I was reading On Haiku, by Hiroaki Sato this past January (highly recommended!), and in it Sato mentioned an article published in 1923, On the Method of Practicing Concentration and Contemplation translated by Kakuso Okakura, which was the first complete instructions for zazen translated into English.
At the time, it was January 2019, which was different from the previous 20 or so years in an important way—public domain had advanced one year, which meant that works published in 1923 were now public domain.
Well! I went looking for it on a whim and found a scanned copy online and began the process of typing it up…
(then 2019 happened. sigh)
AND then, in December, I pulled it back out and finished typing it up. It’s about 12,000 words, featuring the translation by Kakuso Okakura, and a forward from William Sturgis Bigelow.
So, here it is, in ebook form, the pamphlet. On the Method of Practicing Concentration and Contemplation by Chi Ki, translated by Kakuso Okakura.
On the Method of Practicing Concentration and Contemplation
Chi Ki (Chik I)
A Monk of Shuzenji (Hsiutanszu) Monastery of Tendai (Tient’ai) Moutain
Translated by Kakuso Okakura
with a Prefatory Note by William Sturgis Bigelow
note: For the third-person singular pronoun, the translator used he/him, which would have been the proper style at the time. This has been changed the pronouns to they/them to reflect modern style guides. The preface remains unchanged.
