Treasury of the Eye of True Teaching, Volume I

Chan master Dahui’s monumental compilation of teachings is brought to life for the first time in English

The Treasury of the Eye of True Teaching (Chinese Zhengfayanzang) stands among the greatest classics of Chan Buddhism—the Zen tradition of China—combining speeches, stories, dialogues, poems, and commentaries that the acclaimed Chinese master Dahui (1089–1163) extracted from Chan lore. Compiled during the Song Dynasty by Dahui’s disciples, this work is replete with the enigmatic, paradoxical wisdom for which this influential Buddhist tradition is so well known.

Famous for his challenging methodology and vigorous efforts to eliminate attachment to both conventional thinking and the grasping of the ego, Dahui here focuses on the teaching of “great doubt.” By grappling with “great doubt,” Dahui demonstrates how practitioners are able to push themselves to the limits of ideas and concepts until a breakthrough to enlightenment is achieved. A fascinating compendium of literary and spiritual puzzles, Treasury of the Eye of True Teaching challenges and inspires its readers to examine their ingrained mental habits and attachments—and to discover their inborn potential for an immediate and direct experience of reality.