Mark Zocchi - The Zen Book of Life: Wisdom from the Great Masters, Teachers, and Writers of All Time

Copyright 2019 by Mark Zocchi All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may
quote brief passages. Previously published in 2011 as Zen Wisdom and Other
Masters by Brolga Publishing Pty Ltd, ISBN: 9781921221798. Cover artwork: The Red Dance, watercolour and guache. Tim Hayward.

Private Collection/Bridgeman Images Illustrations by Mark Zocchi, and other select stock sources. Cover and interior design by Kathryn Sky-Peck
Typeset in Weiss Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. Charlottesville, VA 22906 Distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC www.redwheelweiser.com Sign up for our newsletter and special offers by going to
www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter. ISBN: 978-1-64297-004-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request. Printed in Canada MAR 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Inspired by the Buddha and the great Zen masters, the intention of this little book is to help awaken the reader's own wisdom mind. The Zen Book of Life is filled with quotes, Haiku (Zen Poems) and Koans (traditional riddles that a master asks a student to inspire the student's awakening).

Zen is a school of Buddhism that arose in China around the fourth century CE but was refined in Japan when a South Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma allegedly brought the mind only teaching there and started a lineage. There is one teaching that is thought to be central to Zen. One day the Buddha was to give a teaching to huge assembly of monks and nuns gathered. The Buddha did not speak but simply held up a flower. The crowd became restless and eager for the Buddha's teaching to begin. But a senior disciple, Kashaya, only smiled.

The Buddha said Kashaya had understood the teaching and was to be known from then on as Mahakashyapa. Mahakashyapa understood the highest wisdom of the Buddha. In that moment of the Buddha holding up the flower a direct mind-to-mind transmission had occurred and this is seen as the beginning of the Zen lineage. Typically Zen is a direct approach where Haiku and Koan are used to break conceptual thinking leading to a glimpse of satori or enlightenment. This direct teaching or wisdom teaching is known as Zen, Chaun in Chinese and Dzogchen in Tibetan. Any attempt to describe Zen in words will fall short, because they are words and not the experience of Zen.

Or as one Zen master said, The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon. However the blessing of the finger pointing to the moon is that it helps turn our focus in the right direction. May The Zen Book of Life help turn your mind to uncover your own wisdom.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. D.T. SUZUKI Although I try to hold the single thought Of Buddha's teaching in my heart, I cannot help but hear the many crickets' voices calling as well.

ISUMI SHIKIBU We accept the graceful falling Of mountain cherry blossoms, But it is much harder for us To fall away from our own Attachment to the world ZEN WISDOM When my house burned down I gained An unobstructed view of the moonlight sky ZEN WISDOM Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. ALBERT EINSTEIN With plum blossom scent, This sudden sun emerges Along a mountain trail BASHO You the butterfly I, Chuang Tzu's dreaming heart. It is not difficult to keep a beginners mind. There are many possibilities in a beginners mind, but in the expert few.

SUSKI ROSHI Zen is simply... That state of centeredness which is here and now. ALAN WATTS The world? Moonlit water drops From the crane's bill ZEN MASTER DOGEN See the world through your Heart. MZ What delight it is When I blow away ash, To watch the crimson Of the glowing fire And hear the water boil. TACHIBANA AKEMI Sit quietly doing nothing, Spring comes, And the grass grows By itself. ZEN WISDOM (SAYING) Meditating deeply Reach the depth of the source.

Branching streams cannot compare to this source. Sitting alone in a great silence, even though the heavens turn and the earth is upset, you will not even blink NYOGEN SENZAKI There is no place in Buddhism for using effort. Just be ordinary and nothing special. Relieve your bowels, pass water, Put your clothes on and eat your food. Ignorant people will laugh at me, But wise will understand. LIN-CHI Refraining from all evil, Not clinging to birth and death, Working with deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, with out any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation This is what is called Buddha Do not Search beyond it.

ZEN MASTER DOGEN The resting place for the mind is the heart BUDDHIST MONK Do not seek the truth. Only cease to cherish options. ZEN SAYING If we speak of what is real Even a speck of dust or grain of sand is real Yet nothing is real Everything is illusory Like the moon reflected in water Neither real or unreal is the infinite void ZEN POEM, VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST MONK

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