression of the transformative role the Buddha’s teachings can play in each of our lives.

An offering of concise teachings, stories, and meditations from Jae Woong Kim, one of Korea's most revered living Buddhist masters. Inspired by the Diamond Sutra - the most beloved scripture of East Asian Buddhism - Polishing the Diamond is at once a testament to the vitality of Korean Buddhism today and a timeless expression of the transformative role the Buddha's teachings can play in each of our lives.

ISBN:0-86171-145-9_|_320 pp_|_Our Price: $15.16 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

The Lotus Sutra

A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic
Gene Reeves,

The Lotus Sutra is one of the world's great religious scriptures and most influential texts. It has been a seminal work in the development of Buddhism throughout East Asia, and by extension in the development of Mahayana Buddhism throughout the world. Taking place in a vast and fantastical cosmic setting, the Lotus Sutra places emphasis on skillfully doing whatever is needed to serve and compassionately care for others, on breaking down sharp distinctions between the ideals of the fully enlightened buddha and the bodhisattva who vows to postpone personal salvation until all beings may share it together, and especially on each and every being's innate capacity to become a buddha.

This new translation takes particular care to appeal to readers with little or no familiarity with technical Buddhism vocabulary, and this volume includes the full "threefold" text of this classic.

Cover illustration from The Illuminated Lotus Project (detail) (c) Roberta Mansell

ISBN:0-86171-571-3_|_504 pages_|_Our Price: $15.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info

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