Synopses & Reviews
In
Infinite Circle, one of America’s most distinctive Zen teachers takes a back-to-basics approach to Zen. Glassman illuminates three key teachings of Zen Buddhism, offering line-by-line commentary in clear, direct language:
·The Heart Sutra: the Buddha’s essential discourse on emptiness, a central sutra of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
·“The Identity of Relative and Absolute”: an eighth-century poem by Shih-t’ou His-ch’ien, a key text of the Soto Zen school.
·The Zen precepts: the rules of conduct for laypeople and monks.
His commentaries are based on workshops he gave as Abbot of the Zen Community of New York, and they contain within them the principles that became the foundation for the Greyston Mandala of community development organizations and the Zen Peacemaker Order.
Review
"This fascinating book is wise and to the point. It is an informative and invaluable guide to the practice of Zen and the actualization of the Way." Joan Halifax Roshi
Review
"What an inspiring teacher Bernie is! Strong and definite, yet always in contact with the unknown, his practice has been challenging and opening up American Zen for a long time. Now in Infinite Circle we get his clear explanations of the key texts and teachings of traditional Soto Zen. His expression is simple and straightforward, with wonderful metaphors that make subtle concepts concrete. This is a watershed book for Zen students, a good study companion and trustworthy guide." Zoketsu Norman Fischer, San Francisco Zen Center
About the Author
Bernie Glassman is a Zen master and the first dharma successor to Taizan Maezumi Roshi, founder of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. As Abbot of the Zen Center of New York, Roshi Glassman founded the Greystone Mandala of community development organizations in Yonkers, New York. He is also the cofounder of the Zen Peacemaker Order, an international order of social activists engaged in peacemaking and Zen practice, and of the Peacemaker Community, an interfaith global community of peacemakers who integrate spiritual practice with their social action paths. Currently, Bernie Glassman teaches and travels, giving talks and workshops on spiritually based peacemaking, and leading the street retreats for which he is well known.
Glassman is also the author of Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace, and, with Taizan Maezumi Roshi, On Zen Practice I & II and The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment.