Book of Serenity : One Hundred Zen Dialogues

Book of Equanimity or Book of Serenity or Book of Composure is a book compiled by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. The book comprises a collection of 100 koans written by the Chan Buddhist master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157), together with commentaries by Wansong. Wansong’s compilation is the only surviving source for Hongzhi’s koans. Along with The Gateless Barrier, the Book of Equanimity is considered one of the two primary compilations of Zen dialogue. Shohaku Okumura has called the collection a classic text that is still studied by Zen students today. Reb Anderson has called it an auspicious peak in the mountain range of Zen literature, a subtle flowing stream in the deep valleys of our teaching, a treasure house of inspiration and guidance in studying the ocean of Buddhist teachings. Gerry Shishin Wick, who published a translation of Book of Equanimity in 2005, says although it was collected by a master in the Soto lineage, The Book of Equanimity, they are treated as Koans in the Rinzai, some Rinzai schools, and the Soto school studied them, but more as liturgy, rather than as Koans.