The Garden of Flowers and Weeds: A New Translation and Commentary on The Blue Cliff Record

by Matthew Juksan Sullivan

Overview

International Book Awards—Religion: Eastern | Top Award
AmericanBookFest's Best Book Awards Winner | Religion: Eastern
Nautilus Award | Gold
Benjamin Franklin Award | Silver
Independent Book Publisher's Award | Bronze
Named One of the Best Books of 2021 — Spirituality and Practice Magazine

“An intriguing, challenging crash course in Zen Buddhism.” — Kirkus Reviews

"A generation-defining rendering of one of the great Zen Buddhist scriptures." — Spirituality and Practice

For centuries, The Blue Cliff Record has stood as one of the preeminent scriptures of the Zen Buddhist tradition in China, Japan, and Korea. However, until now there has been no published commentary by a contemporary Zen Master to assist readers in understanding its counterintuitive and sometimes baffling teachings.

The Garden of Flowers and Weeds draws on contemporary scholarship and the author’s extensive experience with Zen in order to offer new insights for sophisticated students who are hoping to uncover the secrets of the koan tradition. At the same time, The Garden is jargon-free and uses personal stories to appeal to readers who are new to Buddhism. The theme of the book is simple: Accepting the unenlightened self with all its flaws is the most profound form of enlightenment.

Even with this clarity, finding a path into these old Zen stories is a challenge. They are designed to be roadblocks to intellectual understanding. Using personal memoire, the oral teachings of Zen, and meditation instruction, The Garden assists the reader in approaching the dialogues as spiritual exercises. The Blue Cliff Record contains an explosive power, but you can only access it by integrating its wisdom into your everyday experiences. As Zen Master Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948626491
Publisher:	Monkfish Book Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	580
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Matthew Juksan Sullivan was ordained at the Nine Mountains Zen Gate Society as a Dharma Teacher in 2006 and a Zen Master in 2013. He is a dharma heir of Hwasun Yangil Sunim, who was a dharma heir of Wol Ha Sunim, a Grand Zen Master and the former Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

Notes on the Text xlv

Acknowledgments xlix

Pronunciation Guide liii

The one hundred cases with commentary and notes

1st Case: The Emperor Asks Bodhidharma 3

2nd Case: Zhaozhou's Ultimate Path 9

3rd Case: Great Master Ma Is Ill 13

4th Case: Deshan Carries His Pack 17

5th Case: Xuefeng Calls Out the Search Party 22

6th Case: Yunmen's "Every Day Is a Good Day" 26

7th Case: Huichao Inquires About the Buddha 29

8th Case: Cuiyan's Eyebrows 33

9th Case: The Gates of Zhaozhou 37

10th Case: Four Shouts for Muzhou 40

11th Case: Huangbo's Dreg-Swilling Bozos 43

12th Case: Dongshan's Three Pounds of Flax 47

13th Case: Baling's Silver Bowl 50

14th Case: Yunmen's Appropriate Statement 55

15th Case: Yunmen's Upside-Down Statement 59

16th Case: Jingqing Pecks the Egg 62

17th Case: Sitting with Xianglin 67

18th Case: The National Teacher's Seamless Monument 71

19th Case: Juzhi Raises One Finger 76

20th Case: Longya Asks Around 78

21st Case: The Lotus of Zhimen 82

22nd Case: Xuefeng's Turtle-Nosed Snake 85

23rd Case: Baofu and Changqing Find the Mystic Peak 89

24th Case: The Grinder Walks Away 94

25th Case: The Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak Answers Himself 98

