---
product_id: 8357452
title: "Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts Paperback – June 26, 2012"
brand: "shohaku okumuradave ellison"
price: "7192 som"
currency: KGS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.kg/products/8357452-living-by-vow-a-practical-introduction-to-eight-essential-zen
store_origin: KG
region: Kyrgyzstan
---

# Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts Paperback – June 26, 2012

**Brand:** shohaku okumuradave ellison
**Price:** 7192 som
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts Paperback – June 26, 2012 by shohaku okumuradave ellison
- **How much does it cost?** 7192 som with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kg](https://www.desertcart.kg/products/8357452-living-by-vow-a-practical-introduction-to-eight-essential-zen)

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- shohaku okumuradave ellison enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Clear and penetrating commentary on essential words of vow
  

*by W***2 on Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2018*

This book was very powerful for me, as it clearly explains the myriad meanings behind the words of many of the sutras we chant in our zen center, in a way that does make them more personal and useful to my life, and makes "vow" come alive in my zen practice. Okumura Roshi also did a splendid job of bringing insight and light to complicated zen writings in his book Realizing Genjokoan. I like his writing because he explains and offers background and history, and then offers his heart offering by sharing how to use this information in practicing zazen. My gut sense of his interpretations sticks very true to the spirit of zen practice.  For instance, I better understand the Gatha of Repentence.  I enjoy his sections on Dogen, and the vast knowledge of his teachings about Dogen in general,  and also comments on emptiness that makes the Heart Sutra very alive for me. Okumura is a really great teacher in so many ways, through his books, and sharing his heart as well in his writing. I recommend it for those who have been practicing zazen a few years. This is not a quick read, but really you don't want it to be.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    This is a fantastic book. I bought it as a "quick read" ...
  

*by M***N on Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2014*

This is a fantastic book.  I bought it as a "quick read" while I was waiting for some hard-copy books to ship, thinking that I could blow through it in a couple of days.  Far from it!  This book requires a depth of attention and one willingly gives it thanks to the easy and charming writing style.  It is, as it says on the tin, about the chants and vows we go through as part of our practice, but goes to the heart of them, giving them a deeper meaning and usually line-by-line analyzes them.  This is a book that will be read MANY times and is heavily highlighted and bookmarked.  I've recommended it to my teacher and new practitioners alike.  It would be excellent for a book group or a study group.  This book will enrich your practice and your understanding of why we say what we say.  I find it an essential edition to my books on Zen Buddhism, and I have very few that I consider worth that place.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Decoding the Zen liturgy
  

*by N***T on Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2013*

For years I have recited the various verses we recite before or after meditation and other events without really understanding why or what we were really talking about.  This book is a classical explication de texte of these ancient verses squarely anchored in the context of the great Japanese philosopher monk of ancient Japan, Dogen Zenji, founder of the principal Soto school of Zen, which was transmitted to the West by Shunryu Suzuki in San Francisco, and Taisan Maezumi in Los Angeles.I am only half way through it and all the things I thought before have already been completely undone.  I have listened to many mystifying Dharma talks from Western masters and Tibetan lamas, and I have laboriously read all 4 volumes of Gudo Nishima's edition of Dogen's Shobogenzo, with all the erudite academic annotations, but this simple volume, Living by Vow, in plain language from the inside perspective of a Japaneze Zen monk who grew up in this tradition in his native Japan, and whose translations of the daily Zen liturgy into modern English are so eloquent, has taken me to a new level of appreciation and understanding, or not understanding and being free with that.  For anyone seeking a way through the mystifying permutations of Zen franchises proliferating our world of spiritual consumerism, this is a capital book!

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*Product available on Desertcart Kyrgyzstan*
*Store origin: KG*
*Last updated: 2026-02-22*