Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Ch'an Masters [Paperback]

Shengyan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1987

For the masters of the Chan tradition, poetry was a form of creative expression, but even more than that, it was a primary vehicle for teaching. Here a modern master presents ten teaching poems from the ancient masters, with illuminating commentary. “These poems flow directly from the minds of the enlightened Chan masters,” Master Sheng Yen says. “We get a glimpse into their experience at the time of, and after, their enlightenment. It is my hope that this collection of poems will give those who are interested in the practice a new way of looking at Chan.”

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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 Praise for Sheng Yen:


“When I listen to Master Sheng Yen’s presentation of Chan Buddhist teachings, my immediate and very profound feeling is that I am listening to words of wisdom from someone who is very experienced and a great practitioner.”—His Holiness, the Dalai Lama --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

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Product Details

• Paperback: 103 pages
• Publisher: Dharma Drum Pubns (December 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0960985417
• ISBN-13: 978-0960985418
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A translation of Ch'an/Zen poetry, "the other side of Zen.", December 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Ch'an Masters (Paperback)

On the cover of this book, Master Sheng-yen discusses the overemphasis on the study of koans (kung-ans) and the deficit of literature available on Ch'an (Zen) poetry. The weakness is that "in reading a kung-an we get an objective story of what happened and we don't really know what was in the mind of the participants." On the other hand, "the purpose of these poems is different in that they specifically show you how to practice, what attitudes to cultivate and what pitfalls to be aware of."

In this text, he provides a brief history of the poems and authors, and proceeds to translate the poems. They include "Calming the Mind," "The Mind King," "Faith in Mind" (commentary available in book "Faith in Mind"), "Song of Mind," "Song of Enlightenment" (commentary available in "Sword of Wisdom"), "Inquiry into Matching Halves" and "Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi" (commentary on both poems available in "The Infinite Mirror"), "Silent Illumination" and "Contemplating Mind" (commentary on both poems available in "Getting the Buddha Mind") and "On Clear Mind."

This book is an excellent reference or preview of all of these poems. However, if you are like me, you may need a little more of an explanation. I highly recommend this book for someone who wants to get a taste of Ch'an (Zen) poetry. However, for someone who wants the added benefit of Master Sheng-yen's explanatory powers, I would recommend the above mentioned books to gain the greatest value from each poem.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reflection on different methods for attaining Samadhi, not Enlightenment, July 19, 2010

By 

R. Espiau (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Chan Masters (Paperback)

My take on this book is different than the other reviewers.
As a practitioner of Samatha Vipassana and by Samatha I mean, Jhana; I see this beautiful volume of poems as being the expression of each writers practice. It is wonderful that Sheng Yen put this together and being the Master of Samadhi that he was share his own insights into what he learned from these poems. Truley there are different views for entering samadhi, even among jhana practitioners, though methods carry some similarity, teachers have different styles for delivering those methods to students. WHen I read these poems I have the experience of each teachers method and the insights they arrived at by following their method. I do not have the experience of it going beyond that, since what qualifies for enlightenment varies amongst Chan and Zen schools. I rely more on Shakyamuni's 7 factors myself. I also feel that there is a lot of truth in Mr. Ikeda's review on this book.
I have a deep respect for Master Sheng Yen as years ago I was deeply inspired to practice Chan method seriously through the transcribed talks in Faith in Mind. I learned a lot from Sheng Yen and felt his books are infinitely more practical and clear than the writings by other zen or chan masters today. This book however is Poems from early Chan Masters with commentary by Sheng Yen. If your someone who loves the silence of the mind, if you love the Dao De Ching and writings which are not the expression of the intellect but of the exploration of the nature of consciousness outside of thought then you will enjoy this book as I have.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a nice little book (a friend), April 19, 2006

By 

TOM CORBETT "flakey" (London, England) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Poetry of Enlightenment: Poems by Ancient Ch'an Masters (Paperback)

it was a great pleasure to read some of the classic ch'an/zen poetry on the matter of enlightenment. i wish i could read more of this type of thing. Master Shen has really done a wonderful thing by producing this little book for people in enlish. it is not always possible to be happy in this life, whether enlightened or not, and i only hope that he will have happiness in the latter years of his life and a peaceful birth. thank you master shen.