26th Case: Baizhang's Wonderful Affair 102

27th Case: Yunmen's Golden Wind 106

28th Case: The Nirvana Master Explains It to Death 110

29th Case: Dasui's World-Ending Fire 115

30th Case: Zhaozhou's Big Radishes 120

31st Case: Magu Shakes His Staff 124

32nd Case: An Audience with Linji 128

33rd Case: Zifu Draws a Circle 132

34th Case: Yangshan Descends into the Weeds 137

35th Case: The Dialogue of Mañjusri and Wuzhao 141

36th Case: Changsha Returns to the Temple 147

37th Case: Panshan's Triple World 151

38th Case: Fengxue's Iron Ox 155

39th Case: Yunmen's Golden-Haired Lion 160

40th Case: Nanquan Points to a Flower 165

41st Case: Touzi's Great Death 170

42nd Case: Layman Pang's Perfect Snowflake 175

43rd Case: Dongshan's Heat and Cold 179

44th Case: Heshan Beats the Drum 183

45th Case: Zhaozhou's Canvas Jacket 189

46th Case: Jingqing Hears Raindrops 193

47th Case: Yunmen's Body of Reality 200

48th Case: Tea at Zhaoqing Temple 204

49th Case: Xuefeng's Gold-Scaled Fish 209

50th Case: Yunmen's Bowl and Bucket 212

51st Case: Yantou's Last Word 216

52nd Case: The Bridge of Zhaozhou 222

53rd Case: Baizhang's Wild Ducks 227

54th Case: Yunmen and the Monk Stretch Their Hands 231

55th Case: Daowu Won't Say 235

56th Case: Qinshan and the Arrow 243

57th Case: Zhaozhou Alone Is Honored 249

58th Case: Zhaozhou Doesn't Have an Answer 254

59th Case: Zhaozhou Quotes the Whole Saying 258

60th Case: Yunmen's Staff Became a Dragon 263

61st Case: Fengxue's Speck of Dust 267

62nd Case: Yunmen's Hidden Gem 273

63rd Case: Nanquan Killed the Cat 278

64th Case: Zhaozhou Walks Away 284

65th Case: A Hindu Man Questions the Buddha 288

66th Case: A Monk Gets Huang Chao's Sword 293

67th Case: Mahasattva Fu Explains the Diamond Sutra 299

68th Case: Yangshan Burst Out Laughing 305

69th Case: Nanquan Stops Halfway 310

70th Case: Baizhang Fears for His Heirs 315

71st Case: Baizhang Searches the Distance 319

72nd Case: Baizhang Is Bereft 326

73rd Case: Great Master Ma's Permutations of Assertion and Denial 331

74th Case: Jinniu Breaks into a Dance 336

75th Case: Wujiu's Unjust Beating 343

76th Case: Changqing and Baofu Discuss Donations 349

77th Case: Yunmen's Cake 354

78th Case: Sixteen Bodhisattvas Enter the Bathhouse 359

79th Case: Touzi and the Buddha's Voice 364

80th Case: Zhaozhou's Newborn 368

81st Case: Yaoshan's Elk of Elks 371

82nd Case: Dalong's Flowers on the Hillside 375

83rd Case: Yunmen's Exposed Pillar 380

84th Case: Vimalakirti's Dharma Gate of Nonduality 385

85th Case: The Hermit of Paulownia Tree Peak Receives a Visitor 390

86th Case: Yunmen and the Radiance Within 394

87th Case: Yunmen's Medicine and Disease 401

88th Case: Xuansha's Ailments 405

89th Case: Daowu and the Person Reaching for a Pillow 411

90th Case: The Wisdom of Zhimen 416

91st Case: Yanguan's Rhinoceros Fan 421

92nd Case: The World-Honored One Ascends the Podium 425

93rd Case: Daguang Breaks into a Dance 429

94th Case: The Surangama Sutra's Not-Seeing 434

95th Case: Changqing Lectures with a Spare Head 438

96th Case: Zhaozhou's Turning Phrases 443

97th Case: The Diamond Sutra's Crimes of Past Lives 449

98th Case: Master Tianping on Pilgrimage 454

99th Case: The National Teacher Answers the Emperor 459

100th Case: Baling's Blown Feather Sword 464

Appendix A How to Meditate 471

Appendix B Name Conversion from Pinyin to Wade-Giles 477

Appendix C Lineage Charts of Teachers in The Blue Cliff Record 481

Bibliography 485

Glossary 497

Index 515

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“These commentaries are original, authentic and insightful; a valuable addition to what is so far available. I appreciated the direct, personal and emotionally honest voice. No speaking gnomically from on high! The Garden of Flowers and Weeds will fill a major gap in what’s available to students." —Barry Magid, founding teacher of the Ordinary Mind Zendo and author of Nothing Is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans



“With its concise but highly informative and illuminative historical comments and contemporary reflections on the koans, in addition to a useful introductory essay, this book will be of great interest to all teachers and practitioners of Zen who wish to learn more about the classic writings, regardless of their particular style of training.” —Prof. Steven Heine, author of Chan Rhetoric of Uncertainty in the Blue Cliff Record: Sharpening the Sword at the Dragon's Gate



“A gift from a Korean Zen lineage, these Blue Cliff Record koans are succinctly rendered, pared down to gleaming white bones in life-giving commentaries. Through the clear eyes and deft hands of Zen Master Matthew Juksan Sullivan, you will meet yourself in koan after koan, each one challenging you to enter the portals of your very own life as only you can. The Zen Ancestors’ heart wisdom rendered here is a sharp blade, cutting through thick layers of self-absorption and propelling you into the immediacy of benefitting the lives around you.” —Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Abbot Emeritus, Zen Center of Los Angeles, Co-author, The Book of Householder Koans: Waking Up in the Land of Attachments

Editorial Reviews

These commentaries are original, authentic, and insightful—a valuable addition to what is so far available. I appreciated the direct, personal, and emotionally honest voice. No speaking gnomically from on high! The Garden of Flowers and Weeds will fill a major gap in what’s available to students.” — Zen Master Barry Magid, founding teacher, Ordinary Mind Zendo; author, Nothing Is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans

“The Blue Cliff Record is the major collection of koan narratives in the Zen Buddhist tradition, and Matthew Juksan Sullivan has spent many years contemplating the meaning and significance of each of the one hundred cases or, as he puts it in the commentary to #81, searching in the weeds for the Elk of Elks who escapes every arrow. With its concise but highly informative and illuminative historical comments and contemporary reflections on the koans, in addition to a useful introductory essay, this book will be of great interest to all teachers and practitioners of Zen who wish to learn more about the classic writings, regardless of their particular style of training.” — Prof. Steven Heine, author, Chan Rhetoric of Uncertainty in the Blue Cliff Record: Sharpening the Sword at the Dragon's Gate

