Customer Reviews

The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
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I guess that most people getting interested in Zen without having a competent roshi within reach are facing the living hell of Zen books. At least that was the situation in my case. So, I was picking up all sorts of books on Zen from authors of unknown or doubtful competence. Some aren't really worth the paper they are printed on. This process turned out to be quite time and money consuming without getting closer to the results one is expecting.
Even after reading books from known authorities like D.T. Suzuki I found out that my own progress was still slow, because many of these kind of books are pretty academic, barely touching the most important practice and heart of Zen--the practice of Zazen.
"The Three Pillars of Zen" is the first book in a fairly long line of Zen books I read that approaches Zen in a practical way that enables Westerners to get started with Zen right away, without having a teacher. Roshi Kapleau wrote a well structured and personal book, reporting from his own development under various Zen masters in Japan back in the 1950s. In the chapters of "The Three Pillars of Zen" Kapleau lets his own teachers speak. This approach gives a unique insight into Zen practice in Japan, the traps and pitfalls and how to avoid them. It also explains what Zazen and dokusan are all about as well as the important role of the koan, its proper use (and misuse).
This book really sets back the majority of Zen books I read so far by at least 2 stars (Amazon.com rating). If I'd be forced to pick only one book about Zen, this would be the one.

The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment
by Philip Kapleau

Now in a 35th Anniversary edition, The Three Pillars of Zen is generally regarded as the "classic" introduction to Zen Buddhism, and along with Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, has probably helped more westerners begin Zen practice than any other book.

The book is a collection of texts which describe Zen Buddhism as encountered by Philip Kapleau in Japan in the 1950's. Kapleau's transmission is Zen as it was taught in particular by Harada-Roshi and Yasutani-Roshi, a synthesis of both the Rinzai and Soto traditions. Harada's and Yasutani's school revitalized Zen in the twentieth century, and their teaching is particularly relevant to Americans as many American Zen teachers today are of their lineage.

The book is in three parts. Part One is titled "Teaching and Practice" and consists of Yasutani's Introductory Lectures on Zen Training (these alone are worth the price of the book), his Commentary (Teisho) on the Koan Mu, and records of his Private Encounters With Ten Westerners (in dokusan). These three sections provide the reader an idea of what Zen training is, how to begin, and hint at the flavor of the process as practiced in Yasutani's school. Part One concludes with a translation of a dharma talk and some letters by the 14th century Japanese master Bassui.

Part Two is titled "Enlightenment" and consists of first-person descriptions of 20th century enlightenment (kensho) experiences. These descriptions are unique and fascinating, and bring the concept of enlightenment a personal relevance - it's not just something that was attained by ancient masters. Of particular interest are the pieces by Kapleau himself, and Kyozo Yamada, both of whom became prominent Zen teachers.

Part Three is a collection of supplements to the text and consists of a brief and mystifying selection from Dogen's writings on "Being-Time", the famous "Ten Oxherding Pictures" with commentary and verse, and an extremely helpful section on sitting postures with common questions and answers.

The 35th Anniversary edition has a new afterward by Bodhin Kjolhede, Kapleau's successor at the Rochester Zen Center, and a terrific glossary of Zen vocabulary and Buddhist doctrine.

While no book can provide a complete in-depth view of the Zen tradition, The Three Pillars of Zen is a comprehensive look at Zen as practiced by a lineage that continues to have great influence in the West. The newcomer to Zen practice will come away from reading this book with clear guidelines about how to begin his or her practice, a fundamental understanding of Zen terminology, and at least a vague idea of what all this Zen talk is about.

Highly recommended.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It is the book which really brought me to spiritual practice; for that, I will always be grateful. It was, however, the same things about it which first drew me in, that I now find problematic.

If you are at all open to practice it is hard not to find this book exciting. There is great drama in the stories of those struggling against all odds to achieve enlightenment. It is that sense of drama which I find problematic. There is a sense of striving encouraged by this book and practice at Rochester. Metaphors of climbing a mountain are used; we are encouraged to "push harder.' But who is striving? There is an underlying sense of dualism in this flavor of practice. While that drama of achieving something is perhaps helpful for those difficult early stages of practice, it is ultimately a poison. Traditional Zen practice, such as that described here, pits you in a battle against your ego. Such warfare can, in the end, only be ego building.

This is a modern Zen practice in that there is an explanation of the "theory" of practice. At one time you just sat, heard talks on Koans, and had very brief interviews with your teacher. Eventually, you would either get it or not (mostly not, I believe). Of course, in that more historically traditional practice you would have been a monk totally removed from the concerns of the day-to-day world. I think that the practice described by Kapleau Roshi is still too close to those traditional monastic roots.

