lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on Taoism and Zen Buddhism

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98203 Goldberg, Natalie The Great Spring Writing, Zen, and This Zigzag Life Shambhala, Boulder, 2016. Hardcover, octavo; quarter bound blue boards with dark blue spine and gilt spine titling, green endpapers; 207pp. Minor wear only. Near fine in like dustwrapper. Click here to order $18

203722 Holloway, Kenneth W. The Quest for Ecstatic Morality in Early China Oxford University Press, London, 2013. Octavo paperback; 161pp. Remainder. New. There is an intense love of freedom evident in the "Xing zi mingchu," a text last seen when it was buried in a Chinese tomb in 300 B.C.E. It tells us that both joy and sadness are the ecstatic zenith of what the text terms 'qing'. Combining emotions into qing allows them to serve as a stepping stone to the Dao, the transcendent source of morality for the world. There is a process one must follow to prepare qing: it must be beautified by learning from the classics written by ancient sages. What is absent from the process is any indication that the emotions themselves need to be suppressed or regulated, as is found in most other texts from this time. The Confucian principles of humanity and righteousness are not rejected, but they are seen as needing our qing and the Dao. Holloway argues that the Dao here is the same Dao of Laozi's "Daode jing". As a missing link between what came to be called Confucianism and Daoism, the "Xing zi mingchu" is changing the way we look at the history of religion in early China. Click here to order $20

207818 Humphreys, Christmas A Western Approach to Zen Buddhist Society/George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1971. First UK edition: octavo; hardcover; 212pp., top edges dyed dark red. Mild wear; mild toning to text block edges. Price-clipped dustwrapper mildly rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Very good. Click here to order $28

207335 Jacques, Louise V. Lao Tzu and the Eight Immortals of China and T'ik, T'ak, T'oh - signed A Classic Historical Novel of China George Channing Enterprises, Carmel CA, 1974. Octavo; paperback; 132pp., with maps, a monochrome portrait frontispiece and eight colour plates. Minor wear; signed by the author in ink to the limitations page. Near fine. Laid in: a promotional bookmark. Number 26 of a limited edition print run. Click here to order $45

216014 Kapleau, Roshi Philip (Foreword by Albert Low) Zen: Dawn in the West Rider & Company/Hutchinson Publishing Group, London, 1980. First edition. Octavo; hardcover; red boards with silver gilt spine titling; 311pp. Minor wear; text block edges toned with small mark on side edges. Mild rubbing to dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $35

216035 Layman P'ang (trans. Ruth Fuller Sasaki; Yoshitaka Iriya; Dana R. Fraser) The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang: A Ninth-Century Zen Classic Weatherhill, New York, 1971. First edition. Octavo hardcover; quarter bound brown decorated boards with red cloth spine and gilt spine titling, illustrated brown endpapers; 109pp., b&w illustrations. Upper front board very slightly fanned; a few scattered spots on upper text block edge; bookseller's stamp twice on half-title page. Green and mauve card dustwrapper with lightly worn edges and scraping and chipping at corners, now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Very good. Click here to order $40

203869 Little, Stephen Realm of the Immortals Daoism in the Arts of China Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH, 1988. Quarto paperback; 67pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Remainder, new. Exhibition catalogue. Click here to order $17

207797 Matsunaga, Alicia Orloff The Buddhist Philosophy of Assimilation - A Monumenta Nipponica Monograph The Historical Development of the Honji-Suijaku Theory Sophia University - Tokyo/Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo Japan, 1969. Royal octavo; hardcover, quarter-bound in cloth with decorative papered boards and gilt spine tiles on a black label; 310pp., with 26pp. of monochrome plates and other illustrations likewise. Mild wear; some mild corner-bumping. Price-clipped dustwrapper rubbed and edgeworn; sunned along the spine panel; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $60

