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Book Synopsis
As Zen takes root in the west, new forms arise. For centuries Zen masters have tested their students with koans and capping phrases. A koan is a spiritual paradox that must be solved intuitively. A capping phrase is a trenchant comment. Both are meditative practices that reveal deeper truths about the self and, ideally, lead to enlightenment. In Zen Traces, Buddhist scholar Kenneth Kraft plays off these practices in a new idiom. He selects passages from four sources: traditional Zen, present-day Zen, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. When a koan-like story about a contemporary Zen teacher is paired with a pithy comment by Mark Twain, something fresh emerges.

Zen Traces: Exploring American Zen with Twain and

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    A Paperback / softback by Kenneth Kraft

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      Publisher: Paul Dry Books, Inc
      Publication Date: 05/06/2018
      ISBN13: 9781589881280, 978-1589881280
      ISBN10: 1589881281
      Also in:
      Personal religious testimony and popular inspirational works Spirituality and religious experience Zen Buddhism

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      As Zen takes root in the west, new forms arise. For centuries Zen masters have tested their students with koans and capping phrases. A koan is a spiritual paradox that must be solved intuitively. A capping phrase is a trenchant comment. Both are meditative practices that reveal deeper truths about the self and, ideally, lead to enlightenment. In Zen Traces, Buddhist scholar Kenneth Kraft plays off these practices in a new idiom. He selects passages from four sources: traditional Zen, present-day Zen, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. When a koan-like story about a contemporary Zen teacher is paired with a pithy comment by Mark Twain, something fresh emerges.

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