Customer Reviews

Returning to Silence (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The silence of the title is our essential core of being. In these essays, Dainin Katagiri Roshi talks about how to connect with this core, and to let it penetrate and resound through the moments of our lives. Katagiri Roshi was a sucessor of Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Mind Beginner's Mind) and like the later, he is at once simple and deep. These talks are not discourses, but "live words," spoken from the heart. They penetrate-- they beg read and read-read, to be taken in thougtfully and thoroughly digested. Katagri, in my mind one of the great modern masters, died in the early 90's. He has left us with this wonderful volume on what it is to know our essential self and to live our lives in this knowledge.

This is perhaps one of the most profound books I ever read on Zen practice. His phrasing style is sometimes reminiscent of Heidegger's best philosophical prose. I strongly recommend it for the Zen practitioner... for the merely curious its considerations might appear too immaterial, for they are extremely subtle.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. However, I think that to someone who is not a fairly regular practitioner of zen meditation it may seem very strange. For those who DO practice zazen on a regular basis, this book has a lot to offer. It's a very pleasant, quasi-poetic extended meditation on many topics. Don't want to try to pigeonhole it much beyond that. I thought it was a great read and I'm grateful to the author for writing it.

One of Roshi Katagiri's most profound books. I was lucky enough to have known him in San Francisco. His teachings changed my life.

Beautifully written, spacious and filled with heart touching reminders of what it means to be alive!

Of all the (many) Buddhism books i read this one stands unique. At first i didn't know how to handle it, it was so crazy, the paragraphs didn't seem to connect together, and every subject handled so strangely. I mean, the book starts with detailed analysis of a poem by a Japanese, II world war, war criminal ...

I never finished this book, i didn't even read half of it continuously but i keep on coming back to it for a number of years now, realizing it is a rear treasure.

It may have been the author's intention or just his style, but I didn't find the flow of the book to be as engaging. Sometimes a bit preachy

Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. If you saw the movie, Mongul, there is a lesson to observe about how the Mongolian fighters used any means to destroy their enemies. There are entities on Earth now posing as humans, all have the same shape with nothing underneath, no human feelings, or guilt, for the turmoil they cause.

Silence is a power unto itself. Sometimes, silence can be soothing and healing. At other times, it can be dull and nerve-wracking. I attented a speech class a few years ago and observed the class members racing through their well researched speeches. The teacher asked if I had anything to say to them, having been through this process myself as a college student. I commented that they all had worked hard and done well on developing their speeches. Yet, they must know that at times silence speaks louder than words. When it is prevalent in a child with autism, it's rather distressing. Eric is the exception.