Here is a list of Zen related English translations organized in the categories of: Translations of the classic Zen masters – Dogen translations – Hakuin translations – Zen anthologies – Koan collections – Buddhist Sutras – Buddhist Shastras – Important non Buddhist influences.

I have included some duplicate texts where more than one of the available translations seemed to me of good comparison value or includes supplemental material.

All of these texts are, in my view, essential reading for all Zen students/practitioners. If I failed to include a favorite of yours, please let me know what it is.

Translations of the classic Zen masters

The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. San Francisco, CA: North Point Press, 1989.

The Record of Linji. Ruth Fuller Sasaki & Thomas Yuho Kirchner, 2009

The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi, Burton Watson, 1993

The Transmission of the Lamp: Early Masters. Sohaku Ogata, 1988

Sayings and Doings of Pai-Chang. Thomas Cleary, 1979

The Record of Tung-shan. William Powell, 1986.

The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Red Pine, 2008

The Sutra of Hui-Neng: Grand Master of Zen: With Huineng’s Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, Thomas Cleary

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Philip Yampolsky, 1967

Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-Tsu and the Hung-Chou School of Ch’an, Cheng Chien Bhikshu, 2001

Zongmi on Chan, by Jeffrey Lyle Broughton, 2009

Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi. Daniel Leighton, 2001

Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, Thomas and J.C. Cleary, 2001

The Diamond Sutra & The Sutra of Hui-Neng, A F Price & Wong Mou-lam, 1990.

The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain by Cold Mountain (Han Shan), Red Pine, 2000

P’u Ming’s Oxherding Pictures & Verses by P’u Ming, Red Pine, 1984

The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, John Blofeld, 1958

The Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening, John Blofeld, 1974

The Sayings of Layman P’ang: A Zen Classic of China, James Green, 2009

The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu, James Green, 1998

Master Yunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master “Gate of the Clouds”, Urs App, 1994

Mud and Water: A Collection of Talks by the Zen Master Bassui, Arthur Braverman, 1989

The Korean Approach to Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul, Robert Buswell, 1983

Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui, JC Cleary, 1977

Ryokan: Zen Monk – Poet of Japan by Ryokan, Burton Watson, 1992

Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen. Kenneth Kraft, 1992.

Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, Thomas Cleary, 1994

Dream Conversations: On Buddhism and Zen by Muso Kokushi, Thomas Cleary, 1994

Dogen translations

Shobogenzo: Zen Essays by Dogen. Thomas Cleary, 1986.

Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji, Thomas Cleary, 2001

Dogen’s Extensive Record (Eihei Koroku), Daniel Leighton, 2004

Flowers of Emptiness: Selections from Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Hee-Jim Kim

Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Books 1 – 4 Gudo Nishijima & Mike Cross, 2005

Shobogenzo.:Zen Essays by Dogen, Thomas Cleary, 1992

Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen, Tanahashi Kazuaki, 1999

Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen. Tanahashi Kazuaki, 1985.

The Heart of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. Norman Waddell & Masao Abe, 2002

Record of Things Heard by Dogen & Ejo, Thomas Cleary, 2001

Hakuin Translations

Embossed Tea Kettle by Hakuin Zenji, R.D.M. Shaw, 1963

The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin. Norman Waddell, 1994

The Zen Mater Hakuin: Selected Writings. Philip Yampolsky, 1971

The Unborn: Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Norman Waddell, 1984

Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of Zen, Daibi of Unkan, 1996

Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin’s Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Norman Waddell, 1996

Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. Norman Waddell, 2001

Zen Translation Anthologies

The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Nelson Foster, 1996

The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, Jeffrey L Broughton, 1999

Minding Mind: A Course in Basic Meditation, Thomas Cleary, 2009

Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang, JC Cleary, 1986

Timeless Spring: A Soto Zen Anthology. Thomas Cleary, 1980

The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen. Thomas Cleary, 1978

Zen’s Chinese Heritage — The Masters & Their Teachings, Andrew Ferguson, 2000

Teachings of Zen, Thomas Cleary, 1997

Koan Collections and Related Literature

The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men kuan (Mumonkan) by Robert Aitken, 1991

Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan by Zenkai Shibayama, 2000

Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans by Koun Yamada, 2004

The Blue Cliff Record by Thomas Cleary and JC Cleary, 1977

Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei, by Thomas Cleary 2002

The Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues by Thomas Cleary, 1990

Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Koan Practice, Victor Sogen Hori, 2003

Shinji Shobogenzo, Gudo Nishijima, 2003

The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans, trans. Kazuaki Tanahashi, 2005

The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku. Francis Dojun Cook, 2004

Transmission of Light: Zen in the Art of Enlightenment by Zen Master Keizan,Thomas Cleary, 2002

Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records by Katsuki Sekida, 2005

The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans, by Gerry Shishin Wick, 2005

Buddhist Sutras

The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, Thomas Cleary, 1993

The Lankavatara Sutra. DT Suzuki, 1978

The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic, Gene Reeves, 2008

The Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson, 1993

The Diamond Sutra: Text and Commentaries Translated from Sanskrit and Chinese. Red Pine, 2001

The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1992

The Heart Sutra, Red Pine, 2005

Complete Enlightenment: Translation and Commentary on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment by Sheng-Yen, Christopher Marano, and Guo-Gu, 1997

The Vimalakirti Sutra by Burton Watson, 2000

The Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture. Robert Thurman, 1976

The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom: With the Divisions of the Abhisamayalankara, Edward Conze, 1985

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra – Last and most impressive teachings of the Buddha about Reality and the True Self, Tony Page, 2008

Mahayana Buddhist Shastras (treatises)

Stopping and Seeing: A Comprehensive Course in Buddhist Meditation by Chih-i, Thomas Cleary, 1997

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika by Nagarjuna, Jay L. Garfield, 1995

Hakeda, Yoshito, S., The Awakening of Faith, New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1974.

Foundations of T’Ien-T’Ai Philosophy: The Flowering of the Two Truths Theory in Chinese Buddhism, Paul L. Swanson

Entry Into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua-Yen Buddhism, Thomas Cleary, 1995

Important Non-Buddhist Chinese Influences

The Secret of the Golden Flower, Thomas Cleary,1993

The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu, Brian Walker, 1995

The Essential Tao : An Initiation into the Heart of Taoism Through the Authentic Tao Te Ching and the Inner Teachings of Chuang-Tzu, Thomas Cleary, 1993

The Essential Confucius, Thomas Cleary, 1993

Not exhaustive, but certainly a good start.

Peace,

Ted

How sad is the aridity of contemporary Zen schools! They laud unintelligent ignorance as transcendental direct-pointing Zen. Considering unsurpassed spiritual treasures like Focusing the Precious Mirror and the Five Ranks to be worn-out utensils of an antiquated house, they pay no attention to them. They are like blind people throwing away their canes, saying they are useless, then getting themselves stuck in the mud of the view of elementary realization, never able to get out all their lives.
~Hakuin, Kensho, Thomas Cleary, p.68-69

How sad; how sad! Evil demons and spirits, wild beasts, and domesticated animals now call them-selves the Zen School… we should know that within Buddha Dharma there are the Lotus and Huayan and other [teachings]; and it is not that within each of the Lotus and Huayan and so on there are various different buddha dharmas. Therefore, the eighty-four thousand Dharma treasures within the Lotus, Huayan, and so on are all without exception what is simply transmitted by buddha ances-tors. It is not that outside of the Lotus and Huayan there is the way of ancestral teachers.
~Dogen, Eihei Koroku, Volume 7, Dharma Hall Discourse 491, Leighton & Okumura

Peace,
Ted

In hearing, there is no hearing. Hearing does not depend on hearing. Hearing is not born and it can never die. When sound arises, hearing does not create it. When sound diminishes, it is not extinguished by hearing. Nor is the nature of hearing created by the arising or diminishing of sound.

Just realize that hearing is unborn and undying. Hearing does not come and go. How can you realize the wisdom of this? Listen!

~The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing

Dharma Talks by Jack Duffy Roshi – Dharma heir of Robert Aitken Roshi

Thanks to Will Simpson for linking this from his excellent Zen/Buddhist blog

True spiritual practice is not tainted with the idea of spiritual practice. Ceasing conceptualization is not ceasing thought. Spiritual practice does not create reality; it directs you to what is already real. Ceasing conceptualization does not destroy delusion; it reveals its falsity…

When you see the reality of delusion, it is no longer delusion or reality.

~The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing

Dogen, the nature of ignorance, and “Joshu’s Mu”

In this excerpt from Shobogenzo, Bussho, Dogen reveals the blood and guts of Zen:

A certain monk once asked Great Master Joshu, “Does even a dog have Buddha Nature?”

We need to clarify the intent of this question. ‘Dog’ here means a dog. He is not asking, “Can such a creature have Buddha Nature?” nor is he asking, “Can such a

creature be devoid of Buddha Nature?” What he is really asking is, “Is even an iron man exploring the Way through his training?” Even though the trainee has made a mistake and his feelings of rancor and regret, which have become poisonous, are profound, still, even after thirty years it would be an improvement to see half a saintly person.

Joshu replied, “(Mu) No, it doesn’t.”

When we hear this expression, there are pathways that we need to investigate. The “no” by which Buddha Nature reveals Its identity will be expressed by this word. And the “no” by which the identity of a dog is revealed will also be expressed by this word. And the “no” of an onlooker’s exclamation will also be expressed by this word. There may come a day when that “no” of Joshu’s will simply be a word for grinding away at stones.

The monk then asked, “All sentient beings, without exception, have Buddha Nature, so how come a dog is devoid of It?”

The import of his question is as though he were saying, “If all sentient beings did not exist, then Buddha Nature would not exist and a dog would not exist. How about that point? How could you expect a dog not to have Buddha Nature?”

Joshu responded, “On the grounds that such a one has karmic ignorance.”

The meaning of what he said is that even though the reason for its existence is karmic ignorance, and its having karmic ignorance is the grounds for its existence,

a dog does not possess karmic ignorance, nor does Buddha Nature possess it. Karmic ignorance has never understood what a dog really is, so how could a dog

possibly encounter Buddha Nature? Whether Joshu were to confirm or contradict what the monk said, still, this is a case of karmic ignorance on the monk’s part

from beginning to end.

Joshu had another monk who asked him, “Does Buddha Nature exist even in a dog, yes or no?”

This question may have been the reason why this monk was a match for Joshu, since expressing or asking about Buddha Nature is the everyday food and drink of

Buddhas and Ancestors.

Joshu said, “(U) Yes, It exists.”

The nature of this ‘It exists’ is beyond the ‘existence’ as understood by the commentators of the various scholastic traditions, and beyond the assertion of existence made by the Sarvastiv?dins.44 Advancing on from them, we should investigate what the existence of Buddha is. The existence of Buddha is Joshu’s “It exists,” and Joshu’s “It exists” is the dog’s existing, and the dog’s existing is the existence of Buddha Nature.

The monk then asked, “If It already exists, why is It strongly impelled to enter into this body of flesh?”

This monk’s question is asking, “Is It something existing now, or is It something that existed at some time in the past, or has It always existed?” Even though That

Which Always Exists resembles other types of existence, That Which Always Exists clearly stands alone.

Is That Which Always Exists strongly impelled to enter into fleshly form or is It not? Although we have been strongly impelled to take on this fleshly body of

ours, in our daily conduct and spiritual practice there is no bumbling, useless effort.

Joshu replied, “It is because a dog knowingly and intentionally breaks Precepts.”

Even though this statement had long been spread abroad as a common saying, it was now Joshu’s way of putting the Matter. What he is talking about is the deliberate breaking of Precepts. Probably very few people have not had doubts about this expression of his, because it is difficult for them to clearly understand

the character for ‘enter into’, which is part of the phrase ‘impelled to enter into’. However, this character for ‘enter into’ is not essential.

Moreover, as Sekito Kisen put it in a poem:

If you would know the Undying One within the hermit’s hut,

How can you do it apart from your fleshly body here and now?

Even though we may not yet know who the Undying One is, when, pray, are we to separate It from our fleshly body? Having broken a Precept is not necessarily what

impels us to enter a body of flesh, nor is our impulse to enter this fleshly body of ours necessarily due to our knowingly having broken a Precept. When such an

action is done deliberately, then the Precept will be broken. You need to realize that this breaking of Precepts will be hidden from sight within our daily conduct and

spiritual practice of dropping off body. This is expressed as ‘being impelled to enter’. When our daily conduct and spiritual practice of dropping off body is genuinely hidden from sight, it will be concealed from both ourselves and others. Even so, do not say that you are not yet free, that you are just a fellow with a donkey in front of him and a horse behind him.

Even more, as our lofty Ancestor Ungo Doyo said, “Even though you may have studied the Buddha Dharma to Its very limits, you have erred in your approach if you have completely depended on your intellect.” Accordingly, even though someone has made this error for a long time, piling up the days and months by half-learning the Buddha Dharma to Its limits, such a person must be a dog who has been impelled to enter into that fleshly body of his. Although he knowingly has broken Precepts, he will still have Buddha Nature.

Shobogenzo, Bussho, Hubert Nearman

Wow! How about this line:

Even though we may not yet know who the Undying One is, when, pray, are we to separate It from our fleshly body?

Thank you (again) Dogen!

Peace,

Ted