'Who kills the mnd? Master Shosan is a samurai/detective on the trail of the mystery. Read further. The butler definitely didn't do it.'-Stephen Levine, author of Who Dies?

Suzuki Shosan is among the most dramatic personalities in the history of Zen. A samurai who served under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the seventeenth century, he became a Zen monk at age 41 and evolved a highly original teahing style imbued with the warrior spirit. The warrior's life, Shosan believed, was particularly suited to Zen study because it demanded vitality, courage, and 'death energy,' the readiness to confront death at any moment. Emphasizing dynamic activity over quiet contemplation, Shosan urged students to realize enlightenment in the midst of their daily tasks, whether tilling fields, selling wares, or confronting an enemy in the heat of battle. Long popular in Japan but little known to the West, Shosan is presented here to Western readers in a sparkling translation and with a comprehensive introduction that brings alive his unique and coloful teaching.

Arthur Braverman, who has lived in Tokyo and Kyoto, where he studied Zen, is the author/translator of Mud and Water, talks by the fouteenth-century Zen master Bassui. He now teaches in southern California.

'Suzuki Shosan's...Zen teachings are particularly well-suited to the needs of modern peope, (and) Arthur Braverman has produced a first-rate work that gives (his) words new life in English...This translation will be of interest to a wide range of readers: scholars, college students, and general readers, anyone interested in Buddhism, Japanese culture, or Asian thought.'-William Bodiford, Assistant Professor, Japanese Buddhism, UCLA.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Forwword by Pico Iyer
Introduction
Translator's Note
Part 1 Unorthodox Zen
Part 2 Talks and letters on traditional zen topics
Shosan and the Ten Oxherding Pictures
Shosan and the Zen Koan
Miscellaneous Writings and Talks
Shosan's Buddhism and the sedcular world
Notes
Glossary