The Chinese mind is too philosophical to fashion a supreme being in its likeness. The higher aspirations of Christ and Buddha, the world’s great reformers, have nothing to do with the cold, practical philosophy of Confucius, who does not have the depth of feeling and the spiritual striving of his contemporary, Lao Tzu. From Lao Tzu down to Hiuen-Tsang, their literature is replete with allusions to the fair island of Shambhala (now an oasis of incomparable beauty) and the Wisdom of the trans-Himalayan Adepts. The Emptiness of Lao Tzu is the Absoluteness of the Buddhist, a state of perfect Uncreated Unconsciousness — a Presence which ever was, is, and will be forever. Lao Tzu mentions only five of the seven principles of man, and omits to include the highest (Atma) and the lowest (which is no principle but the cadaver). Analogy is the guiding law, the reliable Ariadne’s thread that can lead us through the otherwise inextricable paths of Nature. The “seven jewels” of the Japanese Yamaboosis, the mystics of the Lao Tzu sect, and the ascetic monks of Kyoto allude to the correspondence of the seven principles of man with our planetary chain of seven rounds. The Moral Doctrines of Lao Tzu: 1. Tao in Its Transcendental Aspect, and in Its Physical Manifestation. 2. Tao as a Moral Principle, or “Virtue.” 3. The Doctrine of Inaction. 4. Lowliness and Humility. 5. Government. 6. War. 7. Paradoxes. 8. Miscellaneous. 9. Lao Tzu on Himself.

The premise of The Tao of Zen is that Zen is really Taoism in the disguise of Buddhism—an assumption being made by more and more Zen scholars. This is the first Zen book that links the long-noted philosophical similarities of Taoism and Zen. The author traces the evolution of Ch'an The The Tao of Zen is a fascinating book that will be read and discussed by anyone interested in both Taoism and Zen

Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: Understanding a Tradition of Practice is the first book in any western language to provide a comprehensive overview of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism. Even though Pure Land Buddhism was born in China and currently constitutes the dominant form of Buddhist practice there, it has previously received very little attention from western scholars. In this book, Charles B. Jones examines the reasons for the lack of scholarly attention and why the few past treatments of the topic missed many of its distinctive features. He argues that the Chinese Pure Land tradition, with its characteristic promise of rebirth in the Pure Land to even non-elite or undeserving practitioners, should not be viewed from the perspective of the Japanese Pure Land tradition, which differs greatly. More accurately contextualizing Chinese Pure Land Buddhism within the landscape of Chinese Buddhism and the broader global Buddhist tradition, this work celebrates Chinese Pure Land, not as a school or sect, but as a unique and inherently valuable “tradition of practice.” This volume is organized thematically, clearly presenting topics such as the nature of the Pure Land, the relationship between “self-power” and “other-power,” the practice of nianfo (buddha-recollection), and the formation of the line of “patriarchs” that keep the tradition grounded. It guides us in understanding the vigorous debates that Chinese Pure Land Buddhism evoked and delves into the rich apologetic literature that it produced in its own defense. Drawing upon a wealth of previously unexamined primary source materials, as well as modern texts by contemporary Chinese Pure Land masters, the author provides lucid translations of resources previously unavailable in English. He also shares his lifetime of experience in this field, enlivening the narrative with personal anecdotes of his visits to sites of Pure Land practice in China and Taiwan. The straightforward and nontechnical prose makes this book a standby resource for anyone interested in pursuing research in this lively, sophisticated, and still-evolving religious tradition. Scholars—including undergraduates—specializing in East Asian Buddhism, as well as those interested in Buddhism or Chinese religion and history in general, will find this book invaluable.

This sustained and distinctively Buddhist challenge to the ontology of Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness resolves the incoherence implicit in the Sartrean conception of nothingness by opening to a Buddhist vision of emptiness. Rooted in the insights of Madhyamika dialectic and an articulated meditative (zen) phenomenology, Nothingness and Emptiness uncovers and examines the assumptions that sustain Sartre's early phenomenological ontology and questions his theoretical elaboration of consciousness as "nothingness." Laycock demonstrates that, in addition to a "relative" nothingness (the for-itself) defined against the positivity and plenitude of the in-itself, Sartre's ontology requires, but also repudiates, a conception of "absolute" nothingness (the Buddhist "emptiness"), and is thus, as it stands, logically unstable, perhaps incoherent. The author is not simply critical; he reveals the junctures at which Sartrean ontology appeals for a Buddhist conception of emptiness and offers the needed supplement.

A discussion of Taoist theories, symbols, methods and the results of meditation from a psychologicalphysiological point of view. Includes the use of meditation to promote a long and healthy life, and outlines the effects of opening up ch'i energy.