Buddhism Schools

What if everything you believe about reality is an illusion? What if, at the same time, everything is perfectly complete? These are not riddles—they are the foundations of two of the most powerful schools of Buddhist thought. For over a thousand years, Madhyamaka and Tiantai have shaped Buddhist philosophy, transforming how seekers, scholars, and practitioners understand existence. Madhyamaka tears down illusions, revealing that nothing—your thoughts, your identity, even the universe itself—has an independent essence. Tiantai, in contrast, builds up a grand, unifying vision, showing ...

With his shaved head and begging bowl the new kid is an automatic target for the bully boys of Edward Rucher High, an easy mark for their casual cruelty.

Zen Master Man Gong (1872-1946) received transmissions from Zen Master Kyong Ho, and is a towering figure in modern Korean Zen. He was a pioneer in teaching Zen Buddhism to laypeople, and played a central role in re-establishing the Buddhist tradition in Korea after centuries of suppression during the Chosun dynasty. Zen Master Man Gong was the grand teacher of Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927-2004), the founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. In keeping with the Zen tradition, the exchanges between Man Gong and his students have exercised considerable influence on Zen students as teaching vehicles.

This book is not meant to convince people to become Buddhists. That is a decision people have to make on their own. You won't be able to convert to Buddhism overnight by listening to this book, but you will learn the basics of the religion's history and what becoming a Buddhist would entail if you were to become one. Aside from learning about Buddhism, you may learn about how to deal with your own suffering or the suffering of those around you.

In offering this volume to teachers, my chief aim is to provide material for narration which shall deal, not with things temporal but with the “Eternal Verities”. These, if presented to our boys and girls in dramatic form, at the most impressionable period of their lives, will sink deeply into their minds. When presented in more direct and didactic fashion, the same truths often fail to impress. These stories of the Buddha are not for one age or one country, but for all time and for the world.