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Zen Sand Navigates Between
Insight and Language
 Zen
Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice is a classic collection
of verses aimed at aiding practitioners of koan meditation to negotiate the
difficult relationship between insight and language. As such, it represents
a major contribution to both Western Zen practice and English-language Zen scholarship.
This UH Press book was written by Victor Sogen Hori, an ordained Zen monk and
an associate professor of Japanese religions at McGill University.
In Japan the traditional Rinzai Zen koan curriculum includes the use of jakugo,
or "capping phrases." Once a monk has successfully replied to a koan,
the Zen master orders the search for a classical verse to express the monk's
insight into the koan. Special collections of these jakugo were compiled as
handbooks to aid in that search. Until now, Zen students in the West, lacking
this important resource, have been severely limited in carrying out this practice.
Zen Sand combines and translates two standard jakugo handbooks and opens
the way for incorporating this important tradition fully into Western Zen practice.
For the scholar, Zen Sand provides a detailed description of the jakugo
practice and its place in the overall koan curriculum, as well as a brief history
of the Zen phrase book. This volume also contributes to the understanding of
East Asian culture in a broader sense.
The Buzz
"The whole literary and cultural baggage of Zen Buddhism--key Buddhist
concepts, Confucian and Taoist adages, the most famous figures of Chinese history
and legend, the most widely quoted lines of the great Chinese poets—all
in one book. Zen Sand is a gold mine!"
—Burton Watson
To order a copy of Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice
go to the UH
Press Web site.
—Book description from UH Press
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