From Kirkus Review:
he study of Ch'an Buddhism--the Chinese version of the Zen Buddhism of Japan--has only recently become of interest in the West. One of the reasons has been the inaccessibility of primary source literature on the subject, a situation which the present collection, fortified by Dr. Chang's American society as a ""greater community"" has had its own distinctive moral tradition. Today, its mortality tends to be defined realistically by a public community tradition rather than by the standards and teaching of the church. What is needed is an inter-disciplinary effort to re-establish ethics on a deeper public foundation. The development of this argument is fully grounded upon scholarly sources and pertinently illuminated by current public events. The result is a treatment of the subject of value to both the student of ethics and the lay reader.

A translation of the primary materials on the life and teachings of Ma-tsu (709-788), the successor to the great sixth patriarch and the greatest Ch'an master in history, Hui-Neng (638-713). The book should be invaluable to all who wish to study the development of the Zen thought and philosophy over the course of history.