Customer Reviews

The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation

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This was the very first book on Zen I ever read, back in 1985. Since then I have realized that it is a bit preachy and kind of limited, but it still has real depth. Over the years I probably read it 5 times. It is the kind of disjointed story about Marian Mountain's discovery of Zen. I since learned that she was really Marian Derby (she got a divorce which may explain the name change, I don't know) who was an early student of Suzuki Roshi in San Fran in the 1960s. The book also throws in lots of anecdotes about the ancient Masters, too.

I treasure my old worn, yellowed copy. Despite the limitations of language and style, the truth of Zen shines through and can still inform new readers.

P.S. You can buy used copies in various places, including 21northmain.com.

This is one of my favorite all time books. I have owned at least three copies and each one has ended up as a present to someone else. I've had to stock up again.

The author had extensive training in a formal Zen environment as an early student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi but later chose to go off on her own rather than to assume some set role within that community.

Much of what she says about Zen practice would apply to any spiritual, in my own case that of Aikido. I reread this book every few years and always come away with a new perspective. The author stated that she wrote the book as a way to repay her teacher for all he had given her and I think it has done so.

In short this book should be considered a zen classic, im not sure why its been out of print for so long. Its a good mix of Naturalistic(?) writing mied with zen explanations and instructions and a few anecdotes of the great Dainin Katagiri and Shunryu Suzuki. If this book were a little less outwardly and boldly "zen" it could probably have alitle more mainstream love but alas we've got a gem hidden in the wide open spaces here