“A gift from a Korean Zen lineage, these Blue Cliff Record koans are succinctly rendered, pared down to gleaming white bones in life-giving commentaries. Through the clear eyes and deft hands of Zen Master Matthew Juksan Sullivan, you will meet yourself in koan after koan, each one challenging you to enter the portals of your very own life as only you can. The Zen Ancestors’ heart wisdom rendered here is a sharp blade, cutting through thick layers of self-absorption and propelling you into the immediacy of benefitting the lives around you.” — Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Abbot Emeritus, Zen Center of Los Angeles; co-author, The Book of Householder Koans: Waking Up in the Land of Attachments

“Old Zen Buddhist stories are confusing! These short dialogues and slices of life from ancient China, called koans, have been baffling Zen students for centuries. And that’s kind of the point. They’re meant to express a special sort of logic that develops from years of meditative practice. Even so, often modern English-language commentaries on the koans just add confusion on top of confusion. Not so with Matthew Juksan Sullivan’s book The Garden of Flowers and Weeds. He provides clear, straightforward commentaries that explain the references to ancient literature that we in the West have not been exposed to and helps make sense of these stories without destroying the poetry and mystery of them. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to study the Zen koan literature.” — Brad Warner, author, Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality

“A well-researched book which tries to make this collection of koans accessible and relevant to a wider public. It also succeeds in bringing the freshness and immediacy of Chan/Seon/Zen.”  — Martine Batchelor, Women in Korean Zen 

“How wonderful to have a new translation of the one hundred koans of The Blue Cliff Record. Matthew Juksan Sullivan’s translation is exceptionally clear and reads well. His commentaries on each koan honor the tradition while making each koan relevant to everyday life in the twenty-first century. Highly recommended for all Zen practitioners and those interested in Zen teaching.” — Zen Master Richard Shrobe, author, Don't-Know Mind: The Spirit of Korean Zen and Elegant Failure: A Guide to Zen Koans

“I cannot slander him and say he walks with the ancients. I cannot praise him and say he does not walk with the ancients. Matthew Juksan Sullivan writes from an intimacy with the fundamental matter to encourage the reader to read that way too. The core is to inquire into the self, to shamelessly do as a reader what my new brother Matthew does as a writer. Hui Neng indicated that when regarding the sutras you should let them read you, rather than you reading them. Here is a guided opportunity to do the same with The Blue Cliff Record.”  — Zen Master Jok Um (Ken Kessel), guiding teacher, New Haven Zen Center, Hwa Um Sa-Orlando Zen Center, Gateless Gate Zen Center, and Cypress Tree Zen Group 

“Matthew Juksan Sullivan, using an accessible twenty-first-century approach, shows us that a ‘don't-know mind’ is our original nature and rests at the heart of our all-too-brief sojourn on this planet. Sullivan compassionately demonstrates that our attempt to secure the everchanging phenomena that characterize our life as both fruitless and pointless.
    “If you consider yourself a sincere student of ‘What am I?’ this book is destined to be a valuable resource tool on your journey.” — Zen Master Ji Haeng (Thomas Pastor), founder and Abbot, Zen Center of Las Vegas

From the Publisher

2021-07-01
A notated explication of an ancient Zen Buddhist text.

Debut author Sullivan explains that the work at hand is a translation of “a thousand-year-old collection of stories, commentaries, and poetry from the classical age of Zen in China.” There are 100 “cases” contained within, and each is accompanied by an in-depth examination. We’re warned outright that the actions here may often seem bizarre. This proves to be true immediately. The first case, “The Emperor Asks Bodhidharma,” is no more than a page long. Emperor Wu of Liang is puzzled by an encounter with a famous monk named Bodhidharma. What is it supposed to mean? The author points out that, as with many of the stories to follow, it may “seem appealing but resist[s] understanding.” Other entries include everything from someone being hit with meditation cushions to a master dancing while holding a rice bucket. A question is posed: “What is Buddha?” The response is “Three pounds of flax.” The author draws on years of his experiences with Zen Buddhism (such as attempting to understand his sometimes-perplexing Zen Master Yangil Sunim) to provide context. Yet, clear-cut answers aren’t the point: “Something wonderful can happen if you have given up on understanding anything.” Of course, this approach doesn’t lend itself to easy comprehension. Paradoxes abound. Obscure (to the layman) Buddhist figures (e.g., Jetsun Milarepa) are discussed. Yet the work stands out with the personal nature of the commentaries. The author shares the cases’ common interpretations along with his own. Many insights have grown from Sullivan’s years of grappling with such material, and he notes, “subtle feelings reveal illumination.” Though these illuminations may be difficult to see initially, the reader is left with an understanding of an ageless, beguiling collection.

An intriguing, challenging crash course in Zen Buddhism.

Kirkus Reviews