216042 Miura, Isshu & Ruth Fuller Sasaki (with reproductions of ten drawings by Hakuin Ekaku) The Zen Koan: Its History and Use in Rinzai Zen Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1965. First edition. Royal octavo quarto hardcover; red cloth boards with gilt spine titling and upper board blind-stamped title in Japanese; 156pp., b&w illustrations. Extensive water stain on lower boards with some red dye permeating lower cover versos, front board slightly fanned, mild rubbing to edges; owner's name on front pastedown and a number stamp on flyleaf; browned text block and page edges. Ochre card dustwrapper with small missing segments on upper edge; some rubbing (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing). Good. Click here to order $65

207395 Ogata, Sohaku Zen for the West Rider & Company, London, 1959. First edition. Octavo hardcover; black decorated boards with white spine titling; 182pp. Offsetting to endpapers and a few scattered spots on prelims; spotting and toning to text block edges. Rubbed yellow illustrated dustwrapper with wear to edges and corners; tiny missing segment and tear to head of spine panel. Very good. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Click here to order $27

205315 Suzuki, Daisetz T. Zen and Japanese Culture Bollingen Series LXIV Princeton University Press, 1973. Third paperback printing. Octavo; 478pp., b&w plates and fold-out illustrations. Well-rubbed cover with creased spine, wear and scraping to edges and corners; lightly toned and spotted text block and page edges. Good to very good. Click here to order $20

53937 Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro Introduction to Zen Buddhism Including "A Manual of Zen Buddhism" Causeway Books, New York NY, 1974. First edition thus: octavo hardcover; beige cloth boards with purple spine titling and top edges dyed red; red endpapers; 192pp., monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; slightly cocked with upper board slightly flexed; text block edges lightly toned and spotted. Dustwrapper rubbed with some scraping and lightly worn at edges, tiny missing segment on head of spine. Good to very good and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Click here to order $25

207402 Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro (illus. Zenchu Sato) The Training of the Zen Buddhist Monk Wehman Bros Publishers, Hackensack, 1959. First edition: hardcover, octavo; beige cloth boards with red spine label and gilt spine titling; 161pp., monochrome plates, top edges dyed mauve. Offsetting to endpapers; toning and spotting to text block edges; slightly rubbed, illustrated dustwrapper with chipping and scraping at spine panel extremities and corners. Very good. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Click here to order $30

207366 Waley, Arthur (trans.) Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China George Allen & Unwin, London, 1974. Reprint: hardcover octavo; gray boards with gilt spine titling; 275pp. Small price sticker stain on upper corner of front endpaper; spotting and a few marks on text block edges; slight rubbing to board edges. Ochre card dustwrapper with red titling. Very good to near fine. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film In the fourth century BC three conflicting points of view in Chinese philosophy received classic expression: the Taoist, the Confucianist, and the "Realist." This book underscores the interplay between these three philosophies, drawing on extracts from Chuang Tzu, Mencius, and Han Fei Tzu. Click here to order $25

209880 Xiaoting, Guo (trans. John Robert Shaw) Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong The Drunken Wisdom of China's Famous Chan Buddhist Monk Tuttle, North Clarendon, 2014. Octavo; paperback; 542pp. Remainder, new. The brilliant and hilarious adventures of a mad Zen Buddhist monk who rose from humble beginnings to become one of China's greatest folk heroes. Ji Gong studied at the great Ling Yin monastery, an immense temple that still ranges up the steep hills above Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The Chan Buddhist masters of the temple tried to instruct Ji Gong in the spartan practices of their sect, but the young monk, following in the footsteps of other great ne'er-do-wells, distinguished himself mainly by getting expelled. He left the monastery, became a wanderer with hardly a proper piece of clothing to wear, and achieved great renown in seedy wine shops and drinking establishments. This could have been where Ji Gong's story ended. But his unorthodox style of Buddhism soon made him a hero for popular storytellers of the Song dynasty era. Audiences delighted in tales where the mad old monk ignored or even mocked authority, defied common sense, never neglected the wine, yet still managed to save the day. Ji Gong always had the rogue's knack for exposing the corrupt and criminal while still pursuing the twin delights of enlightenment and intoxication! Click here to order $15