Change We Must 
by Nana Veary

This is a book that has taken on a life of its own, with readers from around the world still writing Nana to express their thanks for this story of her spiritual journey from her childhood in a Hawaii that few can imagine anymore to her life as a beloved teacher. Nana describes how her family, surroundings and the ways of an innately spiritual people shaped a lifetime search for the truth. At the core, binding the threads of the story, is the practice of silence and a strong belief in its power... Weaving stories and images from her childhood with metaphysical truths that can be applied practically to daily life, Nana shares in this book the plenitude of her wisdom and her love. It was not easy for her, a deeply private person, to recreate and reveal her life. Yet, in typically Hawaiian fashion, she embraces us in these pages with a generosity and grace that heal us and guide us home.

Fudochi Shimmyo Roku 
by Takuan, Trans. by Tanouye Tenshin Rotaishi

Written in the 17th century, this is a collection of letters from Takuan Soho (1573-1645) to his student Yagyu Tajima Munenori (1568-1646) who became the fencing master and advisor in strategy to the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and the first master of the Edo Yagyu School. At 36, Takuan became Daitokuji-s youngest chief abbot but shortly resigned to continue as a teacher and spiritual advisor to the most prominent figures of Japan of the time. This translation makes these letters available to all who seriously pursue the study of Zen and the Martial Ways.

This manual of exercises show in detailed photographs ways to improve hara development for all levels. From the beginner to the advanced student, developing the hara allows one to stay centered, focused, relaxed, and yet alert.

A Zen Approach to Bodytherapy 
by Dub Leigh

Well past his 80th birthday, Dub Leigh continues to inspire all of us at the Institute of Zen Studies and Daihonzan Chozen-ji with his self-less abilities to heal. By now he has cared for thousands of clients and taught hundreds of bodyworkers around the world to a very high standard. His book Bodytherapy is one of the best ways to get a sense of the spirit with which we works. As Thomas Hanna, former editor of the journal Somatics, said of this book, "William S. Leigh is the dean of body workers and this remarkable chronicle will be a precious reading for the thousands of younger persons who have felt the vocational call to work directly with human beings by touch and manipulation... It is an autobiography of a body worker, and it is a marvelous insight into the traditions of bodywork and some of its founders."

Zen and the Ways 
by Trevor Leggett

This book includes translations of some rare texts on Zen and the Ways. One is a sixteenth-century Zen text compiled from Kamakura temple records of the previous three centuries, giving accounts of the very first Zen interviews in Japan. It gives the actual koan "test questions" which desciples had to answer. In the koan called "Sermon," for instance, among the tests are: How would you give a sermon to a one-month-old child? To someone screaming with pain in hell? To a foreign pirate who cannot speak your language? To Maitreya in the Tushita heaven?

Zen and Japanese Culture 
by D.T. Suzuki

Long considered to be the definitive text on Japanese Culture, D.T. Suzuki's work focuses on how Zen influences all aspects of Japanese society: swordsmanship, tea ceremony, poetry, the Japanese love of nature. Other essays included are devoted to the relationship of Zen and Confucianism, to the role of Zen in the tradition of the Samurai, and to Japanese art. Included are sixty-nine illustrations, a complete bibliography and index.

A First Zen Reader 
by Trevor Leggett

We carry five of Leggett's books: The first reader is especially valuable for its introduction and for its closing essay, "A Note on the Ways". In this context "the Ways" refer to those highly refined disciplines that lead a student toward the transcendent experience of no-self.

Zen and Budo 
by Sogen Omori Rotaishi

Translated by Tenshin Tanouye Rotaishi, the quintessential relationship between Zen and Budo is explained by author and translator who trained in both. The author reminds, "Martial Ways with purpose, technique, or sport has no value and aim of itself. Its only value is being a device for attaining something outside itself, such as Martial Ways for a strong body or Martial Ways to develop the spirit of bravery or enthusiasm. In other words, if one can call these Martial Ways, then the Way will become of secondary significance. But essentially Martial Ways is not that; as a Way for Man, this in itself is of value as a dignified first principle. If this was not the case, then Martial Ways would not be worthy of discussion as a comparison with Zen."

Omori Sogen: The Art of a Zen Master
by Hosokawa Dogen Roshi

As an expert in Kendo (the Way of the sword) and Shodo (the Way of the brush), and as a political activist, scholar and university president, his approach to teaching was totally different from other Zen masters. His Zen emphasized the vitality of the martial arts, the spiritual depth of Zen and the refinement of fine arts. A contemporary of D.T. Suzuki, Suzuki used Omori Sogen's ideas in his chapter on swordsmanship in Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture. Before World War II, Omori Sogen was a widely respected sword teacher and advisor to the Japanese Cabinet. While his Zen training had started early in his life, his formal monastic training took place during the devastation that followed the war. As a newly-ordained priest, living in a small temple in Tokyo with his family, he describes a life of poverty that few of us today can imagine. As Japan rebuilt, he watched the evolution of Japanese society from the vantage point of his work as a court magistrate. In his later years, his widely-respected teaching led to his position as President of Hanazono University, the principle Rinzai university in Japan, and to an increasing international role with a special interest in the transmission of Zen to the West.

Essence of Okinawa Karate Do 
by Shoshin Nagamine

Long regarded as a rich source on the technique and philosophy of pure Okinawan karate, this book has become a treasured reference source for martial artists around the world. Included in this text are over a thousand photographs in which techniques are precisely illustrated. This is the only book in English with photographs of one of the great prewar masters demonstrating the correct way to do Okinawan Karate.

Two Zen Classics, Mumonkan and Hekiganroku
 by Katsuki Sekida

Translations of the two classics of Zen literature, Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) and Hekiganroku (The Blue Cliff Records), Katsuki Sekida gives the student of Zen help in understanding the strange verbal Zen paradoxes known as the koans which have long been used in Rinzai Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. Complete with the original commentaries, Sekida's translations of the two give a student a conceptual understanding of the two classics.