Discovering the True Self: Kodo Sawaki's Art of Zen Meditation

Kodo Sawaki

Sep 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by David Shih

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5 hr 58 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

"You can't see your true Self. [But] you can become it. Becoming your true Self is zazen." As an orphan in the slums of Tsu City, Japan, Kodo Sawaki had to fight his way to adulthood, and became one of the most respected Zen masters of the twentieth century. He had a great understanding of Dogen Zenji's teaching and he knew how to express Dogen's philosophy. Sawaki's primary mission was to bring all people to an awareness of the Self, which he believed came through Zen meditation. His humor and straightforward talk garnered Sawaki followers from all walks of life. Though he remained poor by choice, he was rich in spirit. Two of his students who became known in America as well as in Japan were Kosho Uchiyama, abbot of Antaiji Temple and author of Opening The Hand of Thought, and Gudo Nishijima, Zen teacher and translator of Dogen's Shobogenzo. A student of Kosho Uchiyama, Arthur Braverman has compiled an anthology of Sawaki's writings and a garland of sayings gathered from throughout his lifetime. One of a few collections of Sawaki's teachings published in English, his life and work bracket the most intriguing and influential period of modern Zen practice in Japan and America.

About the author

Kodo Sawaki (1880-1965) was one of the most influential Soto Zen teachers of the twentieth century. He was born in Tsu City, Japan.

An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, David Shih narrated the History Channel documentary China's First Emperor and the Discovery Networks series Royal Inquest. His many television and film credits include roles in The Path, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, All My Children, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Saving Face.

Arthur Braverman grew up in New York City and became interested in Zen Buddhism in his early twenties. After serving two years in the US Peace Corps in Nigeria, he went to Japan to practice meditation. There he met Kosho Uchiyama and decided to practice at Antaiji in Kyoto while studying the writing of Dogen Zenji.

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