“Studying is most useful to allow one to put into words what one has already experienced“
Sutra Study Group
We select a text to study together online, one evening a month. For further details, email the Helpdesk in the first instance
This Spring we’re studying the Heart Sutra (Maha Hannya Haramita Shingyo), which is chanted daily in Zen temples throughout the world. We chant it (in Sino-Japanese) practically every time we meet to practise together at the Dojo, so it’s a core scripture for us. However, perhaps because of its very compressed form, it is easy to miss the deep meaning of this text.
Study Group Resources
Audio files
- Genjokoan, Part 1 23 mins, Early paragraphs of the Genjokoan, Chris Sei Ho Preist
- Genjokoan, Part 2 13 mins, Later paragraphs of the Genjokoan, Chris Sei Ho Preist
- Bendowa, Teisho 1-3 27 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Fukan Zazen Gi – Teisho 14 mins, Chris Sei Ho Preist, MP3 file
- Fukan Zazen Gi, Teisho 1-3 24 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Fukan Zazen Gi, Teisho 4-6 27 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Genjokoan, Teisho 1-4, 50 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Genjokoan, Teisho 5-8, 41 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Maka Hannya Haramitsu, Teisho 12 mins, John Brown, MP3 file
- Mondo Question – The Value of Study 3 mins, Chris Sei Ho Preist, MP3 file
- Kusen – On Thought in Zen 7 mins, Chris Sei Ho Preist, MP3 file
- Various Forms of Meditation* 44 mins, Chris Sei Ho Preist
* see important note on main Study page
Print and screen texts
- Bendowa Study Text Nishijima & Cross, Windbell, PDF file
- Fukan Zazen Gi A4 landscape trifold, PDF file
- Fukan Zazen Gi Okumura translationTenpuku-bon and Rufu-bon texts, PDF file
- Genjokoan Study Text Okumura translation, PDF file
- Heart Sutra Study Text six translations plus a short commentary, PDF file
- Platform Sutra, Hui Neng, A. F. Price and Wong Mou-Lam (online version)
- Ikka Myoju Study Text Soto Zen Text Project translation, PDF file
- Maka Hannya Haramitsu Study Text Nishijima & Cross, PDF file
- Shobogenzo Zuimonki extract from Soto Zen (see below), PDF file
- Shushogi, a text summarising parts of the Shobogenzo, PDF file
- Sokushin Zebutsu Allen & Tanahashi translation, PDF file
- Tenzo Kyokun extract from How to Cook Your Life (see below), PDF file
- Uji, extract from Shobogenzo, Tanahashi (Ed.) (see below), PDF file
Other resource suggestions (PDF book downloads)
- Soto Zen: An Introduction to Zazen, Sotoshu Shumucho (2002)
- Shobogenzo-zuimonki, Shohaku Okumura, Sotoshu Shumocho (2015)
- Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo-Book 1, Gudo Nishijima & Chodo Cross, Windbell (2008)
- Tenzo Kyokun, How to Cook Your Life, Kosho Uchiyama, Shambahla (2013)
- The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, Thich Nhat Hanh, Parallax (2006)
- The Heart of Understanding (cf. ‘The Other Shore’), Thich Nhat Hahn, Parallax (1988)
- Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Tanahashi (Ed.), Shambhala (2012)
- Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, Charles Luk, Shambala (1972)
Further reading
The Ring of the Way, Taisen Deshimaru, Rider (1983), ISBN 0-7126-1996-8
Fukan Zazen Gi:
Zen: Simply Sitting, Philippe Coupey, Hohm Press (2006), ISBN 1-890772-61-5
Bendowa:
The Wholehearted Way, Shohaku Okumura & Taigen Dan Leighton, Tuttle (1997-2017) ISBN 8048-31055-X
Genjokoan:
Realizing Genjokoan, Shohaku Okumura, Wisdom (2010) ISBN 0-86171-601-2
Dogen’s Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries, Eihei Dogen Zenji, Counterpoint (2011) ISBN 1-58243-743-2
Shobogenzo:
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Kazuaki Tanahashi (Ed.), Shambhala (2012) ISBN 1-59030-935-3
Shodoka:
Yoka Daishi’s Song of Immediate Awakening, Commentaries by Tasien Deshimaru (English Translation: by Nan Shin Nancy Amphoux & Moku Gyo Adrian Tuttiett), published under licence by: International Zen Association UK