help me trace a book on historic kempo meditator & Translation of “The Book of Chuang Tzu”

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,
I’m an Occasional Lurker, but first time poster.

In Bruces 2010 Taoist mediation material, he talks about a story/meditator in the Kempo (or Kenpo?) meditation tradition who used to go though the wilds of Tibet with his father and kill people and take all their stuff and how he had a do a lot to overcome this with meditation.

I was wondering if anyone knew the name of this person and/or especially any books on him/it? I’m not interested in books from the perspective of instructional material on how to do the practices, rather I find these tales interesting enjoyable reads from a mental/intellectual point of view.

also whilst we are on this topic, does anyone have any other recommendations on books of this style regardless of meditation tradition?
I’ve already read and enjoyed the Life of Milarepa for example.

another book on my to do list is “The Book of Chuang Tzu” Can anyone recommend a decent edition/translation of this book in particular into English?

thanks in advance for any replies and/or pointers

-Darren

[Anonymous]

Hello Darren, best wishes in your practice and learning..

Firstly, I’m not sure which material you mention (Bruce’s 2010 Taoist meditation material- recordings? online membership, or Cds?).. so I may be off.. I think it might be Bonpo (or Bon Po tradition ~lamas, vs Bon traditions pre-that).. re: Kempo/Kenpo.. it could be something else, but being you mention Tibet..
-My thought is that could refer to Milarepa (the cotton clad one), but as you mention it below in the post, it might be different.

-in terms of story-type mixed with how-to, I liked Practical Taoism (translated by Cleary), which is many sections from various “wizards” collected… differs from the “modern” “practical”
In terms of other “books of this style” I’m not sure the style referenced, so I may be off..

Secondly,
I hope this might be alright, and apologies and all-due-credit to those quoted below, that posted in the TaoTeChing member’s forum… (this being a curiosity of mine as well).. -I wonder if you might be a member and student of the TaoTe Ching course by Bruce? (it is a how-to and philosophy, not as much as stories as you mention. As I’m not sure which course you refer to (2010 meditation- a live event or recordings? – as above), you might be learning from this? (but then you could have found these, below postings, on that forum…)

============ below just copy-complied from their posts…

Jeff Hemmer “I just finished reading a book by Jean-François Billeter (French title: Notes sur Tchouang-tseu et la philosophie; as far as I am aware there is no English translation, only a German one), a Swiss sinologue. It’s a series of lectures in which Billeter tries to introduce Zhuangzi’s philosophy; including/using a number of short stories that Billeter translated himself.” … “As he writes in his introduction, Billeter seems unhappy with most translations available so far, and states the best is the 1968 translation by Burton Watson.”

Dr Alan P. ” I would agree that the Burton Watson translation is still probably the best. It is also the most complete. The problem with many Zhuangzi translations is that they are very partial. Usually they just include the Inner Chapters, and a couple of other stories. Just as Bruce has said for the Daodejing, the Zhuangzi needs to be approached as a whole, not just a disparate selection of random stories. Unfortunately, many people including scholars treat the Zhuangzi in this random way.”

Dick Kruithof “I have a Dutch translation by Rik or Kristofer Schipper. Don’t know if this one is also avaible in French or English. Might well be the case; have a look at his webstie: http://blog.sina.com.cn/schipper”

[Anonymous]

Hello- I’m not sure if the original-poster read this (or if is on topic), I wondered if any other suggestion-responses would be made by others.. just to add to this.. re:

<>

A big project, but get the source-material vs a lighter-summary (unless the idea was to have the story a bit more digested and short-accessible, these might be better, espec in terms of “going down the rabbit-hole” ?)

I.
The Mahabharata (watch the translation/commentaries), of which a small section is the Bhaghavad Gita (battle-scene, after-as training-mentoring of soldier by meditation-mastery.. ego-development in action, truly tested).. of which the later isn’t short.. so the former-whole is long…

and/or
II.
Journey to the West…
(the following copied from Wikipedia) “a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng’en. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. In English-speaking countries, Monkey, Arthur Waley’s popular abridged translation, is most commonly read.”

re versions-
Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China (1942)

Journey to the West (1982–1984), a complete translation in three volumes by William John Francis Jenner.
The Journey to the West (1977–1983), a complete translation in four volumes by Anthony C. Yu, the first to translate the poems and songs which Yu argues are essential in understanding the author’s meanings.
In 2006, an abridged version of this translation was published by University of Chicago Press under the title The Monkey and the Monk.
In 2012, University of Chicago Press issued a revised edition of Yu’s translation in four volumes.

….
(or at least- and this is more westernized- standard translation, and been around, so likely in libraries and/or used-bookstores; thus you may have already read it)..
III.
Autobiography of a Yogi (Yogananda story)

==============
Likely not in the tone-style of others that can be mentioned (or especially more contemporary, but many such likely are ripples that percolated from). -FYI for the discusion.. else? (what have you found?)

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