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Essays in Zen Buddhism, First Series

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More than any other known source, this series of essays (including the other two companion volumes) have probably done the most to put Zen 'on the map' - in the Western world. In some quarters - at least, it has become fashionable to regard D.T. Suzuki as 'passe' - a bridge builder, whose work has now reached its 'sell-by' date. While I can see why some people might feel that way - if training with a Roshi, or tired of 'reading too much' - Suzuki's 'essays' continue to have relevance for people making their first dip into the world of Zen.

In one sense, you could say that Suzuki wants to say too much, and the 'purists' may fault him for it. But he was good at his job - and knew exactly how to write about such things for a Western audience, saying enough to entice them and whet their appetite, then drop them in at the deep end! His way of doing this was lively and engaging. Suzuki was a good communicator (he had an American wife, which certainly helped. Beatrice Lane Suzuki was an accomplished student of Buddhism in her own right) - and, in some respects, Suzuki was more successful than some of the roshis teaching in the West. He wasn't trying to sell you an institution, but pointing to the 'treasure house' we must all find, for ourselves.

One thing is worth noting about Suzuki's 'essays.' For the most part, the anecdotes he has presented were taken from the T'ang masters in the Dentoroku (Chuan Teng Lu). You get a pretty fair spread of teaching-examples, and they are not all from masters in the Rinzai (Lin-chi) lineage. In the T'ang, there was no such sharp division between the Zen schools and in that sense, Suzuki's account has a freshness about it.

Suzuki will not bog you down with laboured academic digressions. He was rather slap-dash about footnotes - and as such, you get the very 'marrow' of Zen teaching. Suzuki had his foibles - but, he remains the 'grand old man of Zen' who whetted our appetite. These essays have life in them yet! Digest Suzuki. You wont regret it!

Suzuki's works offer a clear insight look at the often misunderstood world of zen. Suzuki gives the reader the ability to understand zen, rather than dictating what zen is. This work would be of benefit to any one wishing to see if zen is 'right' for them

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki spent several lengthy stretches teaching or lecturing at Western universities, and devoted many years to a professorship at Otani University, a Japanese Buddhist school.

He wrote in the 1926 Preface to this book, "Some of such scholars sometimes try to explain the truth and development of Zen, but they sadly fail to do justice to the subject. On the other hand, Zen masters so called are unable to present their understanding in the light of modern thought... unfortunately from the scholarly point of view, they ... do not show any lively intellectual interest in the psychology and philosophy of Zen... it is thus incapacitated to walk out of the seclusion of the cloisters... great mistake it would be if one should ever take ... that Zen could be mastered from its philosophical presentation or its psychological description; but this ought not to mean that Zen is not to be intelligently approached or to be made somewhat accessible by our ordinary means of reasoning... This book is a collection of the Essays originally published in 'The Eastern Buddhist'... The book will be followed by (Essays in Zen Buddhism, Second Series) before long..."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"So we see that Enlightenment is not the outcome of an intellectual process in which one idea follows another in sequence finally to terminate in conclusion or judgment. There is neither process nor judgment in Enlightenment, it is something more fundamental, something which makes a judgment possible, and without which no form of judgment can take place." (Pg. 68)
"Zen... does not base its authority on any written documents, but directly appeals to the enlightened mind of the Buddha." (Pg. 86)
"...my thesis that the reason for the introduction of supernaturalism into the Mahayana literature of Buddhism was to demonstrate the intellectual impossibility of comprehending spiritual facts." (Pg. 102)
"The general tendency of Buddhism is, as we know, more intellectual than emotional, and its doctrine of Enlightenment distinguishes it sharply from the Christian view of salvation..." (Pg. 231)
"Generally we have no records of the inner working prior to a satori... When we read such records, we have to supply from our own experience, whatever this is, all the necessary antecedent conditions for breaking up into a satori." (Pg. 259)
"Satori is not seeing God as he is, as may be contended by some Christian mystics. Zen has from the very beginning made clear its principal thesis, which is to see into the work of creation and not interview the creator himself." (Pg. 263)
"As I stated before, Zen followers do not approve of Christians, even Christian mystics being too conscious of God, who is the creator and supporter of all life and all being..." (Pg. 346)
"In Christianity we seem to be too conscious of God, though we say that in him we live and move and have our being. Zen wants to have even this last trace of God-consciousness, if possible, obliterated." (Pg. 352)

I studied Buddhist philosophy in some detail as an undergraduate, but that was many years ago. I am revisiting it now, so I turned to the writings of D.T Suzuki, perhaps the most widely respected author in this field, both for his erudition (knowledge of all the primary texts in their original languages from origins in India, through China and Japan) and his accessibility to the layperson. This is something of an amazing feat, given the subtleties involved in explaining Zen, a formidable exercise in itself, given that the entire philosophy is based on enigmatic sayings/practices employed by masters approaching their students.

Suzuki was the first to truly explain Zen Buddhism to the Western world and it is a must read for anyone who seeks the root understanding of the subject.

I give it the highest recommendation.

This brilliant book by Suzuki has changed my life. Several times reading it I felt that I had experienced a small degree on satori or enlightenment. Heaven and earth should be experienced as one. The truth is in the present moment inside me.

Ok I don't know what en is but I love this book! You can't talk about Zen without talking about Suzuki. The man was responsible for bringing East to West. In all my many spins I have never been able to find someone who can describe an undescribable thing like Zen better than Suzuki. In terms of quality this book is definatly three pounds of flax.