Colleagues,
This is to announce publication of my new book, Just This Is It:
Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness (Shambhala), 256 pages, ISBN:
978-1-61180-228-3
Comments:
“Just This Is It, the latest book by eminent scholar-priest Taigen Dan
Leighton, provides a masterful exposition of the life and teachings of
Chinese Chan master Dongshan, the ninth century founder of the Caodong
school, later transmitted by Dōgen to Japan as the Sōtō sect. True to
the traditional sources yet with a distinctively contemporary flavor,
Leighton is masterful in weaving together specific approaches evoked
through stories about and sayings by Dongshan to create a powerful and
inspiring religious vision. Leighton brings to light the panoramic
approach to kōans characteristic of this lineage, including the works of
Dōgen. This book serves as a significant contribution to Dōgen studies,
brilliantly explicating his views throughout.”
—Steven Heine, Florida International University, author of Did Dōgen Go
to China?: What he Wrote and When He Wrote It
“Like most Chan/Zen texts, this unique book focuses on stories, but
better than translating them, Leighton tells the story in his own words,
breaking into direct translation wherever helpful. Many larger Buddhist
Studies themes appear in the book and are spelled out in relation to the
Chan stories of Dongshan, with scholarly citations. The Introduction to
the book is excellent, easy to read, and informative. This is a very
good book, Leighton's best one of many. I will use it in classes as soon
as it's available.”
—Dale Wright, Occidental College, author of The Six Perfections:
Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character.
"I am very happy to see your new book on Dongshan. Over the past few
years I have come to realize more and more just how much Japanese Soto
teachers looked to their Chinese ancestors for inspiration. I hope your
book will help encourage more interest in the Chinese side of the
tradition."
-William Bodiford, UCLA, author of Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan
Description:
Leighton offers his commentaries to major koans involving Dongshan
Liangjie (807–869: Jpn: Tōzan Ryōkai). Along with extensive comments
from classic Zen figures such as Hongzhi and Dōgen, as well as
contemporary Buddhist scholars on this list, commentaries are included
from modern figures like Krishnamurti, Jack London, Rimbaud, Lewis
Carroll, and Bob Dylan. This brings to life Buddhist themes in
Dongshan’s stories, and makes them comprehensible from a variety of
perspectives. The book includes a chapter on the five degrees (aka
ranks) attributed to Dongshan.
Author:
Taigen Dan Leighton is the co-translator and editor of several Zen
texts, including Dōgen's Extensive Record: A Translation of Eihei
Kōroku, and he is the author of Visions of Awakening Space and Time:
Dōgen and the Lotus Sutra; Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva
Archetypes and Their Modern Expression; and Zen Questions: Zazen, Dōgen,
and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry. He has published articles in many
books and journals. Leighton formerly taught at Loyola University
Chicago and currently teaches online at the Institute of Buddhist
Studies of the Graduate Theological Union, from where he has a Ph.D.
Contents:
Major figures in the Caodong Lineage
Introduction: Dongshan’s Context in Zen
Part one The Search for Suchness
1. Nonsentient Beings Expounding Dharma
2. Depicting This Reality
3. Yunyan’s Journey to Suchness
Part two Teachings of Suchness
4. No Grass for Ten Thousand Miles
5. Beyond Heat or Cold
6. The White Rabbit
7. The Bird’s Path
8. On the Mountaintop
9. A Person of Suchness
10. Always Close
11. Caring for the One Not Ill
Part three The Fivefold Suchness
12. The Jewel Mirror Samādhi
13. The Five Degrees
Dan Leighton
Institute of Buddhist Studies
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
