The One Hundred Parable Sutra is known as the most humorous sutra in all of Buddhist literature. Here Kazuaki Tanahashi, the celebrated translator, calligrapher, and Dogen scholar, and Peter Levitt, an award-winning poet, storyteller, and Zen practitioner, have translated and retold these jewel-like parables with panache for students, teachers, and seekers everywhere. With appropriate commentary, each tale becomes a simple lesson for everyday living. From the potter who seeks fame to the woman who possesses great lust, these tales are told with a gentle clarity that magnifies our appetites and delusions. In doing so, they become an accurate mirror of the human condition. A Flock of Fools is a perfect little book of wisdom, laughter, and compassion.

A Flock of Fools: Ancient Buddhist Tales of Wisdom and Laughter from the One Hundred Parable Sutra, Kazuaki Tanahashi & Peter Levitt, Grove Press Books, Paperback, 2004, 201 pages, $18.00

Kazuaki Tanahashi is an accomplished Japanese calligrapher, Zen teacher, author and translator of Buddhist texts from Japanese and Chinese to English, most notably works by Dogen.

Peter Levitt is a Canadian poet and translator. He is also the founder and teacher of the Salt Spring Zen Circle, in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi.