• Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen | | | |
• The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment | | | |
• An Introduction to Zen Buddhism | | | |
• Zen And the Art of Happiness | | | |
• Everyday Zen: Love and Work (Plus) | | | |

Shushô: Practice/Enlightenment
Review written by: Lawrence Wilcox From Christchurch NZ
Who would want to criticise Suzuki-roshi, perhaps the best-loved figure in American Zen, or this wise, likeable book, the result of a lifetime's dedicated practice? Still it does show up the limitations of Sôtô Zen as practised in Japan, and still more when seeded overseas.

Sôtô Zen leads to an open-ended model of practice. You sit for the sake of sitting, not to achieve anything. Your practice goes on and on like a meandering river, now swift and narrow, now broad and slow, and now troubled by rocks and rapids. Whatever happens in meditation you "let go" of it and start again tomorrow with a "beginner's mind".
The notion of aiming at Enlightenment is anathema. That is Dualistic Thinking. Aren't Practice and Enlightenment one and the same?

But read the Pali Canon. You'll find that hundreds of times the Buddha urges his listeners to work with all their strength to attain Enlightenment. Why the contradiction?
From the highest standpoint, of course you can't attain Enlightenment: in Enlightenment there is no You, no Attainment. But this is a level of truth beyond most of us. No-one was ever nourished by pictures of food and no-one was ever enlightened by repeating words like "Nonduality" or "Must avoid Dualistic Thinking".

Have you experienced a Nondual state, with self and world perceived as One? Or a state of pure Unity beyond time and space, without subject or object? Can you "drop off body and mind" like Dôgen-Zenji or "dwell without thought-coverings" as in the Heart Sutra? If the answer is No, then saying that Practice and Enlightenment are one and the same is like someone stuck out in the snow and the freezing wind, miles from home, repeating, "My house is cosy and warm; my house is cosy and warm".

Read the teachings of two Japanese Sôtô Ancestors: Dôgen-Zenji's "Zazenshin" and Keizan-Zenji's "Zazen Yojinki". Both are findable online or in John Daido Loori's book "The Art of Just Sitting".
Better still read the "Practice-Instructions" of Master Hung-chih in "Cultivating the Empty Field". Also purely Sôtô (Ts'ao-tung) in outlook, these haunting poetic paragraphs tell you as much as can be said: and all you need then is the courage to put it into practice.

Know and not know
Review written by: B. Chen From Houston, Texas
I was looking for a Zen book to help relieve work stress. Reading this book helpped me understanding my ignorance. I cannot claim I now know Zen since that would defeat the author's goal of teaching "Beginner's Mind". Learning is a continuos process so Zen is a practice, not an end to understanding a subject. Other than the concept of "Begginer's Mind", I thought "No Gaining Thought" is intriguing in looking at the world and doing the things you want to do in life. A great book to go back repeatedly.

Excellent
Review written by: Jos Pols From
Nutshell review - This is a beautiful book on Zen. It is an excellent book both for the novice and the seasoned practitioner. There are some valuable insights and lessons in this little book for anyone interested in Zen.

If you are going to read on book on Zen...Right Here
Review written by: D. Dzuryachko From
I can't count how many times I have read this book. this book is the rudder in my life.

a great book and even better b/c you can find it free online
Review written by: Norman Pigmallion From Crest's Bluff, AR
Again, I'll make this review very quick. A great book, although sometimes comfusing with apparently paradoxical language (which is fairly commen in zen buddhism). That aside, this book can be very helpful for beginner as well as long-practicing buddhists. It is especially helpful for any home-practicing buddhist out there who do not have the added benefit of a zendo nearby. An even better bonus is that it can be found online for free if you look hard enough. cheers.