Customer Reviews

Christian Zen: A Way of Meditation

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Christian Zen is a good place to start for someone who is interested in Christian applications of Zen, but doesn't want to spend years researching it. It also has a lot of insights that are not apparent on a first read that make the book worth coming back to over and over again.

If you're JUST looking for info on Zen, don't bother with this book,(it's about Christian applications of Zen). Try 3 Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau instead.

"Christian Zen" could also be called "Christian Meditation". It is not so much about Buddism but about how Buddists use Zen to find the path to truth. This books is good for those Christians trying to feel comfortable with themslves, with Christianity, and with Zen. It does not try to homoginize these entities but finds commonalities that show us how to walk a path to the centeral truth of our lives. Christians believe that Our Lord God is the Truth and the Light. Don't fear that this book will convert you from Christianity. It is just a vehicle to rediscover yourself and your faith.

I read this book from cover to cover in about 1980. I may have added more comments to the book than there were words in the book.

This book lamely attempts to reinterpret Christianity according to the alien philosophical categories of Zen. So, the paradoxes of Jesus are like koans, etc. It is better to realize that Zen and Christianity have entirely different worldviews than to attempt to synthesize the antithetical. Christianity is not nondualistic; it clearly teaches the distinction of God and the univers--unlike Zen. Nor does Christianity claim that one must leave one's rational mind to know reality--as does Zen. God created the human mind to know God, oneself, and creation. The mind is damaged by sin, but not unredeemable. One could go on. For a good book on Christianity and Zen, read "Zen Way, Jesus Way" by Tucker Callaway.