Zen Lessons (Shambhala Pocket Classics) [Paperback]

Thomas Cleary (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shambhala Pocket Classics | Publication Date: August 31, 1993

This guide to enlightened conduct for people in positions of authority is based on the teachings of several great Zen masters of China. Drawing on private records, letters, and long-lost documents of the Song dynasty (tenth to thirteenth century), the book consists of short excerpts written in a language that is accessible to readers without any background in Eastern philosophy. In part, the teachings are a guide to recognizing genuine spiritual authority in a Zen teacher—guidance that has been much needed throughout the history of Zen, owing to the prevalence of imitators and false teachers. The book may also be read as a study of the personal qualities and conduct necessary for the mastery of any position of power and authority, whether religious, social, political, or organizational.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Yuanwu's teaching, happily available to modern audiences in a vast body or literature, has a universality that transcends dogma and the narrow parameters of established religions."— The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

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Product Details

• Paperback: 261 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (August 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877738939
• ISBN-13: 978-0877738930
• Product Dimensions: 3.1 x 0.8 x 4.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,670,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Buddhism > Zen Philosophy
  • #40 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Buddhism > Zen

More About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of "Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership", July 29, 1998

By 

E. Witt ([e-mail]) (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zen Lessons (Shambhala Pocket Classics) (Paperback)

It is said that there is nothing new under the sun. Certainly the issues facing leaders today are comparable to those that have faced leaders across cultures and throughout time. Human nature has not changed, and therefore the fundamentals of leadership -- the process of channeling human nature in a particular direction -- have not changed.

"Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership" conveys this message in spades. In the format of a series of compact passages, it presents excerpts from the cumulative wisdom of thousands of years of experience with continual political society. The insights and lessons contained in this book are as poignant today as they were when they were first put forth; the reader will be astounded, gratified, and ideally energized to pursue a path of virtuous leadership in his or her personal and professional life.

This reviewer highly recommends this book for those in corporate, governmental, public or private positions of leadership, as! well as for the general reader. After all, it is the duty of the citizenry to expect great things from those it follows.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Leads?, November 13, 2004

By 

R. Valencia (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership (Hardcover)

In light of the morally destitute state of leadership in this country, the title of this book arouses a cynical chuckle at first. In such a context, hunger for the genuine leader is palpable. The broken trust we have all experienced at the hands of "leaders"--whether political, economic, social or religious--has sparked a multifaceted reactivity. It manifests itself as both atheism and pantheism, new age spiritualism or traditionalism. Given the septicity of the western Zeitgeist, it is inevitable that there will be those who suspect that the western practioner of Buddhism is engaged in a feverish and delusional attempt to manufacture the genuine out of an exotic orthodoxy whose best selling point is that it is not really a religion. Like any religion it has succeeded in drawing its share of phonies and egomaniacs. These "Zen Lessons" are a useful guide in identifying, illustrating and rebuking them.
In the eleventh century China at the time of the Song Dynasty, when the writings that comprise Zen Lessons were composed Chan (Zen) had reached a zenith of popularity and influence. Monasteries had taken on a prestigious civic aspect, and it had become the custom for a government official to make appointments of leadership in the monastic hierarchy. The system was easy to game: imposters proliferated, and their flatteries and pieties got them into plum roles in the monasteries. Thomas Cleary has this explanation for the vast expansion of Zen and its inevitable corruption: "According to Zen teaching, when people in positions of great responsibility in society trust Zen adepts, it may be...an unconscious response to the safety felt in the presence of a truly detoxified human being...the false appeared in such profusion precisely because the true was so effective."
In Zen Lessons The Art of Leadership, a range of Zen masters comment on sundry slippages from the Noble Eightfold Path. Start reading this book anywhere and you'll find a trenchant homily, relevant to contemporary practice, or an earthy, dishy slice of life. "People nowadays are lazy about getting up, and many are deficient in manners when they congregate. Some indulge shamelessly in their appetite for food, some create disputes in their concern for getting support and honor." Or you come across the sublime: "An iron dyke a thousand miles long leaks through anthills. The beauty of white jade is lost in a flaw. The supremely subtle Way is beyond iron dykes and white jade, yet greed and resentment are greater than anthills and flaws."
Through Cleary's able and accessible prose, there emerges a portrait of a Zen clergy notable for its plain and forthright speech, tough but intelligent, men who despise artifice and revere humility, learning, and wisdom. Such a book will hopefully find as wide an audience as The Art of War, which Cleary also translated, and insinuate its enlightened morality into the decadent fiber of post industrial capitalism. It belongs in every executive washroom, and on the night tables of all of us who practice leading, or following the breath.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 8, 2008

By 

cat lover (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership (Mass Market Paperback)

Great tips for the modern leader. The zen wisdom of the 8th - 10th centuries is beautifully taught. Through the ancient teachings, an appraisal method of today's leaders is developed. If the reader stays with it and reads the whole book the true zen of leadership is disclosed.