A Walk to the Stupa: Silent Illumination

This book is a Kung'an - a living "case" that presents seeds of wisdom in existential life experience and personal catharsis, from me to you. Mike, a young man in crisis, walks a mountain trail with Shifu, an elderly Chan monk, to a sacred stupa. From the transformative experience of Mozhao to sharing a tuna sandwich on the stupa steps, the walk is an immersion into Asian culture and Eastern philosophy. Hanshan Deqing often used the metaphor that the bitterness of life and the sourness of social duty are both resolved in the sweetness of the Tao. This deep cultural immersion is the bridge: a Chan monk with the spirit of a Taoist mountain hermit. Here are the roots of Hongzhi Zhengjue's Book of Serenity and the Caodong lineage, with contextual essays on silent illumination (¿¿) and the Mozhao-Chuandeng distinction. Original translations. Multilingual glossary written in English with Cantonese and Japanese throughout. Twenty-five full-color photographs. Large print. Spacious, beautiful, and easy to read - a book designed to be experienced, not endured. One of a kind. Au, Yet Ming (¿¿¿) lived and mentored under masters from and in China, Japan, Tibet, and Hawaii. His teachers have all passed, but not before handing down the essence of attainment.