Turning Words

As Zen takes root in the west, new forms arise. For centuries Zen masters have tested their students with "koans" and "capping phrases." A koan is a spiritual paradox that must be solved intuitively. A capping phrase is a trenchant comment. Both are meditative practices that reveal deeper truths about the self and, ideally, lead to enlightenment.

In Zen Traces, Buddhist scholar Kenneth Kraft plays off these practices in a new idiom. He selects passages from four sources: traditional Zen, present-day Zen, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. When a koan-like story about a contemporary Zen teacher is paired with a pithy comment by Mark Twain, something fresh emerges.

"In this lovely book, Ken Kraft provides a unique opening for American Buddhism and American wisdom in general. The reader will come to fresh and spacious new insights and enjoyments...Cheers for Zen in America and a deep bow to Ken Kraft "--Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., author of The Present Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Discovery

"I highly recommend this delightful book of East-West wisdom--full of surprise, insight, wit, and piercing beauty."--Katy Butler, author of Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death

Kenneth Kraft, professor emeritus of religious studies at Lehigh University, is a scholar of Japanese Zen and socially engaged Buddhism. He is the author and editor of six books, including Eloquent Zen and Zen: Tradition and Transition.