Games Zen Masters Play

Politics & Social Sciences

Reginald Horace Blyth

Philosophy

Signet

This is not a dry scholarly book on Zen. It is a fascinating introduction into a study of self-enlightenment and inner reason that has been a driving force of all Japanese culture. Written by Reginal Horace Blyth (1898-1964) this is a volume free of the dry pedantry that has hobbled so many well meaning French and English studies of Zen. It is free also of the breathless mystery-mongering that unfortunately has bloated American Zen. Blyth reads easily. The questions he poses; the views he offers....all lead to a sense of inner self and an awakening of an awareness of the surrounding universe and one's relationship to it. After discussing "What is Zen?" (and what isn't) Blyth sketches a history of Zen dating from 1000 B.C. to715 A.D., the year of the death of the Sixth patriarch, Huineg. With a historical background thus established, Blyth next provides translations and commentary on some of the most important and basic Zen literature in existence. For the Zen initiate then, this book is an excellent beginning. For the practitioner, further meaningful revelations await.

Zen and Zen Classics: General Introduction from the Upanishads to Huineng

Religion & Spirituality

Hinduism

Tuttle Pub

Japanese Haiku poetry in four-volume set, illustrated.

Haiku (Spring, Summer-Autumn, Autumn, Autumn-Winter, Volumes 1-4)

Toyko: Hokuseido

It was R.H Blyth's belief that "all that is good in European literature and culture is simply and solely that which is in accordance with the Spirit of Zen." He thereafter applied himself to the task of searching the writings of East and West in an attempt to discover that Spirit. Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics embraces the classical literature of China and Japan and the whole extent of English literature, with numerous quotations not only from English but also from French, German, Italian, and Spanish writing. Don Quixote has a chapter all to himself, and the author considers him possibly the purest example in all of world literature of a man who lives by Zen. In English, the Zen attitude toward life is found most consistently in Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Dickens, and Stevenson. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Zen, haiku, or indeed English literature.  R.H. Blyth was born in London in 1898 and studied English literature at London University. He traveled extensively in the East before moving first to Korea and then Japan and teaching English at several universities. Blyth eventually became the English tutor to the Crown Prince of Japan. He also studied Zen Buddhism under Kayama Taigi Roshi. Blyth was interned during the war years, and it was during this time that he wrote his first book, Zen in English Literature. He went on to write numerous other books on Zen, haiku, senryu, and humor. Blyth was a man whose sensibility took root in two disparate cultures and found a harmony that he beautifully and effectively communicated in his writing.

Zen in English Literature & Oriental Classics

Buddhism

Japan Publications Trading Co.

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Books by Reginald Horace Blyth