Customer Reviews

The Book of Rinzai

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Eido Roshi's translation of what has often been called The Rinzai Record is a decent translation by an elder practitioner and lineage holder in the Rinzai tradition. The fact that Eido has spent a lifetime practicing the way of Rinzai helps immeasurably; in contrast to translations by non-practitioners, I sense here a deeper understanding of Rinzai's material and of his manner of presentation.

I do prefer the extensive footnotes of the slightly more recent edition of the Rinzai Record by Ruth Fuller Sasaki and others. Despite some differences in the translations, both are acceptable. And it is most helpful that both translations feature the original text in Chinese.

Rinzai (Chinese: Lin Chi) was one of the founders of Zen (Ch'an) Buddhism. This is a complete translation into English of the Record of Rinzai. The only other one was published by the Buddhist Society in 1975 and is out of print. It is an excellent translation. It strikes a good balance between readability and faithfulness to the text. Highly recommended to understand the origins of Zen doctrine. Besides it is a fun read. The antics of Lin Chi are famous. The point of the bizarre behavior is to shake students up in order to transcend linguistic categories - i.e. enlightenment.