Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei [Paperback]

Yoshito Hakeda (Editor), Peter Haskel (Translator), Mary Farkas (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 1994

The eccentric Bankei (1622–1693) has long been an underground hero in the world of Zen. At a time when Zen was becoming overly formalized in Japan, he stressed its relevance to everyday life, insisting on the importance of naturalness and spontaneity. This volume presents his teachings — as refreshing and iconoclastic today as they were three hundred years ago — in a fluent translation by Peter Haskel, accompanied by a vivid account of Bankei’s life and times, illustrations, and extensive notes for the scholar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802131840
• ISBN-13: 978-0802131843
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abiding in the Unborn Buddha Mind., June 1, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei (Paperback)

BANKEI ZEN : Translations from the Record of Bankei by Peter Haskel. Edited by Yoshito Hakeda. 196 pp. New York : Grove Press, 1984.

If Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is Zen's supersonic jet, Bankei (1622-1693) is its horse-and-buggy. But when it's simply a matter of getting from point A to point A, since what we are looking for is no further than the end of our nose, either type of conveyance will suffice.

Dogen transports us to the stratospheric heights of Zen. His thought is totally brilliant and hyper-sophisticated, and once you get a taste of him you may find yourself completely captivated. Those who may be interested might care to take a look at Kazuaki Tanahashi's fine anthology, 'Moon in a Dewdrop : Writings of Zen Master Dogen.'

Bankei, in contrast, is a very different kettle of fish. For him the sutras, the koans, and the works of the great Chinese Masters were so much waste paper we needn't be bothering our heads about. Very much a man of the people, and immensely popular in his day, his following, as Haskel tells us, "embraced nearly every segment of Japanese society : samurai with their families and retainers, merchants, artisans, farmers, servants, even gamblers and gangsters, as well as monks and nuns of all the Buddhist sects" (page xvii). All of them, in crowds that could number over a thousand, would flock from all parts of Japan to listen to his unusual teaching.

What was the teaching that held such a powerful appeal for so many different kinds of people? Basically Bankei's Zen of the Unborn is simplicity itself, and can, as Haskel points out, be reduced to just three points: "What we have from our parents innately is the Unborn Buddha Mind and nothing else"; "The Buddha Mind is Unborn and marvelously illuminating, and with the Unborn everything is perfectly managed"; "Abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind!" (page xxxii).

Enlightenment, for Bankei, in other words, is not the prerogative of some sort of spiritual elite but is everyone's birthright. We don't need to undergo some sort of extensive training or arduous discipline to realize it because it's always been there. What gets in the way of the free and unobstructed flow of the Buddha Mind which we all possess is our selfishness, our habit of judging things as good or bad. All we need to do to return to our original nature is to LET GO NOW!

For the rest I'll have to refer you to Peter Haskel's fine Introduction to Bankei's life and thought, and to his selections from Bankei's sermons, instructions, poems, and letters. Haskel spent ten years working on this book, and he has succeeded brilliantly in bringing maverick straight-talking Bankei, and his times and the people who flocked to hear him, vividly before us. One can hear the authentic tones of a loving and concerned and no-nonsense Bankei as he urges his flock to set aside all preconceptions and just let the marvelously illuminating Unborn Mind manage all things perfectly for them:

"Everyone, do exactly as I'm telling you, and, following my instructions, start by trying to abide in the Unborn for thirty days. Learn to abide in the Unborn for thirty days, and from there on, even if you don't want to - whether you like it or not - you'll just naturally HAVE to abide in the Unborn. You'll be a success at abiding in the Unborn! Since that which is Unborn is the Buddha Mind, you'll be functioning with the Buddha Mind at all times. That way you'll be living buddhas here today, won't you? So listen to my teaching just as if today you were all born anew and starting afresh. . . ." (page 19, my caps for italics in original).

For the famous Zen scholar, D. T. Suzuki - who himself compiled an early edition of Bankei - Dogen, Hakuin, and Bankei were Japan's three greatest Zen Masters. If you have never read Bankei, I can assure you that you're in for a treat. But read him in Haskel's translation as it's never been bettered.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy both!, April 30, 2004

By 

Joseph P. Reel (Pacific Grove, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei (Paperback)

As of this date, there are only two comprehensive English translations of this essential teaching on the nature of Zen: Norman Waddell's The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei and Peter Haskel's Bankei Zen.

Much of what I offered in my posted review of Waddell's translation would equally apply to the Haskel text reviewed here. Subjectively, I feel that the Waddel version is a slightly more fluid read. Bankei Zen, however, offers the additional benefits of selected letters and poems including Bankei's famous "Song of the Original Mind." Photographs of his calligraphy, paintings, and intricately carved statues further enhance the text.

Both volumes were originally published in 1984, and there is inevitable overlap between the two texts. Nevertheless, they are complementary and each has its own merit. I have personally benefited from reading both.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The great teachings of Master Bankei, October 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei (Paperback)

A great gem of a book for any seeker. Master Bankei's teachings revolved around the principal that we are all a part of the Unborn-here and now and that once we abide in that no other knowledge or practice is really necessary. His teachings mainly point this out from many angles based on peoples questions and issues at the time. After many years of his own struggle as a seeker he came to the realization that since everything arises from the Unborn we are all Buddhas once we really abide in the Unborn, which is possible NOW without any other knowledge. He felt that seekers distanced themselves from this very direct teaching by doing too many things like working on koans or spending a lot of time reading religious Buddhist texts, all the while missing the Unborn Buddha Mind right now that is always present. It seems hard to believe but Master Bankei very profoundly and intelligently makes a great case for this teaching in this wonderful book. I strongly recommend it. It is along the lines of the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and more recently Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now & Stillness Speaks).