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A core feature of Zen is that it's a mind-to-mind transmission of a particular type of awareness of the self (or lack thereof) and its relationship to reality.

There are many gates to the experiential truths of Buddhism, but Zen's self-chosen gate is a psychophysical method of direct pointing to one's true nature. Seeing one's nature is called kensho, and it's the beginning of authentic practice. This is simply not the kind of experience/insight you're going to derive from self-directed meditation on "first principles," any more than you're going to construct a spacecraft from first principles without ever taking classes in metallurgy, calculus, aeronautical engineering taught by expert engineers and scientists.

And the reason is that we stand on the shoulders of giants. Thousands of monk-scholars for thousands of years - from India, through Tibet, China, Japan, etc. - have developed and fine-tuned methods for pointing out these non-obvious truths about our existence.

Sure, you can develop foundational attributes of samatha using online instructions. And you can use traditionally-recommended objects of contemplation for your vipassana practice. Samatha and vipassana are fairly basic, user-friendly technologies. Zen, tantra, and other yogic methods most certainly are not. Self-teaching Zen would be like trying to teach yourself a martial art, having only glimpsed a karate match on Youtube. You may impress your friends, but the second you have an interaction with a trained Muay Thai boxer, you'll realize how woefully untrained you really are.

Edit: Consider Sam Harris's account of meeting Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in his book Waking Up. Remember that Sam had years of intensive vipassana retreats under his belt:

> The genius of Tulku Urgyen was that he could point out the nature of mind with precision and matter-of-factness of teaching a person how to thread a needle and could get an ordinary meditator like me to recognize that consciousness is intrinsically free of self... I came to Tulku Urgyen yearning for the experience of self-transcendence, and in a few minutes, he showed me I had no self to transcend... After a few minutes, Tulku Urgyen simply handed me the ability to cut through the illusion of the self directly, even in ordinary states of consciousness. This instruction was, without question, the most important thing I have ever been explicitly taught by another human being. [empasis mine] It has given me a way to escape the usual tides of psychological suffering - fear, anger, shame - in an instant."

The ability of a genuine expert - met in person - to diagnose your personal state and offer individualized guidance is just indispensable.

Edit2: I highly, highly recommend reading Meido Moore's short book The Rinzai Zen Way for a practice-focused introduction of Zen Buddhism.

Samadhi (三昧) is stableness (定). To abide in samadhi is to abide in the absence of the notion of inherent existence. To abide in samadhi is to abide in the absence of all notions of entities.

Samadhi power or strength (定力) is the mind’s ability to withstand the fierceness of the arising of the notion of inherent existence. Samadhi power or strength is the mind’s ability to withstand the fierceness of the arising of all notions of entities. The mind that is able to withstand is able to abide in samadhi.

The perfection of meditation (the fifth paramita) is detachment and samadhi (禪定). To detach is to detach from the notion of inherent existence and all notions of entities. To abide in samadhi is to abide in the absence of the notion of inherent existence and the absence of all notion of entities.

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www.emptinessguan.com

https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564

I found this book to be very helpful and I hope that it helps you too, though it does pivot on an agnostic look at Buddhism I think it will still be useful to you. I hope this helps in some small way.

I can elaborate on the Thien side, at least. There is a Caodong presence in Northern Vietnam, and I forget the name of it in Vietnamese, and know virtually nothing about it other than that it exists. The rest of Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora is heavily influenced by the Miyun Yuanwu lineage of Linji Chan, as well as the Truc Lam Thien school that was founded by Tran Nhan Tong.

At the end of this paper is a full translation of Tran Nhan Tong's Cu Tran Lac Dao Phu ('Dwelling in the World with the Joy of Practicing Dharma').

Here is a small page with short translated writings of Thich Thanh Tu, the current root master of the Truc Lam school.

Thich Thien An was the first prominent Vietnamese zen teacher in the west and had some good writings, although he seemed to have tried his best to present it as closely to Rinzai as possible, since the Americans he was teaching were more familiar with Japanese culture.

Hakuin's autobiography would be a great place to start.

Heinrich Dumoulin's 2-volume "Zen Buddhism: A History" (Vol 1, Vol 2) is a classic, albeit somewhat dated. It has extended descriptions of the lives of some of the more notable teachers.

Andy Ferguson's "Zen's Chinese Heritage" is a very readable translation of the Lamp Records, providing some useful historical flavor. Although, the Lamp Records are where many of the major koan collections are drawn from, so if you're not into koans, ymmv.

I'll see if I can think of any others.

Sure thing. Kind of a big pocket, though...

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Bodhisattvas-Way-Life-Altruism/dp/0948006889

It's probably twice the height of a book you might consider pocket-sized. I think of it that way because it's pretty durable, bendy, and not wider than a back pocket or a jacket pocket.

The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen is also a great resource. It's like a dollar used on Amazon.

Everyday zen by charlotte joko beck

nothing special by charlotte joko beck

Zen training by Katsuki Sekida

The path to bodhidharma by Shodo Harada Roshi

Zen master Yunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master "Gate of the Clouds" , by urs app, which is almost the same book or the same book as Zen Master Yunmen: His Life and Essential Sayings by urs app, you could get either one, here are the links: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Yunmen-Record-Chan-Clouds/dp/1568360053/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1537340385&sr=8-7&keywords=urs+app ; https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Master-Yunmen-Essential-Sayings/dp/1611805597/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1537340256&sr=8-4&keywords=urs+app

and the 7th world of chan buddhism, by Ming Zhen Shakya, which is free online here: http://zbohy.zatma.org/common/downloads/SeventhWorldOfChanBuddhism.pdf

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I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!


Here is link number 1 - Previous text "one"



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Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics

Check this book or this one.

A lot of info from contemporary Rinzai teachers aimed for the lay practicioners

A while back I watched this really interesting video on Han Shan’s life and work: https://youtu.be/R3OWTwGdGmo

Red Pine is in the video, who translated a lot of Han Shan’s poetry: The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Mandarin Chinese and English Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556591403/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ilqhDb0P6T9BA