American-born Chán Buddhist monk Zhi combines rich cultural history and practical advice in this in-depth analysis of the religious and mystical traditions of Chinese Chán Buddhism. Zhi was a college senior studying physics when he first learned about Chán, and he has since devoted nearly 30 years of his life to its study and practice. He charts the complicated evolution and delineation of Chán as a path toward self-knowledge, following Buddhism’s spread from India throughout Asia and the West. He considers how different countries influenced Buddhism, clearly showing how factors such as religious persecution, imperialist expansion, and war led to both the religion’s expansion and divisions between sects.Zhi successfully tackles the complexity of Chán’s relationship with traditional Buddhism through a systematic, organized approach. Each country’s location, culture, indigenous traditions, and politics historically shaped Chán, which had long struggled to define itself as a purely Chinese expression of Buddhism, distinguished by Confucian overtones and ancestor veneration. Zhi pairs his discussion of Buddhism’s religious institutions with a deep knowledge of individual spiritual practice. His practical advice and well-researched, well-cited cultural histories are equally accessible to readers.
Zhi’s tone is nonjudgemental even as he cautions against distortions of Buddhism, particularly in the market-driven and consumerist West, which often seeks to separate mindfulness from its cultural roots. Readers will be inspired by his encouraging reminders about the objectives of Chán and straightforward guidance on practicing meditation. His succinct explanations for Buddhism-related terms and concepts, extensive footnotes, helpful illustrations, index, and bibliography make this an invaluable resource, highly impressive in both its scope and its complexity. This comprehensive, illuminating guide will benefit both spiritual practitioners and students of world history and religions.
Takeaway: This comprehensive, illuminating book is an essential read for new and seasoned Chán Buddhists and anyone interested in Buddhism, mindfulness practices, or Asian history.
Great for fans of Guo Jun’s Essential Chan Buddhism, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Sadness, Love, Openness.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
A sweeping history of Chinese Buddhism that includes personal reflections on meditation and practical instruction for beginners.
The historical development of the Buddhist faith is obscure, partly because the intensely personal experience of meditative practice itself resists scholarly documentation. Nevertheless, with extraordinary rigor and erudition, debut author Zhi reconstructs both the emergence of Buddhism in general, and of Chinese (or Chan) Buddhism in particular. By the time Buddhism arrived in China, it had already evolved in India from Vedism, Brahmanism, Jainism, and Hinduism. Then, as early as the 2nd century BCE, it was again refashioned by the political, sociological, and religious influences of its time—in this case, Confucianism and Taoism. The author discusses the original forms of Buddhism practiced in India, and its metamorphosis when it traveled all over Asia. The author specifically focuses on the ways in which, in China as elsewhere, Chan Buddhism split into strains that were either more meditatively spiritual or institutional. After he impressively concludes this “broad picture of Chan Buddhism,” he turns his attention to its practice and furnishes a thorough introduction for the novice, including an accessible discussion of the benefits of maintaining a meditative practice and “Hindrances” that could undermine it. Zhi is a fully ordained Buddhist monk, and his knowledge of the subject matter is astonishing; he not only demonstrates an academic mastery of Buddhism as a historical phenomenon, but also a philosophically profound understanding of its spiritual core—which, contrary to many Western misconceptions, is not enlightenment: “Enlightenment is best viewed as a consequence rather than an objective of spiritual labor,” Zhi notes. “The purpose of spiritual life is to unravel mysteries and transcend suffering. It’s a fluid, evolving process.” The author permits himself some gratuitous digression—there’s an entire chapter devoted to explaining Carl Jung’s theory of psychological archetypes, for instance. Still, this is a remarkable study that’s intellectually stimulating, historically edifying, and spiritually instructive.
