This and That: Selected Short Poems of Zen Master Ryokan
Language: English
Published by Monkfish Book Publishing, 2026
- Softcover
- New

Seller: Kennys Bookstore, Olney, MD, U.S.A.Kennys Bookstore
AbeBooks seller since October 9, 2009
Condition: New
£ 24.67
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Seller Inventory # V9781966608158
- Title
- This and That: Selected Short Poems of Zen Master Ryokan
- Author
- Ryokan
- Publisher
- Monkfish Book Publishing
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1966608152
- ISBN 13
- 9781966608158
Zen poems of everyday awakening.
A fresh translation of short poems by the Japanese Zen poet Ryokan that reads well as modern American poetry, accompanied by an introduction and commentaries on the poems from the translators. Most of the existing translations are stiff, or sentimental, or awkward as poems in English. This effort is comparable to Gary Snyder’s Han-Shan poems, or Thomas Merton’s Chuang-Tzu.
One of the greatest poets of the Edo period and certainly one of the most loved, Ryokan was a highly original and eccentric master artist and Zen practitioner. A solitary hermit who begged for food and lived among the poor, often in dire need himself, his offbeat poems are moments of everyday awakening, characterized, as was his personality, by both austerity and playfulness. This translation aims to retain Ryokan’s charm without undue sentiment or saint-making, allowing for his rougher edges to appear.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Ryōkan (1758–1831) was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk who lived as a hermit. Even by those standards, he was known for unconventionality, shocking others, for example, by refusing to hurt bugs, and confronting burglars to willingly give them his clothes. But most of all Ryōkan is remembered for his poetry, which presents the essence of Zen life.
John (aka Isaac) Slater has lived since 1999 as a Trappist monk at the Abbey of the Genesee in New York, where he’s novice director. He’s published collections of his own poems, a co-translation, The Tangled Braid: Ninety-Nine Poems by Hafiz of Shiraz, and Do Not Judge Anyone: Desert Wisdom for a Polarized World. He was recently a guest on the popular podcast, “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, SJ.” Slater has been drawn to the work and figure of Ryokan for more than thirty years.
Stan Ziobro lives in Charleston, SC. After earning a certificate in Asian studies from Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, he graduated from the University of Rochester in philosophy and Japanese. His graduate degrees are in religious studies from Wake Forest University and The Divinity School at University of Chicago. He’s worked as a professional translator of Japanese since 1998. Translations include those incorporated in James L. Ford’s Jokei and Buddhist Devotion in Early Medieval Japan (Oxford University Press, 2006). He lives in Charleston, SC.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Kennys Bookstore
Olney, MD, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since October 9, 2009
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 14 to 20 business days | 13 to 14 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 7.77 | £ 15.54 |
Payment methods
Store description
Specialty
Revolution, War, Peace, Irish StudiesSeller's business information
Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries (Holdings) Limited
Liosbán Retail Park, Tuam Road
Galway, Ireland H91 N5P8
Terms of sale
We guarantee the condition of every book as it's described on the Abebooks websites.
If you're dissatisfied with your purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) or if the order hasn't arrived, you're eligible for a refund within 30 days of the estimated delivery date.
For any queries please use the contact seller link or send an email to books@kennys.ie
Conor Kenny
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Kennys Bookstore, Olney, Maryland, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
All books securely packaged. Some books ship from Ireland.