An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

Difficult to define Zen, but Suzuki helped me a lot to have a glimpse of understanding by getting what Zen is not....and the explanation on satori makes sense even to my non-Zen thinking....

Not always easy but still a classic

I wanted to read this for a while so I was very excited when I got it. I was not disappointed, it made a very good read and the book really gets you to think over many things in life. Recommend!

Zen can be very confusing! This book is a great introduction to the subject, and is a good starting point for anyone wishing to explore this subject further.

This very cheap printing of a classic text has quite a large number of typos and misprints, and isn't very nicely presented. Still, it's a cheap way to get hold of Suzuki's work.

Quite a difficult book. I've reread parts of it many times and gradually gain some insight.

This is a short (Suzuki's part of the book is almost exactly 100 pages) collection of essays which first appeared during the First World War. The age of the collection may put some people off - more hip and contemporary writers are, of course, far more attractive to us modern readers, despite the fact that what Suzuki is writing about extends back hundreds of years. To disregard this book on those grounds would be a mistake. Suzuki's style is excellent, he writes clearly, simply and eloquently and there is plenty of freshness in what he has to say. The essays themselves are all fascinating and certain to interest any serious student of Zen, as well as being a good introduction to many Zen principles for the less dedicated reader. Suzuki addresses familiar questions - "What is Zen?" and "Is Zen Nihilistic?", for example - and also expounds on practical Zen and the essential aim of Zen ("to acquire a new viewpoint"), among other things. His longest essay is devoted to an excellent discussion of the koan and there is a short but fascinating article on the traditional Zen meditation hall and the life of a monk. Suzuki's contribution to the book, then, is a beautiful one, and I would say an excellent and accessible introduction to his works. What makes the book that little bit different for me, however, is the foreword, a 20-page essay by Carl Jung. In this, Jung writes "Great as is the value of Zen Buddhism...its use among Western people is very improbable". I wonder what he would have to say if he could see the world today. So, in a nutshell - rather short, but worth a look.

This is not a review.

宗教は全て迷信だが、禅には迷信より広く救うべきものもあるかもしれない。

D.T. Suzuky è uno dei massimi esponenti del Buddhismo zen. Questo libro è per chi vuole iniziare ad approfindire lo Zen. Vanno poi letti gli altri suoi libri ma cosa più importante è sperimentare gli insegnamenti del grande maestro.

This is a remarkable book for various reasons. First, as the author points out, it is impossible to actually explain the subject. It defies logic and philosophic reasoning - because satori brings a state which is beyond such reasoning. As Suzuki puts it, "...I am still fully aware that in the sense of satori what I say can only be useless. I could not resist, however, the attempt to maneuver our Western understanding at least into the proximity of an understanding - a task so difficult that in so doing one must take upon oneself certain crimes against the spirit of Zen." But don't let that admission put you off, thinking that another writer may have done better to convey the meaning of Zen. Despite this barrier of words, Suzuki does a remarkable job of somehow making the concepts real. He does this by repeatedly working it over and giving many examples including historical dialogues and deeds of Zen masters. The same approach has been taken by other writers including our western brethren, Carl Jung (who wrote the intro) and Alan Watts. But such writers never really make the grade because a) they have apparently never achieved satori, and b) they are still trying to support Zen with philosophical reasoning. To somehow circumnavigate the subject and make it accessible to us despite this barrier of language, Suzuki does a remarkable job of choosing just the right words, and even then he sometimes has to explain that a word or expression he has used is not really correct but is the closest available to the concept. Then, in the next few pages, attacking the subject from another angle and then another, until the reader, if he or she is not too dull, begins to see that there is a state there that just may be achievable, that the paradoxical statements (koans) are not as whacky as first perceived. Also, considering the essays are about 100 years old and can still be comprehended with reasonable clarity I have to compliment the translators. Another aspect which makes this book very appealing for readers is simply that Suzuki loves Zen. And, despite the difficulty, he very much wants his readers to grasp its facets and values and, if at all possible, experience Zen in the deepest way. Gary Judge - author of Understanding the Japanese: Insight into Japanese Culture and Thinking

This is a must read for anyone looking into a Zen Practice

Summary of this book is : 1. Zen cannot be explained in words. 2. Satori cannot be explained in words. With koans and utterings of masters scattered here and there, the book gives a great insight into trying to understand zem. Its a great read.