Customer Reviews

Zen Driving

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

 

 

This book vividly achieves something it probably never intended to do: offer the simplest, clearest explanation of Zen philosophy that I've read yet. While other authors overexert themselves in hopelessly convoluted terms and impenetrable analogies to try to explain the essence of Zen to their readers, Berger lays out its meaning in understandble terms by applying the principles of Zen to something that all of us can relate to--driving. And by not even trying to exlpain Zen at all, he does a masterful job--a true example of wu-wei in action!

Oh, and observing the practice in this book would make for roadways with a lot less stress and "road rage." These principles behind the wheel then can be easily applied to other apsects of life, thus creating not just more mindful drivers but a more mindful society as a whole.

A quick, entertaining and enlightening read.

Such timeliness for a book first published a dozen years ago! This should be handed out in Drivers' Ed courses across the country. The premise is simple: stay aware of your surroundings, don't let expectations distract you, and enjoy the ride. Stop thinking about driving and just drive. Sound advice in all aspects of life.

I read this over 10 years ago, when it was first published. At first glance I thought it was a joke, but there's actually some very sound, practical advice on how to keep your cool in traffic - and in this day and age of "road rage," it's more relevant than ever. And besides all that - it's very well written and just plain fun to read!

I concur with an earlier reviewer. This book will teach you about zen--not what it is, but how to embody it, which is what matters.
After applying the principles in this book to a 1,300-mile drive, I now see the possibilities of zen and meditation in all areas of life, not just driving. What I only understood intellectually before, I now feel in my body.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I'll add my endorsement to this amusingly titled little book. Most people, myself included sometimes, allow themselves to simply become another passenger behind the controls. Many examples are given to inspire drivers on how to put their full concentration on the act of driving. The author tries to explain that the familiar neighborhood road we are on is not limited to our memory of it. At any moment something could appear "out of nowhere". If we drift into thoughts about our destination and what we're going to do there for example, rather than focus on the immediate situation before our eyes, we won't be ready to respond as fast and an avoidable collision will be likely. For the low price of a used book, it could pay for itself many times over.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. Being a late bloomer to driving -raised in NYC. I read Zen and the Art of Motorcylce maintenance and I wanted this book to go into detail on Zen and driving. It gave a lot of general philosphy of Zen and some on driving. I wanted details , and more details. He did have a few real life examples but very superficial. Its not bad but if you want some meat look elsewhere.

This book Zen Driving was suggested by Amazon because I purchase many books on "Driving Safety" as support for our driving safety training center in Thailand. I purchased this book for two reasons: Thailand is a Buddhist country and a driving method which incorporates this religion might have cultural appeal to our students and it received several 5 star reviews by Amazon reviewers. While it may have appealed to California drivers in the 80's, who were experimenting with Zen; it has to be the worst book I have ever encountered on driving safety.

I have experimented with `meditation' and find it to be a discipline which requires the greatest concentration and focus. To suggest that someone engage in meditation while driving a car is ludicrous. The suggestion belies the author's knowledge of meditation or driving - of course during the 80's cars were simpler and drivers were not multi-tasking as much: cell phones, texting, GPS direction systems, reading your Kindle and iPhones were still a way off. Kevin Berger, who appears to be a journalist and his brother Todd, who is a psychotherapist, seem to be an odd couple to teach about driving much less driving safety. The book is full of absurd and very dangerous advice. The basic premise seems to be that driving is "innate", i.e. originating in the constitution of the mind, rather than learned through experience. Two pages later the brothers Berger tell us how to drive with..."no mind, no thought, and no form": so much for the innate part of driving!

I, personally, believe that some of the percepts of Buddhism would help drivers to understand what kind of drivers they really are. One of the greatest risks in driving is supreme overconfidence. Buddhism teaches a way to self-evaluation that might help overcome this trait. Buddhism also teaches about suffering - which is generally the result of overconfidence and arrogance on the road.

The book is filled with cute little meaningless expressions thought to be overflowing with great meaning, but the only real advice the book gives is one way to deal with "road rage". I am sure that advice will be very helpful since other drivers will certainly be filled with rage at having to put up with some mindless nincompoop tooling down the highway arrogantly believing she is responding to every 'nuance of motion and traffic', even if she doesn't know where that clutch pedal is in her sporty Jaguar with automatic transmission.

Most driving schools will at least start with having the driver do a pre-drive inspection of the vehicle, not so the Berger boys. Just jump in and get moving "feeling the wind in your hair" even if you haven't lowered the windows and you are bald. Already in the first chapter the Berger boys let us know that it is more important to `spin donuts' and kick up "rooster tails', than to understand the difference between a battery and a fuel tank. They promise to get to that unimportant stuff (that we all know about) in a later chapter but never do get around to it. These guys may not know how to change a tire, but they can quote circles around Prime Minister Kou Tze of the Tang Dynasty just from their innate knowledge.

The Berger boys tell us that we have a `Mechanical Inheritance" so don't worry about how your car works, you already know. One of the Berger boys knows so much about cars that he hitchhiked to a nearby city to get a water pump and the tools to replace it on the road somewhere in Southern Utah. He had so much `innate' knowledge of his car, it didn't occur to him to check the radiator and belts before he left. One of the great pleasures of Zen Driving is that things don't go wrong and if they do, you just say: "so what?"

The Berger boys failed to inquire of Zen Master Mumon of the Gateless Gate, if ABS braking systems were first used in the 70's, does that mean that the `innate' ability to use ABS only can be found in children born after the 70's or has it been innate since the beginning? Since the Berger boys seem more like teenagers anxious to get in a car and speed away rather than folks who want to learn anything about driving techniques, I got the feeling they may have been born after ABS or were not around to ask Mumon (1183-1260).

One of your reviewers suggested this book should be handed out in a Driver's Ed course. OMG Can you imagine all those mindless teenagers getting in a car and not letting `expectations distract' them (not even the little old lady crossing the street they just ran down, with that wind blowing in their hair while `non-doing' anything). The reviewer's advice was "Stop thinking about driving and just drive." Look around you many people have already taken that advice. Some will go back to a more natural state pushing up tomb stones soon, getting ready for re-birth.

The writers' thoughts on teaching how to drive are astonishing - teach by not teaching anything. Just let them get in and drive. With so many Japanese quotes in their book, I would have thought the writers might have considered this old Japanese proverb: "Experience is an expensive school, but a fool will learn from no other."

Another reviewer thought this book a `joke' and she was absolutely right. If you are looking for information on Buddhism read Buddha, if you are looking for information on driving safety read Responsible Driving Student Edition, Softcover. The authors of this work are hacks, at best, trying to make a dime on religion and the legend of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. If you are looking for mindless drivel, with a pretty cover using a faux-Japanese font; this is the book for you. In the paperback edition I am reviewing, the cover shows a curvy Pacific area road - there is not a car to be seen! That is the only type of road that might work for a system of driving like Kevin and Todd Berger's "Zen Driving".

Richard Stampfle
President,
Safe Driver Education Company Ltd.
Bangkok, Thailand
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I think It was a thrill ride it was a exciting book! -Lila Ishaq