Questions to a Zen Master

Rating:
Summary: Decent Book
Review: Ok, to be fair to Taisen Deshimaru here-a previous reviewer mentioned some sort of a sex scandal which involved him. I looked everywhere I could using Googles search engine to look into the matter, and never once came across anything concerning that. So as far as I know, that reviewer is the only source for the information.

Now, how was the book? If you are just starting out in Zen, I would not recommend this book to you. Not that it is complicated stuff. You just need a bit of seasoning to swallow some of it, and to discriminate a little between what is accurate, and not accurate. For those starting out, I would recommend any books by Zen Master Seung Sahn-ie. the Compass of Zen, Only Don't Know, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha. These books will give you a more (yes, in my opinion) accurate account as to just what Zen practice is all about.

This book is in a question and answer format, and sometimes you get the impression he simply cannot handle the question. Does this mean everything he has to say is useless? Not at all. In fact I did take away some useful teachings from this book. At other points, however, I shook my head laughing out loud. So it's a coin toss, if you are somewhat familiar with Zen-this book is innocent fun. If you are unfamiliar with Zen, it could prove to be a dangerous introduction in my view. So there it is, my first 4 star review-I try to be a little nice!

Rating:
Summary: A touching explanation of Zen stripped of scholarism
Review: QUESTIONS TO A ZEN MASTER is a book of questions and answers with Taisen Deshimaru, a Zen monk who left Japan for France in the 1960s and taught there until his death in 1981. Taisen Deshimaru was a Zen master, yes, but he was also a simple, ordinary man. And it is this viewpoint that so enriches his explanation of Zen Buddhism.

QUESTIONS TO A ZEN MASTER, unlike the works of, say, D.T. Suzuki, is not a "scholarly" work. Deshimaru-roshi explains Zen in a very clear, pedestrian manner, and abstains from fancy language or dizzying metaphysical concepts. He speaks of Zen as something relating to the most basic of everyday actions, even eating and sleeping, making love and defecating. Deshimaru-roshi tries to say (and succeeds wonderfully) that Zen is not some obtuse, mind-boggling philosophy but the here-and-now, this breath.

Although scholarly works on Zen Buddhism have their place, Deshimaru-roshi's heartfelt clarifications are worth reading. An added bonus with this book is a short Q&A with Deshimaru-roshi by several Christian monks. Although brief, the sections does provoke quite some thought even from this Christian reviewer.

QUESTIONS TO A ZEN MASTER is worth getting from anyone interested in Zen.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This was one of my first "real" Zen books. Much of what I had read up to this point was western philosophical discussion on Zen. This was one of my first exposures to subjective Zen.

Taisen is really cool. Funny & smart.

He's agnostic, for example when asked about the existence of a metaphysical realm he says that although he's had metaphysical experiences, nothing can be confirmed or denied so it's best to remain silent.

He's got an excellent grounding in science but is a student of Dogen so his agnosticism is shot through with mysticism. He's into opening up, becoming receptive and often comes back to a attitude of; "Try to look at the tree instead of talking about it. An when you look at it try to not see your notions of the tree. Go beyond that."

He always comes back to the actual practice of Zazen over thinking about Zen. Without the experience of Zazen notions of Zen are empty.