When The Sound of the One Hand came out in Japan in 1916 it caused a scandal. Zen was a secretive practice, its wisdom relayed from master to novice in strictest privacy. That a handbook existed recording not only the riddling koans that are central to Zen teaching but also detailing the answers to them seemed to mark Zen as rote, not revelatory. For all that, The Sound of the One Hand opens the door to Zen like no other book. Including koans that go back to the master who first brought the koan teaching method from China to Japan in the eighteenth century, this book offers, in the words of the translator, editor, and Zen initiate Yoel Hoffmann, the clearest, most detailed, and most correct picture of Zen that can be found. What we have here is an extraordinary introduction to Zen thought as lived thought, a treasury of problems, paradoxes, and performance that will appeal to artists, writers, and philosophers as well as Buddhists and students of religion."

FROM THE WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014 In the winter of 1954, in a construction camp in the remote Tasmanian highlands, when Sonja Buloh was three years old and her father was drinking too much, her mother disappeared into a blizzard never to return. Thirty-five years later, Sonja returns to the place of her childhood to visit her drunkard father. The shadows of the past begin to intrude ever more forcefully into the present, changing forever his living death and her ordered life.

Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) is one of the most influential figures in the history of Zen. He can be considered the founder of the modern Japanese Rinzai tradition, for which he famously emphasized the importance of koan practice in awakening, and he revitalized the monastic life of his day. But his teaching was by no means limited to monastery or temple. Hakuin was the quintessential Zen master of the people, renowned for taking his teaching to all parts of society, to people in every walk of life, and his painting and calligraphy were particularly powerful vehicles for that teaching. Using traditional Buddhist images and sayings—but also themes from folklore and daily life—Hakuin created a new visual language for Zen: profound, whimsical, and unlike anything that came before. In his long life, Hakuin created many thousands of paintings and calligraphies. This art, combined with his voluminous writings, stands as a monument to his teaching, revealing why he is the most important Zen master of the past five hundred years. The Sound of One Hand is a study of Hakuin and his enduringly appealing art, illustrated with a wealth of examples of his work, both familiar pieces like “Three Blind Men on a Bridge” as well as lesser known masterworks.

Table of contents

Ajahn Sumedho gives insights into some key Buddhist themes like awareness, consciousness, identity, relief from suffering, and mindfulness of the body.

Kif Kehlmann, a young, penniless writer, thinks he’s finally caught a break when he’s offered $10,000 to ghostwrite the memoir of Siegfried “Ziggy” Heidl, the notorious con man and corporate criminal. Ziggy is about to go to trial for defrauding banks for $700 million; they have six weeks to write the book. But Ziggy swiftly proves almost impossible to work with: evasive, contradictory, and easily distracted by his still-running “business concerns”—which Kif worries may involve hiring hitmen from their shared office. Worse, Kif finds himself being pulled into an odd, hypnotic, and ever-closer orbit of all things Ziggy. As the deadline draws near, Kif becomes increasingly unsure if he is ghostwriting a memoir, or if Ziggy is rewriting him—his life, his future, and the very nature of the truth. By turns comic, compelling, and finally chilling, First Person is a haunting look at an age where fact is indistinguishable from fiction, and freedom is traded for a false idea of progress.

This book begins with an extensive review of the chords and keys previously studied, using fresh and interesting material that will provide enjoyment as well as reinforcement. Particularly noteworthy is the systematic presentation of chords in all positions in both hands. Titles: America the Beautiful * Arkansas Traveler * The Battle Hymn of the Republic * Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair * Brahms Lullaby * Canon in D (Pachelbel) * Deep River * Down in the Valley * Farewell to Thee (Aloha Oe) * Fascination * A Festive Rondeau * Frankie and Johnnie * The Hokey-Pokey * The House of the Rising Sun * Introduction and Dance * La Cucaracha * La Donna E Mobile * La Raspa * Light and Blue * Loch Lomond * Lonesome Road * The Marriage of Figaro * Morning Has Broken * Musetta's Waltz * Musette * Night Song * Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen * Polyvetsian Dances * Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 * The Riddle * Rock-a My Soul * Roman Holiday * Sakura * Scherzo * Space Shuttle Blues * Swingin' Sevenths * Theme from Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky) * Tumbalalaika * Village Dance * Waves of the Danube * When Johnny Comes Marching Home * You're in My Heart