Dear Friends in the Dharma,
It is a great honor and pleasure to announce the publication of The Formless Record of the Transmission of Illumination: A Contemporary Commentary on Keizan Zenji’s Denkoroku
by Inoue Gien Roshi. This is the first volume of a projected
four-volume series of a translation by Keiko Ohmae and me in which Inoue
Roshi provides a masterly commentary on Keizan Zenji’s monumental work.
In the Denkoroku, Keizan Zenji expounded on the essence of the
Buddha’s enlightenment and its transmission through fifty-two
generations of buddha-ancestors.
Volume
I of this translation begins with Shakyamuni Buddha and goes through
the twelfth ancestor, Asvaghosa. It examines the circumstances through
which each ancestor met their teacher and attained realization. Keizan
Zenji furthermore explored the way in which each of their stories was
intimately connected to the practice of Zen. Inoue Roshi offers us a
timely update in his commentary on this important work, assuring one and
all that we, as we are now, are the same as the buddhas and that the
practice of zazen is the way for each person to verify this for
themselves.
Published by Dharma Spring Press. 274 pages. Available from Amazon. $18.95. -
2024 is the 700th
anniversary of Keizan Zenji’s death. There will surely be heightened
interest in the coming year in Keizan Zenji’s accomplishments including
his masterwork the Denkoroku.
Nine bows,
Daigaku Rummé
Confluence Zen Center
St. Louis, MO
