The Blue Cliff Record - by Yuanwu & Hsueh Tou Ch'ung Hsien (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A classic of Zen Buddhist literature, this compilation of twelfth-century Zen koans includes commentary and verses from the great Chinese Zen masters

The Blue Cliff Record is a translation of the Pi Yen Lu, a collection of one hundred famous Zen koans accompanied by commentaries and verses from the teachings of Chinese Zen masters. Compiled in the twelfth century, it is considered one of the great treasures of Zen literature and an essential study manual for students of Zen.

Review Quotes

"The cases comprising [this volume] are meticulously yet gracefully rendered, and should make this classic welcome to both scholars and Zen students, and even casual readers. A nice addition is the inclusion of biographical information about the Chinese masters."
--Library Journal

"The Blue Cliff Record reveals to us what enlightenment is, what the enlightened life is, how the patriarchs and masters of old struggled with it, attained it, actualized it, and accomplished it . . . I firmly believe this translation is a milestone and will immensely benefit those who are sincerely engaged in the practice and the enlightenment of the Buddha-way."
--from the foreword by Taizan Maezumi Roshi

About the Author

Thomas Cleary holds a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. He is the translator of over fifty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic texts from Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Pali, and Arabic. A resident of Oakland, California, he passed away in June 2021.

J. C. Cleary holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. He has translated several books of Zen literature, including Zen Dawn.