8The eccentric Bankei (1622-1693) has long been an underground hero in the world of Zen. At a time when Zen was becoming overly formalized in Japan, he stressed its relevance to everyday life, insisting on the importance of naturalness and spontaneity. This volume presents his teachings -- as refreshing and iconoclastic today as they were three hundred years ago -- in a fluent translation by Peter Haskel, accompanied by a vivid account of Bankei's life and times, illustrations, and extensive notes for the scholar.