Living Buddha Zen

What really happens in the moment of irreversible Awakening? What leads up to it? What follows?

Living Buddha Zen bears great inspirational power for anyone who passionately desires to awaken as the single Light celebrated by all wisdom traditions. Here are breathtaking re-creations of 52 such ineffable moments, 52 transmissions of the Light—from Shakyamuni Buddha continously from master to successor through India and China to the flowering of Soto in Japan.

Living Buddha Zen is Lex’s final book, meticulously polished to his satisfaction in the months before his passing on. It is a modern re-creation (not translation)—in language that is fresh and alive—of the important Japanese classic, Denkoroku: The Record of Transmitting the Light.

The format follows that of the root text: koan, commentary, and concluding poem for each moment of sudden full illumination. Lex and his Zen mentor Roshi Bernard Tetsugen Glassman contemplated together and discussed each transmission from Sakyamuni Buddha through master to chosen successor for 52 generations.

Living Buddha Zen is Lex’s passionate re-expression of the great classic, carrying his vision of how the same light is circulating in the today's world.