Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei in Bloomington, MN

The
Blue Cliff Record
is a classic text of Zen Buddhism, designed to assist in the activation of dormant human potential. The core of this extraordinary work is a collection of one hundred traditional citations and stories, selected for their ability to bring about insight and enlightenment. These vignettes are known as
gongan
in Chinese and
koan
in Japanese.
Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record
is a fresh translation featuring newly translated commentary from two of the greatest Zen masters of early modern Japan, Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) of the Rinzai sect of Zen and Tenkei Denson (1648–1735) of the Soto sect of Zen. This translation and commentary on
The Blue Cliff Record
sheds new light on the meaning of this central Zen text.