A Wonderful Book on Zen, Part 2

     In his book Zen Master Class, Stephen Hodge has compiled a wonderful overview of the great leaders in the Zen Buddhist tradition.  He gives a brief biography of each leader, then details some contributions that they made to the tradition.  It's fascinating to see how each leader/teacher used various methods to cut through the mind chatter of their students.  Some used violence (we must remember that they lived in a very violent age, so a slap here and there isn't that bad), humor, shouts, surprise, and so on.  Hodge also gives pointers, based on the leader being covered, on how to deepen one's meditative practice.  If you want to explore Zen more, pick up this book.