Zen in the Art of Climbing Mountains [Paperback]

Neville Shulman (Author), Chris Bonington (Foreword)

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Amazon.com Review

Mountains, psychologists will tell you, can produce a state of reverie in humans who wander among them. So, too, can meditation, the simple act of sitting still and letting go of worries. Most of the world's great religions hold a special regard for both mountains and meditation, but few link them as closely as Buddhism. English entrepreneur, artist, writer, and alpinist Neville Shulman explores the connection in Zen in the Art of Climbing Mountains, a fine primer in the techniques of scaling great peaks while exploring the inner mind. "Nothing is possible," he notes, "without three essential elements: a great root of faith, a great ball of doubt and fierce tenacity of purpose." His small book, which weighs in at just more than 100 pages, distills the tenets of Zen Buddhist doctrine and of basic mountaineering. Readers interested in one subject will find themselves drawn to the other by Shulman's good humor and good writing as he recounts his first climb up 15,771-foot Mont Blanc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804817758
• ISBN-13: 978-0804817752
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,898,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a Gumby, January 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Zen in the Art of Climbing Mountains (Paperback)

Shulman's book is all together not very good. He relates a story on climbing Mont Blanc with an obviously 'vacation type' climbing group. A vacation package much like one would book to vacation in the Bahamas. He tries to make it seem like it was such a harrowing experience and although it was probably exhilarating to him, most mountaineers would consider it a 'yak' trip. The climbing inaccuracies were astounding. He describes abseiling (rappelling) as the most difficult of tasks where to any climber, it's simply a mode of transportation. Then to find out from the description, he was probably lowered down or rappelled with a top-rope belay. Give me a break! Although Shulman says that Buddhism and Zen mediation helped him with the 'ordeal,' I hardly consider almost getting lost trying to find the tram a situation where one has to dig deep to find the strength to go on. I've had more nerve-racking experiences getting lost in the inner city. He also relates nothing about his teammates, they don't even rate names. It was like he was traveling alone with ghosts in the background. Having what his teammates thought and did would have improved the story. A totally uninteresting book for climber/mountaineers and not much to offer on the philosophy of Buddhism. The only reason I give it a two is because it has two of my most favorite subjects, climbing and Buddhism. If you really want to know what it takes to climb a mountain, read "Beyond Risk : Conversations With Climbers" by Nicholas O'Connell. There are climbers in there that relate Buddhism to climbing such as Reinhold Messner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intrepid traveler, January 30, 2006

By 

Louis Fantasia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zen in the Art of Climbing Mountains (Paperback)

Neville Shulman is one of the last of the great British adventurers. He has tackled Kilamanjoro, the Borneo jungle and the south pole -- often going it alone in extremely adverse circumstances to raise money for worthy British charities. His Zen practice keeps him in good stead under often grueling and unexpected circumctances and when he -finally- returns to the comforts of home he manages to capture the excitement, adventure, beauty, and above all the sense of personal challenge -- one man against the elements - that has almost disappeared from out post-modern consciousness. His books are admirable reminders of what the human heart, mind and soul are capable of.

4.0 out of 5 stars again: it depends, November 16, 2010

By 

Stephen Pellerine (In a bookshelf somewhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zen in the Art of Climbing Mountains Pb (Paperback)

Again, like many climbing books, this one depends on your view and experience with climbing. It's not a book for non-climbers (I feel) but is a gem for climbers.

There are some interesting (B & W) images to support the story and the read is not too difficult albeit a bit slow, but about the slow slog and psychology during a Mountain ascent, descent, and post climb reflections.

Hard to rate: for general public a 3, for someone with zero interest in climbing a 1, for a climber 4-5.