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data
Product: Book
ISBN-10: 1-59030-267-2
ISBN-13: 9781590302675
Publisher: Shambhala
Country:
Year: October 10, 2006
Edition: 1
Size: 11.94 x 17.27 x 2.29cm
Number of pages: 192
Weight: 204gr
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-59030-267-2
ISBN-13: 9781590302675
Publisher: Shambhala
Country:
Year: October 10, 2006
Edition: 1
Size: 11.94 x 17.27 x 2.29cm
Number of pages: 192
Weight: 204gr
Binding: Hardcover
editions
Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, Peter Coyote (reader)
Audio Literature; 1988
Audio Cassette
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Product Description
»In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.« So begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line of Shunryu Suzuki's classic. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it's all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that's just the beginning. In the thirty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much re-read, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basicsâfrom the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nondualityâin a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It's a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice.
»In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.« So begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line of Shunryu Suzuki's classic. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it's all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that's just the beginning. In the thirty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much re-read, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basicsâfrom the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nondualityâin a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It's a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice.
Amazon.com Review
A respected Zen master in Japan and founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki has blazed a path in American Buddhism like few others. He is the master who climbs down from the pages of the koan books and answers your questions face to face. If not face to face, you can at least find the answers as recorded in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a transcription of juicy excerpts from his lectures. From diverse topics such as transience of the world, sudden enlightenment, and the nuts and bolts of meditation, Suzuki always returns to the idea of beginner's mind, a recognition that our original nature is our true nature. With beginner's mind, we dedicate ourselves to sincere practice, without the thought of gaining anything special. Day to day life becomes our Zen training, and we discover that »to study Buddhism is to study ourselves.« And to know our true selves is to be enlightened. --Brian Bruya
A respected Zen master in Japan and founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki has blazed a path in American Buddhism like few others. He is the master who climbs down from the pages of the koan books and answers your questions face to face. If not face to face, you can at least find the answers as recorded in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a transcription of juicy excerpts from his lectures. From diverse topics such as transience of the world, sudden enlightenment, and the nuts and bolts of meditation, Suzuki always returns to the idea of beginner's mind, a recognition that our original nature is our true nature. With beginner's mind, we dedicate ourselves to sincere practice, without the thought of gaining anything special. Day to day life becomes our Zen training, and we discover that »to study Buddhism is to study ourselves.« And to know our true selves is to be enlightened. --Brian Bruya
reviews
Nice and Glib 
It sounds good, with the fly printed on the page and the condescending rhetoric that passed for wisdom at the SFZC. What Zen masters of this lineage teach nowadays is nothing valuable. They teach you to abandon expectation and embrace mediocrity, unlike the masters of the Mumonkan and Hekiganroku. There are no real masters in the USA for certain, where they all look up and bow down to Shunryu Suzuki, who came out (in THIS book) and admitted he had never had satori, and whose lineage was a matter of ritual and hand-me-down heritage. Or the followers of Trungpa, a drunk who appointed as his successor an HIV-positive predator who knowingly infected his own students with AIDS. You must find your own light on this continent, and be, as the Buddha himself proclaimed: »a light unto yourself«. Why waste your time when you are told to »expect nothing«.
It sounds good, with the fly printed on the page and the condescending rhetoric that passed for wisdom at the SFZC. What Zen masters of this lineage teach nowadays is nothing valuable. They teach you to abandon expectation and embrace mediocrity, unlike the masters of the Mumonkan and Hekiganroku. There are no real masters in the USA for certain, where they all look up and bow down to Shunryu Suzuki, who came out (in THIS book) and admitted he had never had satori, and whose lineage was a matter of ritual and hand-me-down heritage. Or the followers of Trungpa, a drunk who appointed as his successor an HIV-positive predator who knowingly infected his own students with AIDS. You must find your own light on this continent, and be, as the Buddha himself proclaimed: »a light unto yourself«. Why waste your time when you are told to »expect nothing«.
A delightfully informal book 
This is a delightfully informal book. It flows as a series of loosely woven themes – transcripts of Suzuki Roshi's Dharma talks. He encourages his students in their practice and discusses Zen in simple and direct language – pointing to the luminous nature of their ordinary lives. The talks are divided into three larger sections that correspond to the body, emotion, and mind aspects of Zen meditation. No talk is longer than three pages, which makes it an excellent book to read before or after practice. This book has immense significance for anyone who practices silent sitting. It is informal – as the nature of mind is informal. It is simple in the way that a thunderstorm is simple. `Beginner's mind' is a phrase that Suzuki Roshi knew from the work of Dogen Zenji, founder of the Soto school of Zen. It is essential to Zen and also to Dzogchen sem-dé as taught in Aro. In the Prologue, Suzuki Roshi says: »Our `original mind' includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself … In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.« This is the essence of silent sitting, and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind presents this essence in a variety of displays. It presents the mind of a realised master mirroring for his students how every aspect of their lives can be an expression of realization.
This is a delightfully informal book. It flows as a series of loosely woven themes – transcripts of Suzuki Roshi's Dharma talks. He encourages his students in their practice and discusses Zen in simple and direct language – pointing to the luminous nature of their ordinary lives. The talks are divided into three larger sections that correspond to the body, emotion, and mind aspects of Zen meditation. No talk is longer than three pages, which makes it an excellent book to read before or after practice. This book has immense significance for anyone who practices silent sitting. It is informal – as the nature of mind is informal. It is simple in the way that a thunderstorm is simple. `Beginner's mind' is a phrase that Suzuki Roshi knew from the work of Dogen Zenji, founder of the Soto school of Zen. It is essential to Zen and also to Dzogchen sem-dé as taught in Aro. In the Prologue, Suzuki Roshi says: »Our `original mind' includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself … In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.« This is the essence of silent sitting, and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind presents this essence in a variety of displays. It presents the mind of a realised master mirroring for his students how every aspect of their lives can be an expression of realization.
beautiful
this book is poetry without rhymes or iambic pentameter. the words of suzuki are clear and comforting for anyone beginning to learn about zen or someone who has been walking the path for years. the text in this book washes away doubt and fills the mind and heart with confidence and wonder for buddhism. out of all the books i've read on the topics of zen and buddhism this is one of the few in which i am completely confident the person being quoted is definately enlightened.
this book is poetry without rhymes or iambic pentameter. the words of suzuki are clear and comforting for anyone beginning to learn about zen or someone who has been walking the path for years. the text in this book washes away doubt and fills the mind and heart with confidence and wonder for buddhism. out of all the books i've read on the topics of zen and buddhism this is one of the few in which i am completely confident the person being quoted is definately enlightened.
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind 
Despite the possible interpretation of its title, this is not a great book for beginners like me looking into Zen Buddhism. I don't think jumping into the practice of Zen is the best way to get an overview of what it is about. This book is written under the premise that the reader is already handy with the sometimes difficult concepts. That said, I kind of liked the book as an adjunct to other studies.
Despite the possible interpretation of its title, this is not a great book for beginners like me looking into Zen Buddhism. I don't think jumping into the practice of Zen is the best way to get an overview of what it is about. This book is written under the premise that the reader is already handy with the sometimes difficult concepts. That said, I kind of liked the book as an adjunct to other studies.
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Edward Espe Brown, Zen Center San Francisco, Shunryu Suzuki
HarperOne; 2003
Paperback
© 1994–2010 Sascha Hendel
last update: 3/20/2010
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