Customer Reviews

Zen Student: Remember, Live Right Now!

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So ends Dr. Raymond Reed Hardy's compact and useful aid in practicing Zazen. Hardy writes with such clarity of style that even the most goal oriented, success focused, immediate gratification American person - with a bit of patience and time - can finally begin to grasp the measure of the Zen influenced life.

Hardy intentionally writes for the 'Western mind' and freely admits that this book is directed toward those who have a foundation in Zen. And that most assuredly does not mean that the novice won't benefit from this book. For those who have never meditated, never attended a retreat (The Zen Sesshin), or even have familiarity with the Zen way of living, there still is much in this immensely readable book to admire. For this reader, Hardy's style of sharing and teaching Zen in the style in which he writes is reason enough to take Zen seriously and join the human brotherhood in what is probably the the most applicable form of philosophy/religion in today's world.

So, yes, follow Hardy's advice and read his first book also, but spend some evenings with ZEN STUDENT and see if it doesn't make you at least take notice of the impact that living in the moment can make on our chaotic lives. Grady Harp, June 06

Written in plain terms for American practitioners in the art of meditation, Zen Student: Remember, Live Right Now by Raymond Reed Hardy (Associate Professor Of Psychology at St. Norbert College) Zen Student is as much a testimony of the experience of meditation as it is a guide for novice to intermediate meditators. The author's history of more than twenty-three years in the practice of zazen meditation shows through, and inspirational haiku poems as well as question-and-answer sessions, mindfulness stories, and practical suggestions for incorporating Zen into daily life round out this excellent and descriptive guide. Recommended for anyone seeking to explore the benefits of Zen meditation and practice.

Hardy's first encounter with Zen meditation took place in Vietnam in 1968. He was an infantryman and his company was on foot patrol. They entered a clearing in the jungle and encountered a man of military age on a platform engaged in zazen meditation. When the alarm "Gook!" was passed from man to man, all stopped. Even though it could have been a trap, the patrol walked around the meditator, who didn't even appear to be breathing. He was so still, some members of the patrol speculated that he was dead and had been propped up to serve as a Potemkin-like distracter.
This episode, recounted at the beginning of the book, is a fitting description of the Western attitude towards Zen. An Eastern religion, it seems incongruous to Western minds. The practitioners do not evangelize, which makes it appear that they practice their religion oblivious to outsiders.
The author, an associate professor of psychology in Wisconsin, has written this book in an attempt to explain Zen to Western minds. Before I read it, I had almost no exposure to or knowledge of Zen and now I have some exposure and a little knowledge. As the author himself admits, the learning curve regarding Zen is not steep. The explanations of Zen reminded me of the literary form known as paradoxism. Created by Rumanian exile/émigré Florentin Smarandache, it employs internal contradictions. It utilizes phrases such as; "In death there is life."
I found the Zen philosophy generally comprehensible, as it is similar to that of the Native Americans. Their philosophy is one of taking from nature while maintaining a reverence for the ways in which the sustenance is provided. The Zen philosophy of living for the moment, yet being mindful of the holistic long-term consequences is analogous.
I have always heard that Zen is hard to understand. I am in agreement with that statement. While reading this book did increase my knowledge of Zen practices, my understanding underwent only a slight improvement.

This book is intended for someone who already knows a bit about Zen meditation--to provide food for thought. Since I meditate regularly (not specifically Zen), I was interested in learning more about Zen. But I don't know enough, apparently, because I found this book confusing. Perhaps it's just impossible to "instruct" on a subject that really has no set path, no goals, no guideposts. The message of the book is that each student finds his own path, and no one's path is better than anyone else's.

Some segments of the book were interesting; I particularly enjoyed the "mindfulness stories," which did help me get a slightly better grasp of that concept, and the descriptions of a Zen retreat (which told me enough to know I never want to do one). Other than that, I found much of the material did not go into enough depth to really educate me, just touching briefly on the Vedas and Sutras and Buddha's Eightfold Path. In fact, the book wasn't well organized and seemed just a hodgepodge to me.

Still, if you're into Zen, you might really get something out of it. The author claims that if you keep it around and read it from time to time, you'll pick up something new with each reading. When you are ready to learn something, then you will get what you need to get from the book. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." I think probably I'm just not ready for most of what's in this book--but you might be.

This is a follow up to Hardy's Zen Master: Practical Zen by an American for Americans, and a prequel to his forthcoming book for advanced Zen students. In keeping with the wisdom that is Zen, and in keeping with the "advance" from Zen Master to Zen Student that this book represents, perhaps Hardy's third book ought to be called something like "No Zen."

