Book Of Equanimity
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''Book of Equanimity'' or ''Book of Serenity'' or ''Book of Composure'' (Chinese: 從容錄, Cóngróng lù; Japanese: 従容錄, ''Shōyōroku'') is a book compiled by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. The book comprises a collection of 100
koan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhist practice in different ways. The main goal of practice in Z ...
s written by the
Chan Buddhist Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit ''dhyāna in Buddhism, dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popula ...
master
Hongzhi Zhengjue Hongzhi Zhengjue (, ), also sometimes called Tiantong Zhengjue (; ) (1091–1157), was an influential Chinese Chan Buddhism, Chan Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential texts. Hongzhi's conception of ''shikantaza, silent illu ...
(1091–1157), together with commentaries by Wansong. Wansong's compilation is the only surviving source for Hongzhi's koans. The full title is ''The Record of the Temple of Equanimity With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong'' (, ''Wansong Laoren Pingchang Tiantong Jue Heshang Songgu Congrong An Lu'', Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 48, No. 2004). Along with '' The Gateless Barrier'', the ''Book of Equanimity'' is considered one of the two primary compilations of
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
dialogue. Shohaku Okumura has called the collection "a classic text that is still studied by Zen students today." Reb Anderson has called it "an auspicious peak in the mountain range of Zen literature, a subtle flowing stream in the deep valleys of our teaching, a treasure house of inspiration and guidance in studying the ocean of Buddhist teachings." Gerry Shishin Wick, who published a translation of ''Book of Equanimity'' in 2005, says "although it was collected by a master in the Soto lineage, The Book of Equanimity, they are treated as Koans in the Rinzai, some Rinzai schools, and the Soto school studied them, but more as liturgy, rather than as Koans."


Kōans included in ''Book of Equanimity''

# The World-Honored One Ascends the Rostrum # Bodhidharma's "Vast and Void" # The Indian King Invites the Patriarch # The World-Honored One Points to the Ground # Seigen's "Price of Rice" # Master Ba's "White and Black" # Yakusan Ascends the Rostrum # Hyakujō and the Fox # Nansen Kills a Cat # An Old Woman near Taizan # Unmon's "Two Diseases" # Jizō Plants the Rice Field # Rinzai's "Blind Donkey" # Attendant Kaku Offers Tea # Kyōzan Thrusts His Hoe into the Ground # Mayoku Shook the Ring-Staff # Hōgen's "Hairsbreadth" # Jōshū's Dog # Unmon's "Mt. Sumeru" # Jizō's "Most Intimate" # Ungan Sweeps the Ground # Gantō's Bow to the Kaatz # Roso Faces the Wall # Seppō's "Look at the Snake" # Enkan's "Rhinoceros Fan" # Kyōzan Points to Snow # Hōgen Points to the Bamboo Blinds # Gokoku's "Three Disgraces" # Fuketsu's "Iron Ox" # Daizui's "Kalpa Fire" # Unmon's "Pillar" # Kyōzan's Mind and Objective World # Sanshō's "Golden Scales" # Fuketsu's "Speck of Dust" # Rakuho's Obeisance # Master Ba Is Ill # Isan's "Karma-Consciousness" # Rinzai's "True Person" # Jōshū's "Wash Your Bowls" # Unmon's "White and Black" # Rakuho at His Deathbed # Nan'yō and the Water Jug # Razan's "Appearing and Disappearing" # Kōyō's "Suparnin" # Four Phrases from the Engaku Sutra # Tokusan's "Study Accomplished" # Jōshū's "Oak Tree in the Garden" # Vimalakirti's "Not-Two" # Tōzan and the Memorial Service # Seppō's "What Is This?" # Hōgen's "Boat or Land" # Sōzan's "Dharma-body" # Ōbaku's "Drinkers" # Ungan's "Great Mercy" # Seppō in Charge of Cooking # Misshi and the White Rabbit # Gon'yō's One "Thing" # "Getting Despised" in the Diamond Sutra # Seirin's "Deadly Snake" # Tetsuma, the Cow # Kempō's "One Line" # Beiko's "Enlightenment" # Shishō's "Succession" # Jōshū Asks about "Death" # Shuzan's "Bride" # Kyūhō's "Head and Tail" # The Wisdom in the Kegon Sutra # Kassan Brandishes the Sword # Nansen's "Cats and Foxes" # Shinsan Asks about Nature # Suigan's "Eyebrows" # Chūyū's "Monkey" # Sōzan's Filial Fulfillment # Hōgen's "Form and Name" # Zuigan's "Everlasting Principle" # Shuzan's Three Verses # Kyōzan: As His Profession Requires # Unmon's "Rice Cake" # Chōsa Takes a Step # Suibi and the Chin Rest # Gensha Reaches the Province # Unmon's "Voice" and "Color" # Dōgo's Nursing the Ill # Gutei's One Finger # The National Teacher's Gravestone # Rinzai's Great Enlightenment # Sozan: With or Without # "Non-Seeing" in the Ryōgon Sutra # Tōzan's "Place of No Grass" # Kyōzan Speaks Out # Nansen and the Peonies # Unmon's "One Treasure" # Roso Does Not Understand # Tōzan Unwell # Rinzai Draws a Line # Kyūhō Does Not Acknowledge # Emperor Dōkō's Helmet Hood # Tōzan's "Intimate with It" # Unmon's "Bowl and Pail" # Rōya's "Mountains and Rivers"


Translations

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See also

*'' 101 Zen Stories'' *'' The Gateless Barrier'' *''
Blue Cliff Record The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekid ...
''


References


External links


''Shōyōroku'' (''Book of Equanimity'')Poems reflecting the ''Book of Equanimity''

Dharma Talks by Shugen Sensei on the ''Book of Equanimity''
* ( at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Equanimity Zen koan collections