Book of Equanimity orBook of Serenity orBook of Composure (Chinese: 從容錄, Cóngróng lù; Japanese: 従容錄,Shōyōroku) is a book compiled byWansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. The book comprises a collection of 100koans written by theChan Buddhist masterHongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157), together with commentaries by Wansong. Wansong's compilation is the only surviving source for Hongzhi's koans.[1][2][3][4]
The full title isThe Record of the Temple of Equanimity With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong (萬松老評唱天童覺和尚 頌古從容庵錄,Wansong Laoren Pingchang Tiantong Jue Heshang Songgu Congrong An Lu, Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 48, No. 2004).
Along withThe Gateless Barrier, theBook of Equanimity is considered one of the two primary compilations ofZen dialogue.[5]Shohaku Okumura has called the collection "a classic text that is still studied by Zen students today."[6]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."[7]Gerry Shishin Wick, who published a translation ofBook 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."[8]
