The Flowing Bridge: Guidance on Beginning Zen Koans

by Elaine MacInnes, Ruben L. F. Habito (Foreword), Patrick Gallagher (Editor)

Koans--such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"--have penetrated deeply into popular consciousness. Yet, those who encounter koans in the traditional literature or in the context of exploring Zen practice themselves can often find them utterly baffling.

The Flowing Bridge is the first-ever book to address all of the first koans that Zen students encounter in practice--"What is Mu?" "What is the sound of the single hand?" and the so-called "miscellaneous" koans--that have historically been closely guarded by master and disciple as esoteric treasures.

Elaine MacIness, a Catholic nun and a Zen teacher in the lineage of the renowned master Koun Yamada (author of Wisdom's The Gateless Gate ), offers exceptionally valuable guidance to beginners on how to work with koans-and reveals an uncommon depth of insight and an easy technical mastery of Zen's most misunderstood and most powerful tools. This book is sure to become a classic, standing alongside The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Record as a must-read for anyone seeking Zen's subtlest teachings and deepest power.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2007

About the author

Sister Elaine MacInnes is a Catholic nun and Zen master. She was born in Canada in 1924 and entered Our Lady's Missionaries as an adult. She is particularly known for teaching Zen meditation to prisoners in different countries.

Reviews

[Kelly]

Maybe I will be in a better position to review this book after I attend the Zen meditation retreat that I am going on in a couple of weeks.

[Curtis]

It's ironic that I'm dropping a book about Koans out of confusion, but this text did not feel accessible, and not in the way I think Koans are supposed to feel "hard to get". The structure is confusing, the references and stories are poorly introduced and explained, and it's just not clear where things are supposed to be going. I'm not exaggerating when I say that House of Leaves was genuinely easier to follow than this. This is supposed to be a beginner's guide, but I suppose I'll have to get my start elsewhere.