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Zen Dawn by J.C. Cleary
This important book brings together three long-lost texts, the earliest known writings on Zen.
• Records of the Teachers and Students of the Lanka presents a complete set of biographies of the Zen patriarchs.
• Bodhidharma's Treatise on Contemplating Mind— written in the form of a dialogue between the first Zen patriarch, Bodhidharma, and his successor, Huke—views all the various practices of the Bodhisattva path from the perspective of cultivating mind.
• Treatise on Sudden Enlightenment presents a series of questions and answers illuminating the true nature of "sudden enlightenment" as pure, undifferentiated mind.
Dating from the first half of the eighth century, and only recently rediscovered in Tun Huang, China, these books offer the best information currently available on the early meditation techniques of the "northern school" of Zen Buddhism.
• Records of the Teachers and Students of the Lanka presents a complete set of biographies of the Zen patriarchs.
• Bodhidharma's Treatise on Contemplating Mind— written in the form of a dialogue between the first Zen patriarch, Bodhidharma, and his successor, Huke—views all the various practices of the Bodhisattva path from the perspective of cultivating mind.
• Treatise on Sudden Enlightenment presents a series of questions and answers illuminating the true nature of "sudden enlightenment" as pure, undifferentiated mind.
Dating from the first half of the eighth century, and only recently rediscovered in Tun Huang, China, these books offer the best information currently available on the early meditation techniques of the "northern school" of Zen Buddhism.
- GenresBuddhismSpiritualityZen
Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
38 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Cleary
25 books7 followersJonathan Christopher "Chris" Cleary, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1985; A.B., Folklore and Mythology, Harvard College), was the brother of Thomas F. Cleary and a translator in his own right, focusing on medieval Chinese texts, particularly relating to Ch'an & Zen Buddhism.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2025
The early practitioners of Zen infer that All religions have but one purpose: to free us forever from our Trolls, and our Mind Weeds. The Trolls will In time be evicted from Eden and the Mind Weeds merged with our dreams, where they have always thrived.
In my own case, the problem was particularly nasty, because I tumbled down life's course with the blind ingenuousness of a blunt Aspie. But my blind bluntness has worked in my favour.
How?
Let me tell you a story. Last night I played along with a scammer, until I saw through him and shut him down. I wanted to know the name of his game. But his loss was my gain:
For his actions proved to me the meaning of Bodhidharma's "Vast Emptiness and Nothing Holy." For such in a nutshell is fallen - unenlightened - humanity's true nature. "Men and bits of paper," as Eliot said.
My mind, you see, is now clear on essential details, and vague on generalities. I don't see the big picture any more because there is none outside of God. The rhyme and the reason is "Gone Beyond," as the Sutra says. Gone beyond to emptiness.
Cleary's Zen texts showed me that these Trolls' with-it behaviour only leads them into the dust. Let them deal with that fact if they choose. But we seekers want only to be freed... And we will be.
Freed - how? Well, the Zen dawn of enlightenment is also Christian conviction. Real conviction frees us from our Fallen selves.
The lures of the Madison Avenue Trolls are now but bags of dust. As Donne said, Death, where is thy sting? Tell me if I am not glad in my hope and kiln-tempered vision.
You know, at one point I used to kick myself because I didn't know those other guys' lingo. Well, by diving more deeply into the sea of their misinformation, I saw I didn't need to.
I got their drift. And you know what else?
All of them erroneously assumed a solid world of "certain certainties" which Einstein and Planck said has never existed. "Vanity, all is vanity..."
And we see their absence of substance in our own vague existence - our own blighted modern inheritance - from which we always needed our escapes in our duped past, but now have a true escape in the Cross.
The 'solid' Trolls sense our vagueness, and naturally they're worried. Their entrenched, bitter certainty of shared sin leads them only to a violent world of messy, unresolved, frustrated uncertainty. And thus to anger, which they think is justified. If you live by the sword, you die by it. Such is men's law.
But us?
Our natural uncertainty and hesitation ends up working in our favour, you see, as Cleary shows in this book. The ancient masters said Great Doubt will lead us to great enlightenment. And enlightenment sees all forms as empty - not solid.
So we can follow a Gospel of Peace and Love, not one of War.
This book was one of my favourite purchases from Amazon, in 2005. It was right after my retirement, and, man oh man, did I have a doozy of a case of workplace burnout. A burnout which brought all the truth of modernity into sharp focus.
Would you believe it if I told you I learned True Zen from my burnout? I kid you not. Zen Stoicism! Standing up straight - and not returning kicks against the pricks - but in calm acceptance of their absurd idiocy.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
That showed me the Mad Ave Trolls are nothing but "men and bits of paper."
It proved to me that books like this are a godsend.
In my own case, the problem was particularly nasty, because I tumbled down life's course with the blind ingenuousness of a blunt Aspie. But my blind bluntness has worked in my favour.
How?
Let me tell you a story. Last night I played along with a scammer, until I saw through him and shut him down. I wanted to know the name of his game. But his loss was my gain:
For his actions proved to me the meaning of Bodhidharma's "Vast Emptiness and Nothing Holy." For such in a nutshell is fallen - unenlightened - humanity's true nature. "Men and bits of paper," as Eliot said.
My mind, you see, is now clear on essential details, and vague on generalities. I don't see the big picture any more because there is none outside of God. The rhyme and the reason is "Gone Beyond," as the Sutra says. Gone beyond to emptiness.
Cleary's Zen texts showed me that these Trolls' with-it behaviour only leads them into the dust. Let them deal with that fact if they choose. But we seekers want only to be freed... And we will be.
Freed - how? Well, the Zen dawn of enlightenment is also Christian conviction. Real conviction frees us from our Fallen selves.
The lures of the Madison Avenue Trolls are now but bags of dust. As Donne said, Death, where is thy sting? Tell me if I am not glad in my hope and kiln-tempered vision.
You know, at one point I used to kick myself because I didn't know those other guys' lingo. Well, by diving more deeply into the sea of their misinformation, I saw I didn't need to.
I got their drift. And you know what else?
All of them erroneously assumed a solid world of "certain certainties" which Einstein and Planck said has never existed. "Vanity, all is vanity..."
And we see their absence of substance in our own vague existence - our own blighted modern inheritance - from which we always needed our escapes in our duped past, but now have a true escape in the Cross.
The 'solid' Trolls sense our vagueness, and naturally they're worried. Their entrenched, bitter certainty of shared sin leads them only to a violent world of messy, unresolved, frustrated uncertainty. And thus to anger, which they think is justified. If you live by the sword, you die by it. Such is men's law.
But us?
Our natural uncertainty and hesitation ends up working in our favour, you see, as Cleary shows in this book. The ancient masters said Great Doubt will lead us to great enlightenment. And enlightenment sees all forms as empty - not solid.
So we can follow a Gospel of Peace and Love, not one of War.
This book was one of my favourite purchases from Amazon, in 2005. It was right after my retirement, and, man oh man, did I have a doozy of a case of workplace burnout. A burnout which brought all the truth of modernity into sharp focus.
Would you believe it if I told you I learned True Zen from my burnout? I kid you not. Zen Stoicism! Standing up straight - and not returning kicks against the pricks - but in calm acceptance of their absurd idiocy.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
That showed me the Mad Ave Trolls are nothing but "men and bits of paper."
It proved to me that books like this are a godsend.
July 25, 2010
As promised, it’s a look at early Zen Buddhist texts. It’s one of those religious/spiritual books where you’re looking at bare dogma with no interpretation but your own. It was an interesting read in one respect but in the other did nothing to further my understanding of Zen. To be honest, it reminded me of the fire and brimstone early Christian texts telling us how imperfect we all are except instead of being threatened with hell, you’re threatened with remaining unenlightened. Some of the thought is very circular and the ideals seem fairly counterproductive when you compare them to how humans usually conduct themselves but isn’t that true of most religious thought? I’m glad I read it but I’m not sure I can recommended it unless you’re interested in the earliest thoughts of the Zen teachings.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews