Inside the Grass Hut
by Ben Connelly
Enter the mind and practice of Zen: apply the insights of one of Zen's classic poems to your life--here and now. Shitou Xiqian's Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage is a remarkably accessible work of profound depth; in thirty-two lines Shitou expresses the breadth of the entire Buddhist tradition with simple, vivid imagery. Ben Connelly's Inside the Grass Hut unpacks the timeless poem and applies it to contemporary life. His book delivers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighth-century work, as well as directly evokes the poem's themes of simple living, calm, and a deep sense of connection to all things.
Each pithy chapter focuses on a single line of the poem, letting the reader immerse himself thoroughly in each line and then come up for air before moving on to the next. Line by line, Connelly shows how the poem draws on and expresses elements from the thousand years of Buddhist thought that preceded it, expands on the poem's depiction of a life of simple practice in nature, and tells stories of the way these teachings manifest in modern life. Connelly, like Shitou before him, proves himself adept at taking profound and complex themes from Zen and laying them out in a practical and understandable way.
Eminently readable, thoroughly illuminating, Inside the Grass Hut shows the reader a path of wholehearted engagement -- with the poem, and with the world. Destined to become a trusted, dog-eared companion.
Hardcover
English
Brand New
Author Biography
Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He also teaches mindfulness in a wide variety of secular contexts, including police and corporate training, correctional facilities, and addiction-recovery and wellness groups. Ben is based at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center and travels to teach across the United States. He's the author of Inside the Grass Hut: Living Shitou's Classic Zen Poem, Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide, and Mindfulness and Intimacy.
Review
Inside the Grass Hut is a clear, charitable presentation of Zen tradition and practice. Connelly provides fresh, insightful interpretations of Shitou's classic poem, directly applicable to zendo and daily life. But striking, too, is the personal and serene tone of the writing, of the instructive exposition, which infuses the book with a living pulse and -- what I will dare to call here -- the very essence of Zen.--Mike O'Connor, translator of Where the World Does Not Follow
Review Quote
"Written from the inside out, this wonderful book explores Zen Master Shitou's marvelous and revelatory poem 'Song of the Grass Roof Hemitage.' The language and sense of immediacy makes Shitou's work transparent to all."
Details