My experience at traditional Zen Centers is that they are beautiful and that meditation practice there has a sense of percptible strength-it seems quite grounded. The trouble comes when people are off the cushions. I can't say that I see a great deal of impact of practice on peoples lives. There is still plenty of confusion and reactivity. There is still an attachment to personal drama. I had teachers tell me that the first step is for people to break through and see who they really were; later they would integrate. I am not sure that step two generally occurs.

What, ultimately, is the point of Zen practice? To have an enlightenment experience? Does that drive for kensho come from a need to experience the truth of our life or does it come from a need to fix ourselves? Most of us are driven by this latter need. To the extent that our motivations remain invisible, we can't truly metabolize our experience. We "own" rather than live our realization.

My bias is that practice serves life best when it takes on our whole life as a koan. Our life becomes less of a soap opera and becomes more mundane. From that ordinariness emerge joy, compassion, love and all of the other aspects of our true nature. You might have fewer of the kind of lightening bolts of a traditional practice. Instead, you will have a grounded life which brings peace rather than pain into this world.

One of the best "how to" books on Zen. A thick collection of miscellaneous stuff. Skip or skim Kapleau's sections and jump right into Yasutani's introductory talks on Zen training--worth buying the book for. Also useful: pictures of meditation postures with questions and answers, and a glossary of Zen vocabulary.

If the stories of people's "kensho" experiences seduce you into serious Zen practice with a Zen community, well, that's great (and maybe that's why Kapleau included them), but then eventually you'll need to read Trungpa's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" or Joko Beck's "Everyday Zen" as an antidote to your now-warped view of what practice is all about.

If you want to practice Zen, I think this is a great place to start. Also take a look at "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" and "Everyday Zen."

Zen.

It's a word that is greatly misunderstood, yet heard all too often in American pop culture.

Jane's Addiction sings about the "Pigs in Zen", and Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance" is a modern classic. Pirsig, however, named his book after the even more classic "Zen in the Art of Archery."

Now it seems that the "Zen and the Art of" title is a cliche. I have another book on career guidance by Laurence G. Boldt titled "Zen and the Art of Making a Living." But wait, there's more! British rock band "Bush" had us all humming along to their hit "Everything Zen" a few years back, and I've even found a web page called "Zen and the Art of Web Design."

Golf superstar Greg Norman admits to practicing it, the "Star Wars" Jedi stuff was based on it, but what the heck is Zen anyway?

In "The Three Pillars of Zen", author Philip Kapleau succeeds at paring away all of the nonsense and provides the reader with an insight into what, exactly, zen really is: a meditative discipline with the ultimate aim being enlightenment--in the rinzai sect at least.

In its pages one will discover how to meditate (zazen), what really goes on during "sesshin" (a meditative retreat), and the actual experiences of several individuals at varying stages of their development.

To his credit, Kapleau is very careful to not put across any of his own opinions about either Buddhist philosophy or zen practice. Instead of intellectualizing and telling you what he thinks, he allows you to formulate your own opinion based on reading the words from the masters themselves, along with the experiences of other individuals. In this way the Kapleau is more narrator than author.

Personally, I found the section in which the actual "enlightenment" experiences of modern, everyday, people are related to be the most fascinating. These are not ancient sages, but people like you and I. People who have jobs, families, and other commitments. Yet each of them have experienced "kensho", enlightenment, to some degree; after hearing what they have to say, you will find yourself wondering if it's possible that you, too, might have the same experience.

It is important to note that Zen practice, as presented here, is somewhat non-theistic. That is, it doesn't really matter what one's religious backround is when it comes to practicing zen. You will not need to abandon any of your current beliefs about God or your particular religion.

Recommended

There is a famous Zen koan (a Zen paradox which the student of Zen must resolve on the path to enlightenment) known as Mu. As recounted in this book (page 82) it goes like this: "A monk in all seriousness asked Joshu "has a dog Buddha-nature or not?" Joshu retorted "Mu!"

There is a great deal in Philip Kapleau's book discussing the Koan Mu and its role in Zen -- or some forms of Zen. Kapleau was trained as a court reporter and served as a court reporter after WW II for the war crimes trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo. While in Japan, he became interested in Buddhism.

In 1953 at the age of 46 Kapleau gave up his business and his possessions in New York City to travel to Japan to study Zen. He remained in Japan for 16 years. Upon returning to the United States he founded the Rochester Zen Center and published "The Three Pillars of Zen". Over the years, the book has been instrumental in introducing Americans to Zen. The book has appeared in a 25th anniversary edition and in this 35th anniversary edition.

