Customer Reviews

The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery

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I hadn't realized when I picked up this book that it was written in 1973 about experiences in the 1950's. Although it remains relevant in this time, it is rather surprising to think of a time when Eastern philosophy was difficult for Westerners to find. (Mind you, I say this as a resident of a Zen Buddhist abbey in Detroit.) At the time van de Wetering traveled to Japan, one wouldn't find Zen teachers in America or Europe, much less Zen communities. In this way, van de Wetering's journey paved the way for us, and for that I thank him deeply.

In some ways, the book provides a basic introduction to the Zen precepts and the monastic way of life. After all, when he was writing it, there were very few books on Westerners practicing Zen. So in some ways, this book covers ground that many more recent, more popular books have covered.

However, this book is full of surprises for people who might have a one-dimensional view of monastic life. There is peaceful meditation, but there are also arguments among the monks. Van de Wetering apparently expected to transcend human life in the monastery, but inside, he found the same problems as outside. He also found his own need to escape, to occasionally go out for a beer. It's a central paradox most readers who practice Zen will sympathize with; we want tranquility, but suffering is so darn interesting. Sometimes this paradox, as van de Wetering presents it, is hilarious. Traditional Zen stories can be vulgar, and so can contemporary Zen stories. We, like the author, must reflect on our expectations and assumptions to see what is really there

I read this book when I became fascinated with the literature of retreat and monastic practice. Besides being a good introduction to how a Zen monastary in Kyoto operates, Empty Mirror is a heartfelt examination of one man's struggle to find meaning in life, and meaning in his search for meaning. Anyone who has wandered the path of truth will have had times when s/he wonders: what is this for? what am I accomplishing? what have I learned? will this mean anything to anyone but me? what is the larger meaning?

Jan-san (as the author is called by his fellow monks) is totally honest in his account of his stay in Japan. His monastic life is mixed with occasional days off visiting brothels and eating food outside the monastary gates, while within its walls, the monks and master crack jokes, goof off, watch TV and share cigarettes.

Empty Mirror can at times be disillusioning, but only in the best way possible: the author approaches his new surroundings and genuine attempts at truth-seeking with that wonderful Western virtue of skepticism. A quick, memorable book that reads as much like a novel as it does a memoir.

I was first required to read this title in an Introduction to Buddhism course in undergraduate school. Since then, I have read probably two dozen books on Zen and/or Buddhism and I owe it all to 'The Empty Mirror.' The author has done a great job of describing life in a Zen monastery, the Zen koan, and it's a great introduction to the religion/philosophy. I'd recommend it to any student of religion, philosophy, or Zen Buddhism or anyone wanting to expand their knowledge on Buddhist monastic life. Janwillem Van de Watering does a good job of keeping the reader interested with light humor and a mix of day-to-day experiences during his stay at the monastery.

In the summer of 1958 Janwillem van de Wetering showed up at the door of a Zen monastery in Kyoto Japan, knowing pretty much no one, not speaking the language, and without a really good idea what he was doing there. This book describes, with a certain amount of humor and what seems to be quite a bit of honesty, the months that followed (interlaced with Zen stories that he heard during those months, including some that I hadn't heard anywhere else before; I like Zen stories).

There aren't many dates in the book (or I wasn't paying enough of that kind of attention to notice them), but I think he stayed at the monastery for more than six months and less than two years. His descriptions of the time are interesting, funny, warm, vivid, and all sorts of good words like that (and also rather dark, mordant and/or grouchy in tone, often frustrated, impatient, dissatisfied). He did not find the answers to life's problems, his knees hurt alot, he misunderstood the head monk and Zen master frequently, and he (like the other residents of the monastery) cheated and broke the rules with impressive frequency.

The writing is spare and specific; this is the story of what one particular set of months in one particular monastery were like. Any broad conclusions about The Meaning Of Zen Training or anything else are left pretty much entirely to the reader.

The author left feeling that the whole thing had perhaps been a failure; but the master said "now you are a little awake; so awake that you will never fall asleep again". Which altogether is more satisfying, I think, than perky converts describing how happy and fulfilled their new meme complex has made them.

One tiny annoyance that struck me as out of keeping with the tone of the rest of the book: on a crowded train ride during a brief trip away from the monastery to renew his Dutch passport, he concentrates so hard on the feeling of a woman who is pressed up against him that he convinces himself that he is mentally influencing her to rub herself against him, trembling. She got off at the next station (can hardly blame her!), and he concludes that the idea that "someone who has trained his will can influence others, without saying anything, without doing anything observable, had now been proved", but that that's not really the point of Zen and he probably shouldn't do it anymore. He doesn't seem to consider the possibility that he's just proven that he can fool himself, which seems to me much more likely, and something that should have occurred to anyone actually paying attention.

But that's just a nit (I like nits), and perhaps adds as much to the book as it takes away from it. I very much enjoyed reading it (and it didn't take long; it's 146 pages, with little or no bogging down). He has at least two other books about his experiences in other vaguely Zen-related places; I intend to someday maybe read those also.

I read this when I first became interested in Buddhism and found it inspiring. On reflection, it is obvious that van der Wetering is a writer at heart, and he forges something like a story from his struggles and experiences. Having, in a less serious way, also gone on retreat in Asia (Thailand in my case) I recognise the sense of confusion trying to come to terms with truth in an alien culture. It seems to me that this book is inspiring because it does not attempt to hide that confusion and ambiguity. The sequel, A Glimpse of Nothingness, is also worth a read if you like this.

The major thing about this book is that it portraits life in a Zen monastery and the people there as really not so outlandish (for the uniniciated westerner) as one (I) would have believed them to be. You get to know much about Zen-Buddhism and also much about the effort of the author to find a right way to live. But probably the most enlightening bit of information for me was that serene Zen-masters also like to watch baseball on TV and laugh about jokes like everybody else. That made this encounter with Zen and the struggle of a person with the meaning of life so readable for me.

Van der Wetering spent about a year in a Japanese Zen monastery. An innocent, open-minded viewpoint is presented, along with a low-key, but very prevalent sense of humor. This is simply an account. The author makes no attempt to glorify Zen or his own search for fulfillment.

About 1970 a young Dutch writer asks to enter a Zen monastery in Kyoto, Japan. Prepared for resistance, he finds that he is readily accepted. This small volume describes the author's year in a monastery sparely without romance or illusions. If you have any interest in what it is actually like to practice Zen, you will be immensely rewarded by this well crafted, entertaining book. The sequel, A Glimpse of Nothingness, about his subsequent stay at a Zen monastery in N. California is also worth reading

To anybody who has lived the monastic life of any philosophy, this book will bring back memories of discovery, emotional pain and ever-sought enlightment. To those of us who envision monastic studies to be solely a passive, reflective, peaceful way of life, this book will be an abrupt wake-up call. However, the beauty between the pages lies in the author's ability to integrate humor and honesty into the telling of his experiences as a westerner, complete with anatomical differences and a taste for brash culture, in the quiet world of a Japanese monastery. If you get a copy of this book into your hands, do not let it go. Regardless what your philosophical orientation may be, you will learn something beautiful from just about every page.

I remember when I first saw this book - it caught my attention because I had read Van De Wetering's mystery novels - and decided to try it out. Next to the classic "Zen in the Art of Archery" I think Van De Wetering's work is one of the best Western accounts of coming to terms with meditation and Zen.

I'm not sure you'll run out and buy a zafu after reading this but I bet you'll enjoy the tale anyway! He has some great characters throughout the story and he doesn't come across as either condescending or frustratingly thick-headed like some Western accounts of the East.