Daily Zen Library
The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen
The Original Face is an anthology of Japanese Rinzai Zen from the 13th to the 18th centuries. A fundamental experience and comprehension which the Zen masters have urged us to realize is known as the original face. A famous Zen patriarch asked, “Before your father and mother were born, what was your original face?” This volume draws on the sayings and writings of Zen masters who gave up their personal selves to find the truth and have been pointing at this original face for centuries.
