The Laughing Buddha of Tofukuji

By Ishwar C. Harris

Subjects: Zen buddhism, Biography, Biography & Autobiography, Zen priests, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality

Description: The Laughing Buddha of Tofukuji examines the life and teachings of living Zen Master, Keido Fukushima. Fukushima is known as a master koan trainer and calligrapher whose penetrating insight has awakened many disciples to an awareness of Zen. Roshi Keido Fukushima is the current Abbot of Tofukuji temple-monastery in Kyoto, Japan. Combining the central teachings of Roshi Fukushima’s Zen with illuminating biographical details, Harris’ book serves both as a wonderfully fresh introduction to Zen for Western readers and a compelling biography which never fails to convey the radiant spirit of one of the most remarkable spiritual masters of our time. In these pages we see deeply into the Zen tradition and we feel the pulse of the Zen master as a flesh-and-blood human being.This book is as much about understanding Zen as it is about the life and work of Keido Fukushima, the current Abbot of Tofukuji temple-monastery in Kyoto, Japan. Prof. Harris first came into contact with Fukushima, a Rinzai Zen monk, in l973. By combining key aspects of the Roshi’s Zen with a compelling narrative containing many stories from their long and rich friendship, the author has created a work which is both an excellent and accessible introduction to Zen and a biography of one of the most important living Zen Masters of our time.The Laughing Buddha of Tokufuji also contains numerous photographs of Roshi Fukushima, and six original calligraphies by the Master of his most well known Zen Koans