A Soto Zen teacher explores the core teachings of the ancient Huayan school of Buddhism through an innovative and engaging collection of essays showing how to put these teachings into practice.
Huayan Buddhism arose in the sixth century and was rooted in the Mahayana Flower Garland Sutra. The teachings of Huayan had a profound influence on Chan and Zen. Huayan is relational, practical, and positive. Its emphasis on interdependence, celebration of the sensual world, and diversity of people and practices provides inspiration for what Thich Nhat Hanh called “engaged Buddhism."
With Inside the Flower Garland Sutra, Zen teacher Ben Connelly explains the significance of Huayan teachings for Buddhist practice. Each chapter is a commentary on one of the thirty lines of Uisang’s “Song of Dharma Nature”—a seminal Korean text that summarizes Huayan thought—thus providing a broad overview of Huayan teachings and their practical implications for contemporary life, with a mix of testimonies from real-life situations and references to influential Buddhist texts.
Arising fifteen hundred years ago, Huayan has made a deep impact on East Asian Buddhism, and has much to offer during this era when many folks see ever-deepening divisions. Connelly explores how Huayan offers particular wisdom for those concerned about how to care for their own lives as they work to end harms such as ecological devastation, poverty, militarism, addiction, marginalization, and exploitation.
“Ben Connelly’s contemporary commentary on thirty verses of a Huayan classic skillfully evokes awe with the interconnectedness of everything in magical display, illuminating this very moment.”
“In this jewel of a book, Ben Connelly does what he knows how to do so well—he shows me that my own twenty-first-century life and a seventh-century Buddhist text can talk to each other. Whether you are a scholar of Buddhism or someone who has just begun to meditate, this book will encourage you.”
“Each chapter reflects the author's curiosity, delight, and unfolding personal spiritual insights that arise as he immerses himself in the dazzling abundance of Huayan Buddhism.”
“Ben Connelly reaffirms the invitation for us, offering a set of pointers that can open us to a view of that glorious world of enlightenment depicted in the Flower Garland Sutra, taking a set of verses of thirty lines composed by Uisang, a seventh-century Korean monk, as guideposts in the adventure.”
