AboutMaciej St. Zięba Expertise I can answer questions concerning Eastern (Oriental) philosophies and philosophers (Indian, Tibetan, Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese: Hinduist, Buddhist, Confucianist, Taoist and other; alas not Islamic or Jewish) - both in terms of notions and facts (history of their development). I can write in English, French, Esperanto, Polish and Russian, German, Dutch and Norwegian. I can also understand questions in Spanish and Italian.
Experience I have been teaching Indian and Chinese philosophies since 1987 and in 2000 I started a project on Oriental philosophies within the scope of the Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Powszechna Encyklopedia Filozofii) published in Polish by SITA-PL (7 volumes, A-Pan, published 2000-2006, containing ca. 300 entries in Eastern philosophies, written by a team of a dozen of Polish scholars).
Organizations The Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Poland, History of Philosophy Department
Publications Several publications in Polish; in English: The Origin of the World according to Rigveda (Montreal 1996), Contributions to the History of the Buddhist Classifications of Dharmas: Pancavastuka of Vasumitra (Bulletin, Polish Institute and Library, Montreal 1997)
Education/Credentials philosophy (KUL, Lublin, 1976-81); M.A. in history of Indian philosophy (KUL, 1981); Ph.D. in history of Indian philosophy (KUL, 1989); other studies: Indian and Chinese philosophies (Institut Catholique, Paris, 1985-6); Tibetan language (INALCO, Paris, 1985-6); Chinese language (McGill University, Montreal, 1995-7)
Question QUESTION: there's a zen story about ma-tsu twisting a disciple's nose, but is there another story in which the master in question grabs the student by the nose and says "quick, say a word of zen!", or something like that?
ANSWER: Hi Taber,
Yes there are several like this, but I'll have to looke for then either in Hekiganroku (or Biyanlu or Blue Cliff Records) or in Mumonkan (or Wumenguan or Gatelessgate) or elese another collection of Zen koans.
Today I have to go abroad for a few days, so I can do it only next Monday. But why don't you start your own research with the words mentione above (there are all the cases of the collections somewhere on the the Internet), or start with http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/KoanStudy.html
Good luck
MAciej
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thank you for getting back to me!
i actually had already tried to find info on the net,
and was disappointed to have no luck, before i asked
you this question. if you are able to find the answer
after you get back from your travels, i would much
appreciate it. thank you again!
warmly,
Taber
Answer Dear Taber,
I didn't really have time to look in the books, but looking in the Internet I have found thet there are more then 114 000 answers for "nose and zen master".
I know that may seem discouraging, by try adding some words and see what happens: like "tear", "grab", "twist" etc. That's the researcher's work and fate to dig and search. If you find it yourself, you'll valuate the time you have used and the answer you have got, otherwise if I find it for you - I use my time and you won't valuate it as much.
Bon courage (Success!)
Maciej
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I'll try to do it within this week, don't write to me before as that forces me to answer with something. I will just send a follow-up and you'll get it.
