The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu [first edition]

Joshu Jushin, also known as Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen (778–897), was one of the great Ch'an (Zen) masters of ancient China. Many of the best-known Zen koans originated with Joshu (including the famous "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"), and his importance as a teacher can be measured by the prevalence of his sayings in the great koan anthologies of Zen literature: of the forty-eight koans collected in the Gateless Gate, five are Joshu's, and among the one hundred koans of the Blue Cliff Record, twelve are his. It is said of Joshu that his lips emitted light because his profound teaching often brought students to immediate insight. Although Joshu's life itself is an embodiment of the Zen ideal, it was this particular ability to express the true nature of the enlightened mind in a way that was pithy and succinct that made his teaching so influential. His sayings and dialogues have been preserved in the Zen literature as timeless and potent manifestations of the enlightened experience. Included here is the first complete translation of Joshu's sayings, Zen dialogues, poems, and records of his pilgrimages, as well as a short biography.