Entangling Vines

image description

“A masterpiece. It will be our inspiration for 10,000 years.”—Robert Aitken, author of Taking the Path of Zen

ENTANGLING VINES

A Classic Collection of Zen Koans

Thomas Yuhō Kirchner

Entangling Vines, a translation of the Shumon kattoshu, is one of the few major koan texts to have been compiled in Japan rather than China. Indeed, Kajitani Sonin (1914–95), former chief abbot of Shokoku-ji and author of an annotated, modern-Japanese translation of the Kattoshu, commented that “herein are compiled the basic Dharma materials of the koan system.” Most of the central koans of the contemporary Rinzai koan curriculum are contained in this work.

A distinctive feature of Entangling Vines is that, unlike The Gateless Gate and Blue Cliff Record, it presents the koans “bare,” with no introductions, commentaries, or verses. Its straightforward structure  lends the koans added force and immediacy, emphasizing the Great Matter, the essential point to be interrogated, and providing ample material for the rigors of examining and refining Zen experience.

Containing 272 cases and extensive note material, the collection is indispensable for serious koan training and will also be of interest for anyone drawn to Zen literature. The present translation had its origins in the discussions between three forward-looking modern Japanese Zen masters and Thomas Kirchner, an experienced Zen monk from America. And Kirchner’s careful annotation of each koan makes this a brilliant introduction to Buddhist philosophy.

Featuring an introduction by Ueda Shizuteru.

book information
  • Hardcover
  • 352 pages, 6.50 x 9.25 inches
  • $28.95
  • ISBN 9781614290773
  • ebook
  • 352 pages
  • $11.99
  • ISBN 9781614290964
about the author
Entangling Vines

Thomas Yuhō Kirchner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1949. He went to Japan in 1969 to attend Waseda University in Tokyo for a year, after which he remained in Japan to study Buddhism. He spent three years training under Yamada Mumon as a lay monk at Shofuku-ji before receiving ordination in 1974. Following ordination he practiced under Minato Sodo Roshi at Kencho-ji in Kamakura and Kennin-ji in Kyoto. Following graduate studies in Buddhism at Otani University he worked at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya and subsequently at the Hanazono University International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism. He presently lives at Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Among his publications are the Record of Linji, Dialogues in a Dream, and Entangling Vines.

Other books by Thomas Yuhō Kirchner:
Entangling Vines (Paperback)
Sitting with Koans
Dialogues in a Dream

There are no products in your cart.