Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms [Paperback]

Anonymous (Author), Norman Fischer (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2003

A week with the Trappist monks of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky left Norman Fischer feeling inspired by the uplifting, soaring verses chanted each day, but he was also astonished by the violence, passion, and bitterness they expressed. This experience started him on a journey through eastern and western spirituality and his own Jewish roots, resulting in these moving and intimate translations of the Psalms. Fischer's aim was to translate the Psalms in a way that would convey their beauty and power in accessible English for readers of every spiritual path or religious background. In ninety-three poems of praise, celebration, suffering, and lamentation, he brings the Psalms alive for today's readers, revealing an interfaith aspect to these sacred songs that is completely contemporary.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Norman Fischer is a renowned Zen priest, teacher, poet, and former co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and a featured contributor to Benedict's Dharma. As the founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation, he organizes Zen lectures and retreats as well as Jewish meditation classes and is actively involved in interfaith dialogue.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142196134
• ISBN-13: 978-0142196137
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most ancient western devotional poetry made fresh, March 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms (Hardcover)

Fischer has reclaimed the essence of these ancient, passionate songs of suffering and praise. In clear, almost transparent language, he reveals the timeless human longing to *be heard* by a presence that transcends suffering. By stripping away exhausted and loaded language imposed by previous English translations, Fischer shows how language itself can be the tool with which we can forge an intimate relationship with the sacred. As he says in his introduction, "Prayer is not some specialized religious exercise, it is just what comes out of our mouths if we truly pay attention. To pray is to form language, and to form language is to be human." As a Jew who has often turned to poets like Rumi and Rilke for spiritual inspiration, I am delighted to rediscover, thanks to Norman, the treasures within my own heritage.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting interfaith exercise, April 7, 2002

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms (Hardcover)

There was a period in China when monasteries switched between Nestorian Christianity and Chan (Zen) Buddhism based on which was the most persecuted at the time. It is therefore appropriate, I suspose, to translate the Judeo-Christian prayer book, i.e. the Psalms, into a Zen Buddhist conceptual world.

In his search for why the Psalms have retained their value as a prayer book over 3000 years, the Buddhist monk Norman Fischer finds a translation of ideas that works for him. For example, he sees the Psalms' concept of the sovereignty of God as a particular kind of consciousness, related to the mindfulness of Buddhism. In this scheme wickedness is unmindfulness and hence alienation; enemies are internal as much as external.

Many of these translations work in that they make one see the Psalm in a new way ... they serve as a catalysis for a new understanding. Their translation is poetic ... the volume is worth reading simply as poetry. However, the volume is not appropriate either in style or in content, to serve as a Psalter for daily prayer.

Place this volume in the same category as The Psalms in Haiku - a useful and thought-provoking version of the Psalms to turn to when the Psalter is growing old ... to return to for renewing the freshness of your understanding of the psalms.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, beautiful., September 22, 2007

By 

Beata Chapman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms (Paperback)

Norman Fischer has given great thought and deep contemplation to this Zen-inspired translation of many of the Psalms. This book broadened my understanding of ways in which Zen might encounter a Western God. In such an encounter, both East and West might be enlightened. It is beautiful and I highly recommend it.