Living and Dying in Zazen: Five Zen Masters of Modern Japan [Paperback]

Arthur Braverman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Braverman went to Japan to study Zen at its source in the early 1970s, concentrating his practice at the small temple of Antaiji in Kyoto. Antaiji became a magnet for serious non-Japanese practitioners & played a crucial role in the transmission of Zen to America. This book combines the life stories & teachings of 5 teachers -- Kodo Sawaki, Sodo Yokoyama, Kozan Kato, Motoko Ikebe, & Uchiyama -- assoc. with Antaiji & the story of Western students coming to grips with Zen, Japanese culture, & themselves. The deification of Zen teachers by their followers has been a problematic issues in Amer. Zen; this book provides a healthy antidote, presenting people who have lived & died in Zen within the context of their personal lives & their culture. Illus.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Arthur Braverman is an author, translator, and student of Zen Buddhism. His previous translations include Mud and Water: The Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shoson, and A Quiet Room: The Poetry of Zen Master Jakushitsu. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Weatherhill (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075679949X
• ISBN-13: 978-0756799496
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,464,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zazen is Useless!, May 22, 2003

By 

Barry Magid (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living And Dying In Zazen: Five Zen Masters Of Modern Japan (Paperback)

This is a colorful and inspiring account of a diverse group of modern Japanese Zen masters, centered around the Kyoto temple of Antaiji and its charismatic teacher Kodo Sawaki Roshi. Braverman studied at Antaiji in the 1960s and returned years later to interview those who practiced there years before. Sawaki Roshi was a dynamic and powerful teacher - everything one imagines a Zen master ought to be. His Dharma heir Kosho Uchiyama seemed just the opposite, a shy, retiring person with nothing seeemingly special about him beyond a simple devotion to just sitting. Uchiyama once asked Sawaki if the practice of Zazen would help make him more like his teacher - Sawaki, bellowed, "NO. I was like this before I practiced Zen...zazen is useless!" The "uselessness" of zazen is the koan explored throughout this book - the paradox that there is "no gain" to be had from years of Zazen. Braverman struggled for years to come to terms with the ordinariness of Uchiyama before he could finally see his unobtrusive ordinariness as the very heart of his Zen. There are also wonderful accounts of other of Sawaki's heirs, especially Sodo Yokoyama, a modern day Ryokan who never ran a temple of his own, but practiced zazen in the city park, writing poems and playing songs for passersby. Braverman's account of these teachers offers clear and inspiring portraits of some of the many faces of Zen practice.
Highly recommneded.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshing and Honest Adventure - a favorite book on Zen, June 25, 2003

By 

Andrew Beaulac (Whidbey Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Living And Dying In Zazen: Five Zen Masters Of Modern Japan (Paperback)

I have all of Arthur Braverman's books and this is a favorite. In fact, of the 50 or so books on Zen and meditation I have read inthe past few years, Living and Dying in Zazen is on of my top three favorites (the other two are by Alan Watts and D.T. Suzuki). Arthur Braverman takes you on a semi-autobiographical adventure into his experiences with and research into five very colorful Zen masters of modern Japan. The book is both about these teachers and Mr. Braverman's life in Zen training in Japan. The accounts are refreshingly candid, funny, and profound, leaving the reader with a deeper and yet challenging desire for the practice of zazen as "just sitting." It kicked a number of misconceptions out from under me! Anyone who is considering monastic life or who wants to understand Zen practice and meditation should read this book - and thoroughly enjoy it!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem of Enlightnenment, July 7, 2006

By 

Dante "Dante" (Coral Gables, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living And Dying In Zazen: Five Zen Masters Of Modern Japan (Paperback)

Arthur Braverman has skillfully and honestly woven together portraits of 5 modern Zen masters with his own experiences in Japan into a beautiful tapestry. If you have read Mud and Water, on Master Bassui (highly recommended) you'll know that Braverman writes prose with the lucid acuity of a poet. Don't miss this opportunity to gain the acquaintance of these masters!

For many western readers, Living and Dying in Zazen may represent a first acquaintance of the lives and teachings of masters such as Motoko, Sawaki, Yokoyama, and Kato. If you acquire the book only for its descriptions of Uchiyama, that alone is more than worth the price. The narrative flows smoothly and effortlessly. Moreover, the book is pure pleasure to read on a number of different levels.

This is a book about human beings in the context of their place and time, and how the meanings of their lives transcend both and can touch yours. It's unique. Honest self-reflection is not self-indulgence. Zazen is either where you are or its nowhere.

Anyone looking for a hagiography, a holy biography of superhuman heroes of long ago and far away, there are many shelves of that type of book a few aisles over. That's a different path.
However, anyone looking for an honest account of the eloquent living, not just the words, of modern Japanese Zen masters as real human beings, it's right here.