Rating: 
Summary: Zen is about real life
Review: Joko Beck writes compellingly on practice and real life. These collected Dharma talks spell out beautifully why one might want to add traditional Zen practice to modern western life, therein bringing center and no-thought out into all aspects of being.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple, direct, unadorned truth
Review: Joko Beck's thesis is a simple one: That life, just as it is at any moment, is all that it can be and therefore is perfect. Pointing again and again to the troubles we cause ourselves by living life not in the moment, but out of a confused fog of fantasies and "what ifs," Beck challenges us to divest ourselves of our mental defense mechanisms and dare to be OK with life as it is. Yet she is a compassionate teacher, intimately familiar with human weaknesses and struggles, and she extends one hand of comfort even as the other hand pulls the rug out from under our feet. Perhaps the only shortcoming of this book is that it is much more clear about the "deconstructive" aspect of Zen practice than about exploring the ultimate manifestations and benefits of enlightenment. Knowing her aversion to "holding out cookies," however, this absence is understandable.
Rating:
Summary: The woman knows her stuff
Review: Just the most influential author I have read. For a week I saw mountains as more than mountains and all my continued personal developement stem from her teachings.
Rating:
Summary: excellent, concise, thought provoking.
Review: loved the book. loved the easy interpretation of a complex subject. cant wait to read her other book from amazon.
Rating:
Summary: An excellant guide to the practice of Zen and Life.
Review: Ms. Beck is clearly not a guru on a mountain top. But a real person whose knowledge and understanding of life and living are nothing less than enlightened. Her clear and thoughtful interpreations of the practice of "sitting Zen," make anyone remotely interested, wanting to begin and those who have begun,to continue. Ms. Beck demonmstrates by example the clarity of thought that can be acheived through this method of practice. One of the best books on the topic.
Rating:
Summary: Simplistic, meaningful, wonderful, and too much to describe
Review: One of the most simplistic, practical and meaningful books I have read. It is thought provoking and so filled with warmth and love that I didn't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, clear, direct
Review: Pure wisdom: no nonsense, no
appeals to authority, no pressure,
no dogmatism. The author even says
that she doesn't want people to believe
her, but rather wants them to experience for
themselves. Simply one of the best
books I've ever read
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The book is organized in a series of talks where Joko shares her wisdom with her students. Unfortunately, I found that the tone of the talks lacked compassion and understanding for the complexity of the world. Thicht Nacht Han tells us not to create us/them dualities, but this book is replete with them. Further, the book overwhelmingly emphasizes the importance of sitting, but *ignores* the importance of everyday ethical practice in providing the groundwork for a joyful life of awareness. I find that it did not provide much help for ordinary people trying to deepen the practice of their everyday lives. Perhaps this is a problem with Zen Buddhism in general. A much better book is Sharon Salzberg's "Lovingkindness".
Rating:
Summary: Zen in plain English
Review: This is one of my favorite books on Zen. Charlotte Joko Beck is the resident Zen teacher at the Zen Center of San Diego, and "Everyday Zen" is a collection of her talks. Joko speaks about Zen in an ordinary, conversational, down-to-earth way--as opposed to the paradoxical, poetic, non-logical style that is typical of Zen--and she explicitly relates Zen to everyday life. For Joko, Zen is about being OK with everything, an OK-ness that does not imply fatalism, passivity, or an absence of feelings. She says: "For something to be OK, it doesn't mean that I don't scream or cry or protest or hate it. . . . What _is_ the enlightened state? When there is no longer any separation between myself and the circumstances of my life, whatever they may be, that is it."While this book is a good one for newcomers to Zen--and for old-timers too--it does not include nitty-gritty beginning instruction in Zen meditation, so for that you'll need to look elsewhere. (I'd recommend "The Three Pillars of Zen" or a Zen center.) This is not the best Zen book for everyone. When you're in a swamp of existential angst, desperately wanting to know that peace and joy can be found within this fleeting life so full of suffering--exactly the issues Zen addresses--Joko's "everyday" approach can be exasperating and can seem not to address those issues, and you may prefer "The Three Pillars of Zen" or "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." I appreciate Joko's wariness of leading us astray with images of "enlightenment," which is so easily misunderstood as a thing we can achieve that will make our lives perfect at last, but sometimes I want more reminders than Joko offers that our life can be utterly transformed (while still being the same old, imperfect life).
Rating:
Summary: My favorite zen book
Review: This is simply my favorite zen book, and I have read a few. Granted, if you are a total newcomer to zen, you may experience some frustration. In fact, I did not appreciate this book after my first read. After additional study and reading - especially of Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now - I reread Everday Zen and now I cannot get enough of Charlotte Joko Beck's teaching. Her other book, Nothing Special, is equally beneficial. Her writing is straightforward, but profound. What a treasure she is!
|
