One Essence: The Nondual Clarity of an Ancient Zen Poem

By: Robert Wolfe

Narrated by: Deon Vozov

One Essence is a modern commentary on the nondual teachings of a classical Zen text.

It is also a collection of Zen wisdom and poetry, containing the 67 stanzas of the Hsin Hsin Ming (with multiple alternative translations), plus many other succinct spiritual verses from ancient and contemporary Zen sources.

The concise, powerful verses of the Hsin Hsin Ming have been translated repeatedly over the ages, and been the subject of many commentaries in the attempt to understand its simplicity and subtlety. Here, Robert Wolfe, the author of Living Nonduality: Enlightenment Teachings of Self-Realization, provides a modern, nondual look at this ancient Zen-Taoist poem.

All thirty of its quatrains are provided along with a contemporary nondual interpretation as well as selections from other Zen and Taoist teaching poems.

Also included is a short story by Robert Wolfe, "In Death as in Life," envisioning the last days of the Buddha and his nondual teachings.

©2012 Karina Library Press (P)2013 Karina Library Press

Clear and helpful commentary.

This important teaching is read at the right pace and with a wonderful voice, ideally suited to this profound spiritual teaching. A great guide to the Hsin Hsin Ming.

Such a Gift

If you would like to cultivate a mind of peace and learn to be fully present and at One with the Source and ground of being, you need look no further than this superb offering. I enjoy slowing down the speed of the narrator to 5x and playing it while I fall asleep to put me in my right mind at the end of the day. Thank you Robert Wolfe and Deon Vozov for this expounding on the perfection of an already perfect text which has quintessentially become my Holy Grail!

Undivided

A softly presented introduction to the infinite number of perspectives available to the thinker on the single undivided non-concept of non-duality :-)

Beautiful narration and content

The poem itself is one of the best descriptions of non-duality. Explanation and narration perfect.

Brief and poignant

Great quick listen to help you center perhaps on your daily commute. ~ Hanuman Dass

Essense of Zen

I've been waiting a long time for a good audio version of Hsin Hsin Ming and so I was very happy to discover this excellent overview of this key text in Zen literature. The author does a good job of doing a line-by-line explanation of the poem. I especially appreciated his use of the variety of translations in this commentary. He showed that there is more than one way to interpret the text. As with all things Zen, listeners are free to reach their own conclusions.

format is a bit off

liked the work, but it's a bit formulaic - verse, translations, repeat. it felt like I'd already need to understand the topic to get anything from this book

terrible narrator. infuriating to listen to.

enjoyed the content but couldn't listen to narrator. like she's narrating a child's book. trying so hard to make her voice sound like she's reading holy scriptures. Very distracting.