It is written (superfluously, of course) that you cannot learn Zen from reading, and that there is no path, no Zen master, no dogmas, etc., and if you should meet the Buddha by the side of the road, you should slay him. Hardy acknowledges this truth, and then goes on to write another Zen book anyway. Why?

The answer perhaps is the same as the answer to the question, Why would I or anyone read another Zen book? Because it's interesting. Because, at bottom, one does not really believe that nothing can be learned about Zen from reading, any more than nothing can be learned about Zen from a Zen master or from attending a Zen retreat. The finger really does point to the moon, even if what we are really looking for is the sun, whose reflection is all we can ever hope to see in the night.

Hardy, then, demonstrates the contrary of what Zen proclaims. But I think he is correct. Deep into Zen one realizes that it is only a convention--an exaggeration with a point, if you will--to say that nothing can be learned from anything other than first-hand experience. After all, why should Zen have such a storied history? Why should we care what the Masters said oh so many years ago? Indeed, why should we care in the slightest what the Buddha himself said if we cannot learn something from his words and practices?

This insistence on first-hand, be-here-now, mindful experience in Zen is nonetheless correct, and the reason for the exaggeration. Take the weight of a thousand books on Zen and compare that with the weight of one instant of enlightenment, and ask yourself, which is the heavier?

Hardy gives a nice example of this experience--a transmission of enlightenment, perhaps--when he writes, "Each life actually had its beginning at the very outset of the universe. At that time, all the conditions necessary for the eventual birth of all of us were in place, and they were maintained over long periods of time so that eventually we were born. Then, after we die, all of the consequences of all of our actions play themselves out in infinite complexity across all of the remaining time. Thus, we do not come into existence at birth and we do not cease to exist at death." (p. 138)

This is as beautiful an expression of the interconnectedness of life and matter and energy as I have ever read. It is also a statement about time and timelessness and how the moment and eternity are the same.

Which brings me to a nice distinction that Hardy makes between "living for the moment" and "living in the moment." Living for the moment, Hardy writes, "is to seek immediate gratification heedless of any negative consequences one's actions may have..." But, "When one pays very close attention to what is happening in each passing moment [living in the moment], one is never heedless of the consequences of one's actions." (p. 35) This understanding is similar to the idea of karma yoga in the Bhagavad Gita, in which we are advised to find freedom through the non-attached performance of our duties without expectation, without seeking reward.

I also like Hardy's expression about the need for compassion (one of the tenets of Buddhism) when one sees self-defeating actions in others: "It must suffice for us to be as compassionate as possible, and remember that we, too, have been and are similarly engaged in self destructive behavior about which we are deluding ourselves." (p. 36)

There are some ideas and interpretations that Hardy advances that I disagree with or find somewhat off the mark. For example, when considering what "non-attachment" means, he writes that Zen "will decidedly NOT take away...[your] love relationships..." (p. 84) He believes Zen will enhance these relationships. However, what "non-attachment" is about is experiencing these relationships and every other connection with the world in a way that allows us to see them come or go or increase or wane without attachment, to experience them in emotional equilibrium.

Noting that Buddhist writings and teachings about God and creation are lacking, Hardy writes that he believes the "Buddha avoided" such teachings because they "would have been redundant and discordant in his time and social context." (p. 113) Actually, the reason the Buddha did not address such questions was because they were beside the point. However one imagines God or creation, the real, concrete work for us is to conduct our day-to-day lives in a way that frees us from the unsatisfactoriness (i.e., "suffering") of human experience.

Perhaps the most penetrating and valuable insight that Hardy offers is to be found on page 101 where he is advising the student on meditation (zazen) and Satori. He writes, "Satori exists even though you do not notice it at the time. In fact, when/if you do notice you have experienced Satori, you are no longer experiencing it. It is impossible to be thinking about Satori and be experiencing it at the same time." This is the old "catch-22" of meditation. As a yoga teacher once expressed it, "Thought-formation impedes the flow of samadhi." This is one reason "no-mind" is considered important in Zen, and why being here now and not thinking about anything (just sitting) is essential to the meditative experience.

All in all this is an excellent introduction to Zen written by a wise and experience Zen practitioner that is agreeable, informative and very American, and as such is a welcome addition to the literature.

This book goes into daily practice and some of the habits when one is sitting Zen in a temple and describes it all simply and without jargon.

For anyone who is considering a stint doing Zen to clear the mind, take a retreat or to adopt it as a way of life, this book is highly recommended. You will get a good idea of what goes on, and why but you won't be mystified. Well-written and fascinating, too. Recommended to anyone who wants to investigate Zen.