What is this? Ancient questions for modern minds presents talks given by Martine and Stephen Batchelor during a Son (Chan/Zen) retreat in England in 2016.

Leading us through the practice of radical questioning at the heart of this Korean Buddhist tradition, the authors show how anyone at all can benefit from this form of radical inquiry today.

These talks demonstrate clearly how a practice with origins in China a thousand years ago can meld with insights from the natural sciences, classical and modern western philosophy, Romantic poetry, and early Buddhism.

The reader can use this book as a companion in facing the challenge of living a fully human life in our complex contemporary world, or as a practice manual, or both.

Preface     xi
Entering the retreat     1
The basis of meditation     7
Questioning and responding     17
What is this?     33
The three symbols of awakening     41
Effortless effort     53
Good snowflakes: they don’t fall anywhere else     63
I don’t know     77 
Emptiness     87 
Courage and questioning     101 
The four great vows     109 
Waiting and listening     125
The path of compassion     135 
Practice in daily life     151
Notes     156
References     158
About Gaia House     161
About Tuwhiri     162