Zen Sayings to Help You Find Your Way

by Shinsuke Hosokawa

ISBN978-4-7631-3709-8 C0030

250 pages / November 2018 / 1,400 yen (w/o tax)

52 Zen meditations selected by a popular Zen priest.
Wisdom that will free your mind.

Description

In this noisy, busy world, do you find you have no space left in your heart?
In your dissatisfaction, do you find others intolerable?
In such times, we need to stop and reflect using Zen meditations.
 

Ichi-go Ichi-e

Tenjo Tenge Yugadokuson

Sottaku Doji

Bosen

Jozenwa Mizuno-gotosi

Nichi-nichi Kore-kojitsu

Kankyakka

Te wo totte Tomoni-iku
 

Zen sayings are used to express the teachings of Zen Buddhism.

 

They are nuggets of wisdom to help one live a positive, proactive life. The author, who is the chief Zen priest at Ryuun-ji Temple in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, selected 52 Zen sayings and compiled them along with drawings. The sayings are separated into four chapters, corresponding to the four seasons we experience in our lives: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

 

What words are resonating inside of you?
 

The 52 sayings in this book are sure to soothe your soul and lift you up.

From the table of contents

Furyumonji Kyogebetsuden / Heart to heart, express yourself carefully

Ichi-go Ichi-e / Don’t neglect what is right in front of you

Tenjo Tenge Yugadokuson / Everything living in this world is precious

Sottaku Doji / There are no chance meetings, all meetings are inevitable

Bosen / Don’t lose sight of your path and goals.

Jozenwa Mizuno-gotosi / Live as the water flows

Kakunen Musho / Don’t be bothered by a single thing

Nichinichi Korekojitsu / After a bad day comes another good day

Kankyakka / Look at what is beneath your own feet

Te wo totte Tomoni-iku / We are not meant to live alone

And more…

  • An extract from the end of the book

I see zazen as a place to throw away our inner trash.

This book is for just that purpose.

 

In our long lives, we accumulate a lot of trash. When we need a clean slate and to reconnect with ourselves, this book should be opened.

 

In our daily lives, we can access our inner happiness if we recognize life’s blessings that we take for granted.

 

The teachings of Zen are all a guide to help us achieve this.

From the editor "Kuwaji"

Ryuunji Temple, where Shinsuke Hosokawa is currently posted, is located in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward. The premises, with its beautifully tended plants, is clean and silent. The zazen session that takes place every Sunday at 6:00 a.m. is so popular that it has been going on for 40 years without a holiday. The Zen sayings that Hosokawa teaches put you into deep thought to the point of tears. With Ayako Taniyama’s drawings, you can experience the essence of Zen. I want to give this book to everyone I care about.

Author

Shinsuke Hosokawa

Shinsuke Hosokawa is the chief priest at Ryuunji Temple.

He was born in 1979 in Tokyo. After graduating from Bukkyo University, he studied at the Rinzai Zen Buddhism branch Myoshinji Temple for nine years.  He has been working in his current post since 2013. His grandfather, Taido Matsubara, was a celebrated priest. The author of the present volume provides Zen coaching for the long-running historical NHK drama Onna Joshu Naotora. He has also written You Don’t Need Faith —An Introduction to Zen (Shinchosha).