88 pages : 19 cm; Read one or two of the witty and provocative Zen riddles in this book, and you will find, in the words of Zen, that "nothing is left for you but to laugh." In Ioanna Salajan's delightful drawings, the Old Monk and his disciples spread the message of Zen through stories and koan that are as hilarious as they are profound, as meaningful as they are mysterious. This book dips further into the treasures of Zen wisdom that furnished the first volume of Zen Comics, which has enjoyed extraordinary popularity around the world. Due to the concise self-contained nature of the Zen riddle, those who have not read the first volume can start just as well with this second one. The comic strip turns out to be an ideal medium to communicate the Zen spirit, in which laughter deflates pretension, and a good rap on the head may transcend all logic. A koan is a paradox used in Zen Buddhism as an instrument of meditation, a bit of apparent nonsense that forces one to abandon dependence on reason and break through to sudden intuitive understanding. The Old Monk, a wise and whimsical character, dispenses enlightenment to his disciples (and perhaps the reader) through these ironic, rapier-like verbal thrusts ... or sometimes a whack with a stick. Zen teaches that it is not where you are going, but how you are going. Truley there is no better way to go than with these fresh but eternal gems of insight.; 

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