The Kōan : texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The Kōan : texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism
Oxford University Press, 2000
- : cl
- : paper
Available at 15 libraries
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Koans are enigmatic spiritual formulas used for religious training in the Zen Buddhist tradition. This innovative religious practice is one of the most distinctive elements of this tradition, which originated in medieval China and spread to Japan and Korea. Perhaps no dimension of Asian religous has attracted so much interest in the West, and its influence is apparent from beat poetry to deconstructive literary critisism. The essays collected in this volume, all
previously unpublished, argue that our understanding of the koan tradition has been severely limited. The authors try to undermine stereotypes and problematic interpretations by examining previously unrecognized factors in the formation of the tradition, and by highlighting the rich complexity and
remarkable diversity of koan practice and literature.
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