A Soto Zen scholar traces Zen from Bodhidharma and the Sixth Patriarch through Ei-sai and Do-gen to the Japanese warrior class. He explains the sitting meditation, the awakening of the innermost wisdom and why Zen discipline gave the samurai calm in the face of death.
Books mentioned in The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan (19)
Lotus Sutra: “On one occasion, for instance, Fah Tah (Ho-tatsu), a monk who had read over the Saddharma-pundarika-sutra three thousand times, visited him to be instructed in Zen. "Even if you read the sutra ten thousand times," said the Sixth Patriarch, who could never read the text, "it will do you no good, if you cannot grasp the spirit of the…”
Diamond Sutra: “On questioning the monk, be learned that the book was Vajracchedika-prajnya-paramita-sutra, and that Hung Jan, the Abbot of the Hwang Mei Monastery, was used to make his disciples recite the book that it might help them in their spiritual discipline.”
Lankavatara Sutra: “The anonymous author of Lankavatara-sutra distinguishes the heterodox Zen from the Hinayana Zen, the Hinayana Zen from the Mahayana Zen, and calls the last by the name of the Buddha's Holy Zen.”
Avatamsaka Sutra: “His translation of Dharmatara-dhyana-sutra (which is said to have been preached by Bodhidharma himself when he was in India) and that of Avatamsaka-sutra may be said without exaggeration to have laid the corner-stone for Zen.”
Vimalakirti Sutra: “With this object in view Shakya Muni preached Vimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra, Lankavatara-sutra, and other sutras, in which he compared Hinayanism with Mahayanism, and described the latter in glowing terms as a deep and perfect Law, whilst he set forth the former at naught as a superficial and imperfect one.”
Mahaparinirvana Sutra: “Therefore, the Mahaparinirvana-sutra says: "Tathagata (another name for Buddha) gives life to all beings, just as the lake Anavatapta gives rise to the four great rivers."”
Mahayanacraddhotpada-castra by Asvaghosa: “The sutra is believed by many Buddhists, not without reason, to be the exposition of that Mahayana doctrine which Acvaghosa restated in his Craddhotpada-castra.”
Platform Sutra by Hui-neng: “There exists Luh Tan Fah Pao Tan King (Roku-so-ho-bo-dan-kyo), a collection of his sermons. It is full of bold statements of Zen in its purest form, and is entirely free from ambiguous and enigmatical words that encumber later Zen books.”
Sho-do-ka by Gen-kaku: “His Ching Tao Ko (Sho-do-ka), a beautiful metrical exposition of Zen, is still read by most students of Zen.”
Record of Linji by Linji Yixuan: “It is on this account that Rin-zai declared: 'The twelve divisions of the Buddhist Canon are nothing better than waste paper.'”
Sho-yo-roku by Wan Sung: “For such dialogues, see Sho-yo-roku, Mu-mon-kan, Heki-gan-shu. Fu-kiu's words are repeatedly quoted by Zen masters.”
Kei-toku-den-to-roku by Daoyuan: “King Teh Chwen Tang Luh (Kei-toku-den-to-roku), published by Tao Yuen (Do-gen) A.D. 1004, gives a detailed narrative concerning this incident as stated here, but earlier historians tell us a different story about the mutilation of Shang Kwang's arm.”
Sho-bo-gen-zo by Do-gen: “Do-gen, the founder of the Japanese So To Sect, severely condemns (in his Sho-bo-gen-zo) the notions of the impurity of women inculcated in the Scriptures.”
Ko-zen-go-koku-ron by Ei-sai: “Taking advantage of the protests, Ei-sai wrote a book entitled Ko-zen-go-koku-ron ('The Protection of the State by the Propagation of Zen'), and not only explained his own position, but exposed the ignorance of the protestants.”
Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou: “Chwang Tsz (So-shi), the greatest of Chinese philosophers, says: "Thou knowest the music of men, but not the music of the earth. Thou knowest the music of the earth, but not the music of the heaven."”
Tao Te Ching by Laozi: “The same idea and expression are found in Tao Teh King (Do-toku-kyo), by Lao Tsz (Ro-shi, 604-522 B.C.).”
Mencius by Mencius: “The first of these opinions was proposed by a most reputed Confucianist scholar, Mencius, and his followers, and is still adhered to by the majority of the Japanese and the Chinese Confucianists. Mencius thought it as natural for man to do good as it is for the grass to be green.”
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism by D. T. Suzuki: “An English translation of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, by Kern, is given in 'Sacred Books of the East,' Vol. xxi. Compare these books with 'Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism,' by D. Suzuki.”
The Blue Cliff Record by Yuanwu Keqin: “In the Southern Sung dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279) flourished such masters as Yuen Wu (En-go, died in 1135), the author of Pik Yen Tsih (Heki-gan-shu);”