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Rating: 
Summary: empty
Review: Again another of Thomas Cleary's master-works. This text is informative from both an historical/anthropological perspective, and a spiritually instructive one. I think that with all these translations of great Zen Masters, it is the profundity in the Masters' teaching that is the most noteable point in the text. Thomas Cleary does well to stay well out of view.
Rating:
Summary: empty
Review: Again another of Thomas Cleary's master-works. This text is informative from both an historical/anthropological perspective, and a spiritually instructive one. I think that with all these translations of great Zen Masters, it is the profundity in the Masters' teaching that is the most noteable point in the text. Thomas Cleary does well to stay well out of view.
Rating:
Summary: Right up there with the Platform Sutra. Absolutely amazing
Review: Cleary's translation (not "illustration!") of the Denkoroku is poignant, engaging, and by far one of the profoundest texts I've ever encountered. The extremely lucid teachings of nonduality contained within will certainly be of use to both the beginning Buddhist and advanced practioner, and will help to dispel the dualistic thinking that even some "experienced" Zennists persistently cling to. Keizan Zenji's message is strikingly clear:
"Furthermore, for long eons now how many times have you gone through birth and death, how many times have you come to produce and destroy mind and body? Some may think that this coming and going in birth and death is a dream, an illusion--what a laugh! Is there something that is born and dies, comes and goes, anyway? What would you call the real human body? What do you call dream illusions?
"Therefore you should not understand life and death as empty illusions either, nor should you understand them as true reality. . . . [B]oth or these understandings are wrong when you reach here. . . .
"If you want to know the reason why, it is because this realm is not affected by becoming, substinence, decay, and annihilation. How can selfhood and otherness be considered causeless? When you have forgotten outside objects and abandoned conditioned thought within, and 'even the clear sky gets a beating,' you are clean and naked, bare and untrammeled. If you perceive minutely, you will be empty and spiritual, clear and sublime."
It doesn't get any higher than that. I don't know why this book isn't more popular. Then again, perhaps it's just too deep for the American "Zen of such-and-such" society, who are content to live with a clear mind without ever discering what it actually is.
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book for you.
Review: Transmission of Light is just what American "Tricyclist" Zen students need - a smart whack to cut through the standard delusions derived from half-baked American Zen teachers. Cleary-roshi wields a sharp stick; this is the stick handed down from Dogen-roshi. This book makes it very easy to become fully enlightened and finally get beyond birth and death and Buddha. Please do not believe that enlightenment is difficult - you are already enlightened and just don't know it. Please consider this. Each Master in the Lineage of Zen has realized the original blessing of original enlightenment. After realization they actualize Buddhahood for all beings just by being themselves. This is the state of "no where to go, nothing to do"; the freedom to be just as you are. Each of the Transmissions of Light in this book are of that pivotal moment in consciousness where a conscious Buddha was born. And you are standing right there fully sharing in that historical transmission. Transmission is a kensho event where conceptions fall away revealing the original state of One Mind that we continually share with each other. As you are read these words, we share consciousness. While reading these stories of transmission, you will share a single mind with a previous Buddha sharing with a future Buddha - at that point you become the present Buddha. You may want to do zazen to remove any doubts that remain, but this is not necessary. Transmission is not a passing from one to another but the sharing of a rich and subtle awareness. The stories in
this book share the transmission with you. When you go in and out of the garden, you will be carrying flowers. For a different version of this same book, you may want to
read Hixon's "Living Buddha Zen", which is Keizan's Denkoroku (this Transmission of Light) reinterpreted by a modern person who became enlightened after reading it.
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book for you.
Review: Transmission of Light is just what American "Tricyclist" Zen students need - a smart whack to cut through the standard delusions derived from half-baked American Zen teachers. Cleary-roshi wields a sharp stick; this is the stick handed down from Dogen-roshi. This book makes it very easy to become fully enlightened and finally get beyond birth and death and Buddha. Please do not believe that enlightenment is difficult - you are already enlightened and just don't know it. Please consider this. Each Master in the Lineage of Zen has realized the original blessing of original enlightenment. After realization they actualize Buddhahood for all beings just by being themselves. This is the state of "no where to go, nothing to do"; the freedom to be just as you are. Each of the Transmissions of Light in this book are of that pivotal moment in consciousness where a conscious Buddha was born. And you are standing right there fully sharing in that historical transmission. Transmission is a kensho event where conceptions fall away revealing the original state of One Mind that we continually share with each other. As you are read these words, we share consciousness. While reading these stories of transmission, you will share a single mind with a previous Buddha sharing with a future Buddha - at that point you become the present Buddha. You may want to do zazen to remove any doubts that remain, but this is not necessary. Transmission is not a passing from one to another but the sharing of a rich and subtle awareness. The stories in
this book share the transmission with you. When you go in and out of the garden, you will be carrying flowers. For a different version of this same book, you may want to
read Hixon's "Living Buddha Zen", which is Keizan's Denkoroku (this Transmission of Light) reinterpreted by a modern person who became enlightened after reading it.
Rating:
Summary: How to attain the enlightening experience of satori
Review: Transmission Of Light: Zen In The Art Of Enlightenment is a fascinating translation of the classic Denkoroku, attributed to Zen Master Keizan (1268-1325), and presenting timeless wisdom in how to attain the enlightening experience of satori. Fifty-three short tales about spiritual awakening and more are smoothly translated by Thomas Cleary, who is himself an experienced translator of Taoist writings. Transmission Of Light: Zen In The Art Of Enlightenment is a highly recommended and rewarding reading for serious students of Zen Buddhism.
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