For more than four decades, Robert Aitken Roshi has taught thousands of people the Buddhist practice of Zen meditation, and has led hundreds through their practice of the study of traditional koans. He has authored more than a dozen books, including a celebrated appreciation of Basho’s haiku; volumes of commentary on sacred texts; works on ethics, daily life, and social action; and one of the best-loved introductions to Zen Buddhism, Taking the Path of Zen. After a long and remarkable life—he will be 91 years old when this collection is published—Aitken Roshi offers a collection of 266 short texts. Some are clearly parables; others are simple stories, quotations, memories, and commentaries. Resembling Benjamin Franklin’s Almanac or the epigrams of Chamfort as much as it does work from ancient sages, this collection of “miniatures” distills a life devoted to teaching and awareness. Any person living a considered life, whether secular humanist or religious seeker, will find this a book of rich inspiration.
Miniatures of a Zen Master
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"As an author, intellectual, and historical figure, Aitken knows how important transmission of information can be."
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This review is from: Miniatures of a Zen Master (Paperback)
I have to admit to some disappointment in this book. Less about Zen than about random experiences that stuck Aitken Roshi as significant, its feels like random jottings from his journal that had no other platform for expression. On a note on Schiller's lyrics in Ode to Joy "his creator must have been very far away" or on Zen and Psychology, "many students and teachers think that Zen is a type of Psychology. This is like saying persimmons are a type of banana. The Zen Master is more like a flea than a psychologist. More like a cool breeze. More like a mountain peak. I am not exaggerating or being fanciful." Or, "Wallace Stevens ends his poem "the snow man" with the lines, 'the nothing that is not there, and the nothing that is.' When I studied American Literature in college the instructor said, "this is a kind of nihilism. If so the definition of nihilism needs expanding." So many of his little quips leave me thinking, 'so what." could be my lack of imagination but I leave wanting more.
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World War, Yamada Róshi, Eightfold Path, The Róshi, United States, San Jose, Maui Zendo Browse Sample Pages:
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Sóen Róshi Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Yamada Róshi, Eightfold Path, The Róshi, United States, San Jose, Maui Zendo Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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