101 Zen Stories was first published in London in 1939. It is about real experiences of Chinese and Japanese Zen masters through more than five centuries.
They were transcribed into English from the book Shaseki-shu (Collection of stone and sand), written in the late thirteenth century by the Japanese Zen master Muju ("he who does not dwell"), as well as anecdotes from Zen monks taken from various books. published in Japan around the beginning of the 20th century.
Zen could be considered the inner art and the conception of the East. It is not a sect but an experience. The spirit of Zen has come to mean not only peace and understanding, but also dedication to art and work, the valuable unfolding of contentment, the opening of the door of intuition, the expression of innate beauty, the intangible charm of the incomplete.
For the Orientals, more interested in being than in activity, the man who discovers himself has been the most worthy of respect. These stories deal with such discoveries of oneself.