Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts [Hardcover]

Reb Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

Being Upright takes us beyond the conventional interpretation of ethical precepts to the ultimate meaning that informs them. Reb Anderson first introduces us to the fundamental ideas of Zen Buddhist practice. Who was Shakyamuni Buddha and what was his central teaching? What does it mean to be a bodhisattva and take the bodhisattva vow? Why should we confess and acknowledge our ancient twisted karma? What is the significance of taking refuge in Buddha, dharma, and sangha? The author explores the ten basic precepts, including not killing, not stealing, not lying, not misusing sexuality, and not using intoxicants. A gifted storyteller, Anderson takes us to the heart of situations, where moral judgments are not easy and we do not have all the answers. With wisdom and compassion, he teaches us how to confront the emotional and ethical turmoil of our lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

American Buddhism is a unique expression of the ancient Eastern spiritual path, yet within its natural cultural transformations, practitioners are still sustained by the potentially exquisite lineage of teacher to student; the reliance on time-tested principles to guide the human light; and the manifest glory of every day realized. Anderson (Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains) captures these traditional strengths and renders them very skillfully for the here and now. Anderson is a key spiritual heir to the legendary Shunryu Suzuki, who founded San Francisco Zen Center and authored the enduring classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Here, Anderson discusses receiving the 16 great Bodhisattva precepts; taking refuge in the Triple Treasure of Buddha, dharma (teachings) and sangha (community); and embracing and sustaining forms, ceremonies and good actions. He also addresses abstaining from killing, stealing, misusing sexuality, lying, intoxication, criticizing others, mean-spirited self-praise, possessiveness, harboring ill will and disparaging the Triple Treasure. In the best sense, Anderson's fresh treatment of these topics is well suited for his American audience, but is also useful beyond our borders. In readable style, Anderson conveys his message didactically, in story and in precious glimpses of the seminal American Zen master Suzuki. Although definitely written for practitioners, Anderson's emphasis on Buddhism's grounded practicality shines clearly for any open-minded seeker.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An exceptionally thoughtful penetration of the bodhisattva precepts, illuminated by stories of mondo (dharma combat) between great teachers." - Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard and The Nine-Headed Dragon River."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodmell Press; First Edition edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962713899
• ISBN-13: 978-0962713897
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,558,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book from a great american zen master, January 3, 2001

By 

matthew smolinsky (bridgewater, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts (Hardcover)

"being upright" points directly to our daily lives and gives inspiration for practicing the all-important buddhist precepts. by expanding on each precept, anderson-roshi shows how they are not black-and-white rules, but not to be ignored either. he shows how our lives can truly be transformed to happiness if we keep mindfulness in our practice and our lives. anderson-roshi brings what many foreign masters of zen can't - an american upbringing. his stories touch home and his words rings true. i highly recommend this book for any student of life, and i thank anderson -roshi for his teaching.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Enter the Buddha's Way.", July 24, 2007

By 

J. H. Minde "Everything I need is right here" (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts (Hardcover)

Tenshin Reb Anderson is one of the original exponents of American Zen. The Midwestern Anderson became a student of Shogaku Shunryu Suzuki in 1967, staying with him until Suzuki's death in 1971.

Having briefly met and received teisho from the dignified Anderson, a model of equanimity and rectitude, at a sesshin he conducted in 2007, BEING UPRIGHT took on a very direct and personal tone for me as I read through it. Although Anderson's personality imbues this book with a kind of "warm reserve," making it perhaps a bit less penetrable than Aitken Roshi's THE MIND OF CLOVER, which discusses the Bodhisattva Precepts as well, the differences in tone are only those as arise between different teachers. The lessons are equally as valid.

Reb Anderson's thesis is that the Bodhisattva Precepts are central, as central as, and perhaps even a shade more so, than zazen. Although zazen is considered by many to be the heart-mind ('shin') of Zen, the Precepts are the thoughts and feelings that imbue that heart-mind, an infinitely complex and organic set of principles that underlie each aware moment.

In their externals rather like the Ten Commandments, the Precepts arise from, and at the same time are, and also create, the way of right living. A self-perpetuating, closed, and yet infinitely open manner of addressing the world, to be a Bodhisattva, an awakened one who remains in the world but not of it pending the enlightenment of all beings, is to be totally, joyfully, human.

Reb Anderson uses traditional teachings, examples from his own tenure as a teacher and as a student, and examples from the life of Suzuki, to underscore the nature of the Precepts and their practical application to American life.

An important book for the Zen practitioner, BEING UPRIGHT asks us to be all that we are.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not An Introductory Zen Book, July 22, 2009

By 

C. D. White "Just Looking" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts (Paperback)

If you are one who intends to "receive the precepts" by whatever ceremony or process your sangha follows, then this is definitely the book for you.

It does not presume to dictate precept practice to anyone. As the book makes clear: Practice arises out of one's realization while practice simultaneously fosters realization.

The author does discuss targets to aim for. However hard those targets may seem at this point in your life, shooting at a target with no bullseye won't improve anyone's aim. Ultimately, of course, we each set our own targets.

One caution: "Being Upright" says it is written for people already in Zen practice. It is for those who are considering making a public, formal statement of their personal dedicated intent to follow specific Buddhist precepts. As the author says, his title refers to "the integration of precept practice and meditation." He makes it clear that it is the Zen meditator who decides whether or when to make the vows to practice the precepts. He also says that while some, in his experience, might make their avowal after six months of meditation practice, most should have sat for three years or more (many, many more in his own case). Don't buy this book if you are looking for an introduction to Zen.