And why Zen? Why the Koan Mu? The most valuable part of this book is the freshness, enthusiasm, and zeal which Kapleau brought to his subject 35 years ago and which strikes the reader today. In describing his own experiences and the experiences of other students set out in the book, Kapleau gives a good picture of the discontent and the suffering -- arising from an experience of death, illness, restlesness, or disillusion -- that lead him to leave his established life in 1953 and search for meaning in Zen. The discussion in the book (never stated explicitly) of why people look to Zen and how Zen responds to the needs of its seekers is what gives meaning to the book.

The book describes long hours, months and years of sitting in monasteries. Another excellent feature of the book is Kapleau's realistic picture of the rigors of Zen life. This is something that, with the spread of Zen in the United States, might be too easily forgotten. Kapleau emphasizes the long hours of painful sitting, the use of the rod to strike students during the sitting to keep them awake, the sometimes stormy and discouraging interviews with the master teacher -- or roshi, and the frustrations and difficulties in wrestling with the Koan Mu and other Zen teaching techniques. He describes how some people, after deep effort attain to a degree of realization. He does not stint the difficulty and endlessness of the process, which ultimately returns the seeker to himself and to living in the everyday.

The book itself includes materials from a variety of sources including introductory lectures on Zen by one of Kapleau's teachers, Yasutani Roshi, a commentary on Mu, a discussion of the famous Zen "oxherding" pictures, and much more. For me, the most revealing section of the book was the discussion in Part II of "Eight Contemporary Enlightenment Experiences of Japanese and Westerners". These discussions gave me some insight, I think, into what the Zen path was about. I particularly learned from Kapleau's own account of his experience and from the account of the woman who became his wife.

Another excellent part of the book is the enlightenment letters written by a young woman named Yaekeo Iwasaki on her deathbed to her teacher, Harada-Roshi. The letters are poinnant and Harada-Roshi's comments are revealing.

In reading this book, I saw that the Zen path was difficult and not for everyone. I learned something of it and about why people are attracted to it. Zen and other forms of Buddhism have made great strides in the United States since Kapleau wrote his book. The Three Pillars of Zen survives due to its sincerity and freshness. It can't be institutionalized. Every seeker must find his own path -- find Mu -- for him or herself.

I have read this book and recomended it over and again. What makes it special is that the practice for Zen living is emphasized beyond the mere philosophy of Zen. This is important because, as often misunderstood, Zen is not philosophy but practice- a way of life. The author has the understanding that true knowledge is only gained through practice and experience. He does not deny the years of disciplined sitting and diligence necessary to master oneself. There is no easy way, but the techniques given are sound and true and will facilitate your journey.

But I've got to knock a star off for the enlightenment accounts, and for some of the stuff regarding *makkyo,* which have to do with sensory deprivation which can happen when the mind is not focused enough.

The book brings with it some interesting koans, among them, how did Kapleau go from writing this, to the arguably kooky "Zen: Merging of East and West?"

I'd also point out that this Zen is a bit flavored from the "Sambokyodan" (Three Treasures) tradition of Yasutani - who, by the way, never gave dharma transmission to Kapleau. (Kapleau's title "Roshi" was self-administered.) I'm not saying "therfore everything in this book is false." Rather, I'm saying, "read this with good faith and with good doubt and see where it leads you."

In particular, the material by Bassho, Dogen, et al. is quite good, and well worth the read, as is the instructions for sitting.

Eventually, though, you'll need other books too- and you'll need to get rid of all of them.

If you've struggled with D.T. Suzuki as a means to understanding zen, then this book will be a mind-blower in its clarity! Though be aware that it is primarily describing the Rinzai flavor of zen (intense retreats of induced mental breakdowns with the infrequent breakthrough), as opposed to the more relaxed Soto variety, a-la 'Zen Mind Beginner's Mind', which now seems to be the main zen sect in the USA. The retreat accounts are valuable, but mislead one into thinking that all zennies experience such dramatic cathartic breakthroughs and that they are the be-all and end-all of Buddhism. Such practices are really only ONE part of the Buddha's Eightfold Way. The author's later books do help somewhat to correct the imbalance of this one, and the messianic enthusiasm of this one is quite understandable. But one would do well to bone up on the Dhammapada and the Eightfold Way, via accesstoinsight.org, for example, as well. Though, this book remains a truly groundbreaking work and has Transmitted the Light to many, and I suspect it will continue to do so for many many kalpas.

I am not a Buddhist, simply a human being seeking to know his true nature (please forgive the use of the word "seeking" :-). That said, I find this book to be revelatory in nature, a work for which there are no words. Even if you never have an intention to practice zazen, and are a Hindu or a Vedantist or a streetwalker or a businessman or a murderer, if you want to know who you are, this book will point you toward the moon and beyond.