I cannot render praise high enough to John Daido Loori. With his translation of Dogen's three hundred koans, he builds a modern masterpiece out of an old one. This collection of koans, which Dogen assembled, serves as the foundation on which he built many fascicles of his might Shobogenzo. Indeed, a reading of this book enhances one's understanding of Dogen's primary masterpiece greatly. Typically, a koan collection is comprised of cases, accompanied with a commentary and verse by the compiler. But Dogen never added these items, though he comments on some of them at great length in the Shobogenzo. So translator John Daido Loori, has boldly undertaken the task of the compiler, providing each koan with commentary and verse. In doing so, he weaves his own masterpiece together with Dogen's. With his remarks, Loori shows himself to be a true enlightened representative of Dogen's lineage, a master of Zen writing style, and a truly great writer. Commentary by Zen masters tends to be vivid, mocking, and sardonic, whilst pointing to the essence of the koan. Reading this, one feels that one is reading Engo Kokugon's commentary on the Blue Cliff Record, or Mumon's commentary on the Gateless Gate (both compiled in the twelfth century!). Loori understands so well the style and message of these Zen masters that he writes a commentary worthy to stand beside them. And, with a deep respect of Dogen, and a deep understanding of the Shobogenzo, he interweaves seemlessly Dogen's concepts with his own, unapologetically lifting passages from famous works, as Zen masters have always been wont to do. He makes new verses out of old famous ones, brings up vital points of Dogen's philosophy by putting them in a different context, and shows as complete an expression of Zen as I have ever seen in a modern writer (or in many ancient ones.) Perhaps his greatest achievement is his clarity. He uses the same metaphors and the same ridiculous phrases used by so many Zen commentators, yet his remarks are suited to people who want to train with koans at a lower level, or who do not have a master to train under. He offers no explanations, nor offers any solutions, yet he points gently to the watos, the points that one should meditate on, and the nature of kanna zen. A must have for any serious student of koan training!