Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Rating:
Summary: The One Book You Need On Zen
Review: I have purchased this book repeatedly since I keep giving away copies. Perhaps I should buy it in bulk! If you want the basics of zen - of meditation - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is it. You need not clutter your bookshelves and life with other tomes. Page after page of priceless jewels fill the pages of the book from the talks of Suzuki - "You become discouraged with your practice when your practice has been idealistic." - haven't we all been there in life? And of course, that one piece of advice that defines zazen completely: "When you sit, you should just sit..." Ah my painful legs, dripping faucet, wandering, zen, beginner's mind...

Rating:
Summary: My impression 15 years ago...
Review: Welcome.
I read this book when I was in my mid-teens.
I have been exploring "spirituality", mysticism, meditation, and various spiritual traditions, perspectives, and practices for much of my life. All this time later, this book is one that stands out in my memory.

I only read it that once. I have not read it since. I was going to flick through it before giving this review, as some of the other reviews raised passing doubt in my mind --- perhaps my memory of this book is tainted, I thought.

Yet, I feel that what is of value in my review is the actual impact the book had on me at the time that I read it. So that is what I am going to briefly share.

The lasting impression that I have from this book is that it gave me a very clear, simple, and direct approach to understanding meditation. It also played a key part in inspiring me to pursue meditation at that relatively early age.

Reading this book gave me the lasting impression that a key to my path inward is to maintain an open, clear, and beginner-like mind (a mind that has no expectations because a beginner has no history of experience form which to create such expectations). In some way that I can not really put my finger on (I'd have to perhaps reread it to do that) this book changed my appreciation of life and reminded me of something key to my awakening and my spiritual journey.

(I've just taken a peek at one page in the book)... And I am instantly reminded that the other aspect of how this book impressed me was not only by giving me some valuable keys to how to approach meditation but also how to approach life and living. To qualify that, I will add that when I say "how" I mean "HOW to live life and HOW to approach meditation, in a way that is wholesome and conducive to attaining inner peace.

I can see from some of the reviews I have read that, in my experience, some people have approached this book from a perspective of how well it portrays various Buddhist traditions, or elements of certain Buddhist teachings and paths etc. For me, in 15 years of hindsight, that all seems completely irrelevant. That value of this book could easily get lost if I bring a whole lot of religious knowledge to it and don't receive the simple yet beautiful message hidden within it's pages and hidden within the man that wrote it. Even now when I see the author's photo I feel a deep sense of love and respect for him... all as a result of the impact this reading this book (and applying it to my life) had on me when I was around 15 or so years of age.

I don't expect this book should be approached as some great Zen or Buddhist text. There are now plenty of these available so look elsewhere if that's what you want. I recall a simplicity about this book that moved and touched something deep within my spirit. Obviously this book has left a lasting impression... I read it at a time when the internet as we know it didn't even exist... yet here I am all those years later writing for you this review !!

With love,

Jonathan Evatt

PS. I will add that since reading this book I have awoken to and remembered a great deal with regards to the journey to Liberation and Inner Peace. Hence I will share that this book explores a small piece of the big picture... yet I recall that it does so in such a way that it's exploration of that small (but important) piece is of great value.

Rating:
Summary: Popular, in some circles, but useless to those new to Zen
Review: Being more than a little fond of The Great Matter I've looked thru this book on many occasions and never found anything to warrant close examination. I am amazed at the high praise it receives, in these reviews, and I can appreciate some of what the naysayers have to say, Sutra study (Mahayana or Theravada) isn't part of the picture here. I wouldn't recommend the Sutras for those new to Zen, but I would expect that what's presented in a book on Zen would have its roots, in some fashion or other, in the Mahayana, whether zazen is emphasized or not. Consequently, I would recommend THE WAY OF ZEN, by Alan Watts, which is a lot more informative and, more importantly, a lot more fun! Yes, I said the F word and if you've read all the reviews, as I have, you will notice that they are rather serious and that alone should make one wonder. (The Watts book is always available 'used' and can also be found in most libraries.) Take Care.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended with serious reservations!
Review: Life isn't always that simple - yep! It would be arrogant to think that all the good reviews - are misguided. This book has obviously helped a lot of people. But - hasn't anyone twigged the fact that isolated things in it are simply nuts. What !!! Heresy !!!

What do I mean? Well, its simple. Shunryu Suzuki condoned suicide in this book, citing the example of Sen-no-Rikkyu's suicide as an example of Buddhist 'acceptance.' Maybe the offending passage has been removed since the first ed. Don't know, haven't checked reprints. Suzuki didn't even provide the background details. The situation concerned Hideyoshi ORDERING Sen-no-Rikkyu to commit seppuku (ritual suicide)- because of various suspicions. Hideoyoshi had felt 'up-staged,' when the tea master had his own statue erected over the gate at Daitokuji. Secondly, Hideyoshi had confided many things to the tea-master. Fearing this might endanger his position of authority (Sen-no-Rikkyu evidently shared 'confidences' with other people), Hideoyoshi decided to play it safe - and exercised his power, ordering the tea-master to kill himself.

This - very briefly, is the historical background to the story.
It has NOTHING to do with Zen, and everything to do with feudal POWER in Japan. It is about unquestioning OBEDIENCE, the invisible steel wires that regulated old Japan. The kind of 'acceptance' found in Buddhism - has nothing to do with such controls. Put in a modern context, it is like a wacky dialogue between a company boss and employee:

Boss: "Listen Jones, I'm not happy with your performance
this past year or so. I order you to jump out off
the window on the 73rd floor. "

Jones: "Yes, boss . . .aaaaaaahhhhhhh. "

Get real! Would any of you take such orders, or see sense in that kind of 'acceptance'? Why, then, is it so palatable, because it is conveyed by a Japanese Buddhist teacher?

A final point. I didn't write the book, or invent Japanese history. I am merely pointing out the problem.


Rating:
Summary: What is Buddhism? What is Zen?
Review: There are two major brands of Zen, the Soto (a.k.a. "gradual") and Rinzai (a.k.a. "sudden") schools. Shunryu Suzuki outlines with crisp clarity the fundamental beliefs and practices that underlie Soto Zen. "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" is a collected edition of his talks which strike closest to the heart of the Soto school of the modern day. I found this book relevatory as a beginning practitioner of Zen.

For beginners, I also recommend "Zen in the American Grain," by Kyogen Carlson. It's especially useful for those trying to reconcile Western culture with Zen practice.

As a previous reviewer has noted, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" is not intended as an introduction to "Buddhism" -- it seems to me that there are in fact far too many Buddhisms for such a book to be written.