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Wisdom of the Zen Masters: The Quest for Enlightenment
The sixth book in the Zen Speaks series of cartoon-illustrated adaptations of Chinese thought and philosophy by world-renowned author Tsai Chih Chung, Wisdom of the Zen Masters combines selections from the most important and famous Zen texts into a single volume.
Only one Chinese Buddhist work ever attained the status of an official scripture, the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Wisdom of the Zen Masters illustrates the key narrative of this text and follows the orthodox line of Zen transmission in a loosely chronological format from patriarch to patriarch, master to master. The result is a delightful romp through the history of forty or so illustrious and irreverent Zen masters, complete with enlightening anecdotes and disarming wisdom.
In addition to the Platform Sutra, many episodes are drawn from other key Zen texts, including the Transmission of the Lamp, the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), and the Blue Cliff Record. All of these are recognized as rich sources of the famous Zen koan.
Wisdom of the Zen Masters is not only a perfect introduction to Zen Buddhism, but also an essential component of any Zen collection.
Only one Chinese Buddhist work ever attained the status of an official scripture, the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Wisdom of the Zen Masters illustrates the key narrative of this text and follows the orthodox line of Zen transmission in a loosely chronological format from patriarch to patriarch, master to master. The result is a delightful romp through the history of forty or so illustrious and irreverent Zen masters, complete with enlightening anecdotes and disarming wisdom.
In addition to the Platform Sutra, many episodes are drawn from other key Zen texts, including the Transmission of the Lamp, the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), and the Blue Cliff Record. All of these are recognized as rich sources of the famous Zen koan.
Wisdom of the Zen Masters is not only a perfect introduction to Zen Buddhism, but also an essential component of any Zen collection.
128 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 1998
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About the author
Tsai Chih Chung
123 books56 followersTsai Chih Chung (蔡志忠) is a world-renowned cartoonist and popularizer of Chinese classics whose books have sold more than 40 millions copies worldwide. He first came to prominence through his award-winning animated movies and his immensely popular daily comic strips. When he turned his hand to the classics after a prolonged period of self-education, they were acclaimed by critics and shot to the top of the bestsellers lists.
Starting from the 1980s, Tsai created a series of Chinese comic books on ancient Chinese classics, like huangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature, Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness, Confucius Speaks: Words to Live by, Sunzi Speaks: The Art of War, and The Tao Speaks: Lao Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom. Confucius, Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi, and Sunzi are widely credited as sages whose thoughts have played an important role in China's development. Tsai put his unique understanding and feelings of ancient thoughts into his cartoons, and added a modern interpretation of them, making boring ancient philosophies quite amusing as well as understandable. His works won a large number of adult readers for comic books, a market predominantly children-targeted. This series of comic books has hoarded great applause from readers both in Taiwan and Chinese mainland, with 4 million copies sold in Taiwan.
Differing from most Chinese parents, Tsai has a unique way of bringing up his daughter, stressing independence and self-reliance. His daughter even traveled to Japan by herself at the age of 12.With the influence of her father, his daughter has also become fond of cartoons. Her creativity and originality is comparable to that of her father, and many of her cartoons have been published as well. Tsai once made a comparison between human beings and wolves, stating that a parent wolf never teaches its children the necessary skills of survival, leaving the child with the challenge of acquired these skills on their own.
Starting from the 1980s, Tsai created a series of Chinese comic books on ancient Chinese classics, like huangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature, Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness, Confucius Speaks: Words to Live by, Sunzi Speaks: The Art of War, and The Tao Speaks: Lao Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom. Confucius, Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi, and Sunzi are widely credited as sages whose thoughts have played an important role in China's development. Tsai put his unique understanding and feelings of ancient thoughts into his cartoons, and added a modern interpretation of them, making boring ancient philosophies quite amusing as well as understandable. His works won a large number of adult readers for comic books, a market predominantly children-targeted. This series of comic books has hoarded great applause from readers both in Taiwan and Chinese mainland, with 4 million copies sold in Taiwan.
Differing from most Chinese parents, Tsai has a unique way of bringing up his daughter, stressing independence and self-reliance. His daughter even traveled to Japan by herself at the age of 12.With the influence of her father, his daughter has also become fond of cartoons. Her creativity and originality is comparable to that of her father, and many of her cartoons have been published as well. Tsai once made a comparison between human beings and wolves, stating that a parent wolf never teaches its children the necessary skills of survival, leaving the child with the challenge of acquired these skills on their own.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 18, 2016
این کتاب تاثیر زیادی روی من گذاشت.با وجود تصاویر طنزگونه اش حقیقتی که توی داستان هاش برات آشکار میکنه میتونه اشکت رو در بیاره.
June 2, 2024
Dari buku ini aku pertama kali tahu soal kisah-kisah Zen. Kupinjamkan ke teman di luar pulau. Tapi belum dibalikin. Kuminta gak ya? Hmmm....
January 7, 2013
Buku Zen yang serius saja saya suka, apalagi yang komik begini. Sangat membantu memahami pemikiran Zen. Semakin banyak quote yang saya salin dari "petuah-petuah abadi" di buku ini.
September 13, 2021
When I was 17, I found this book somewhere and read it a few times back to back. I spent years thinking about these stories, and slowly they took on different meanings. Some of these are still touchstones for me today, over 20 years later. It's a shame it's now so expensive. I'd get it for my kids.
November 24, 2017
An account of the arrival of Buddhism in China and its subsequent history. Various Zen masters, making much of the futility of speech, avoiding good and evil, and many such anecdotes.
July 5, 2008
"Understanding the truth and discovering the self depend entirely on oneself. People are always 'seeking a mule while riding a mule.' The further they go from home, the more confused they become." "If a 7-year-old surpasses me, I learn from him. If a 100-year-old man is less than me, I teach him." How do we live without such knowledge?
June 11, 2010
a rather unique book, introducing the history of zen in comic-book format. works quite well, actually. . .
February 4, 2011
I have been reading this since childhood and some things I still don't quite grasp.
February 3, 2008
Words are necessary ?
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews