The Zen of Vimalakirti (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798218856786)

In The Zen of Vimalakirti, W.J. Louis, taking the widely celebrated Mahayana text as inspiration, describes the nature and meaning of Buddhist practice and liberation from the perspective of a Black American layman.

The Zen of Vimalakirti is a three part essay. The first part, on the subject of Right Livelihood, assesses the layman's work-life as a valuable opportunity for Zen practice. The second part is a comparative analysis of the Vimalakirti Sutra and the philosophy of Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou. The third part uses Zen Ancestor Huineng's Platform Sutra as a springboard for a discussion on tea preparation as a meditative practice.

This essay began as a personal endeavor for Louis - one in which he wrote to wrap his own mind around the potential for legitimate Zen practice as a working person. Ultimately it is the culmination of over 15 years of informal study. Readers will gain an understanding of Zen, not as an unnecessarily lofty concept, but as a down-to-earth way of seeing.