Seeing through Zen : encounter, transformation, and genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism /
John R. McRae.
- Berkeley : University of California Press, c2003.
- xx, 204 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
"A Philip E. Lilienthal book"--1st prelim. p.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-193) and index.
McRae's rules of Zen studies -- Looking at lineage : a fresh perspective on Chan Buddhism -- Beginnings : differentiating/connecting Bodhidharma and the East mountain teaching -- Metropolitan Chan : imperial patronage and the Chan Style -- The riddle of encounter dialogue : Who, What, When, and Where? -- Zen and the art of fund-raising : religious vitality and institutional dominance in the Song Dynasty -- Climax paradigm : cultural polarities and patterns of self-cultivation in Song-Dynasty Chan.
Using modern critical techniques, supported by recent manuscript discoveries, John McRae shows how a skeptical, accurate & productive assessment of Chan lineages may be made. He offers new, accessible analytic models for the interpretation of Chan spiritual practices & religious history.