Bill Porter (1) (1943–)

'Bill Porter's Road to Heaven is a brillaint essay on the traditions of Chinese hermits, a startling reminder of how far we have gone astray. It should be a part of any serious Zen or Taoist library.'-Jim Harrison

Contents

Chinese dynasties and republics
Map of the Sian area and Chungnan Mountains
One Hermit heaven
Two MOuntains of the moon
Three If the world is muddy
Four On the trail of the tao
Five Sound of the crane
Six Road to Heaven
Seven Cloud people
Eight The bird that is a mountain
Nine Crossing heartbreak ridge
Ten Home of he evening star
Eleven visiting Wang Wei, finding him gone
Twelve When the tao comes to town
Notes on the spelling of Chinese names
Acknowledgments… (mer)

In the spring of 2006, Bill Porter traveled through the heart of China, from Beijing to Hong Kong, on a pilgrimage to sites associated with the first six patriarchs of Zen. Zen Baggage is an account of that journey. He weaves together historical background, interviews with Zen masters, and translations of the earliest known records of Zen, along with personal vignettes. Porter's account captures the transformations taking place at religious centers in China but also the abiding legacy they have somehow managed to preserve. Porter brings wisdom and humor to every situation, whether visiting ancient caves containing the most complete collection of Buddhist texts ever uncovered, enduring a six-hour Buddhist ceremony, searching in vain for the ghost in his room, waking up the monk in charge of martial arts at Shaolin Temple, or meeting the abbess of China's first Zen nunnery. Porter's previously published Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits has become recommended reading at Zen centers and universities throughout America and even in China (in its Chinese translation), and Zen Baggage is sure to follow suit.… (mer)