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Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen
 
 
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Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen (Paperback)

~ Shunryu Suzuki (Author), (Author), Zen Center San Francisco (Author) "Shikantaza, our zazen, is just to be ourselves..." (more)
Key Phrases: freedom from everything, practicing zazen, zazen practice, Dogen Zenji, Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you can imagine Zen Existentialism, Not Always So is it. Part instruction manual for Zen practice and part philosophical meditation, Shunryu Suzuki's teachings emphasize being-in-the-world. He does not point toward a singular enlightenment-event as a burst into higher consciousness. Rather, he suggests a more experiential enlightenment that finds meaning in a full awareness of the present. For example: "If you go to the rest room, there is a chance for enlightenment. When you cook, there is a chance for enlightenment. When you clean the floor, there is a chance to attain enlightenment."

Shunryu Suzuki was an important emissary of Zen Buddhism to the United States. Establishing a Zen center in San Francisco in the 1960s, he attracted many noted pupils, including this book's editor, Edward Espe Brown. In fact, Not Always So is Brown's collection of Suzuki's teachings during his last years, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

No doubt some readers will want to wrestle with the often paradoxical nature of Zen teachings. And those from the Western philosophical tradition may find vast differences between the Western system that takes its cue from Descartes' cogito and the Eastern one that emphasizes the destruction of the ego. Says Suzuki: "It is just your mind that says you are here and I am there, that's all. Originally we are one with everything." While the book does not wrestle with cultural-philosophical differences, it is nevertheless a good introduction to Zen. Suzuki's teachings tend to flow from simple stories, usually drawn from his own experiences. It's almost entirely free of the jargon that clutters many books on Buddhism, and the teachings are communicated with clarity and brevity. --Eric de Place --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



From Publishers Weekly

Contrary to Zen's principle of "nothing special," Brown (The Tassajara Bread Book; Tassajara Cooking) has indeed produced something very special: an edited collection of talks by beloved Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, who died in 1971. It is impossible to overestimate the sustained impact of Suzuki's 1970 classic, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a world-renowned bestseller. Brown, ordained by Suzuki in 1971 after six years of study under him, has edited transcriptions that both read well on the page and capture the style, humor and solid grasp evident in the first volume. But this is no Zen Mind sequel, and will prove highly valuable to anyone, rank novice or zazen master. These 35 talks, delivered shortly before Suzuki's death from cancer, sparkle with simple freshness and familiarity: "Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well. The Buddha's teaching is not about the food itself but about how it is grown, and how to take care of it." Suzuki's messages are like deceptive pools of water, shimmering with surface possibilities that provoke stronger swimmers to aim for the depths. Suzuki, too, beckons us to the deeper reaches of learning, becoming "a wise, warm-hearted friend, [and] an unseen companion in the dark." Again we are blessed with more of his superb vision.
- an unseen companion in the dark." Again we are blessed with more of his superb vision.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: HarperOne (May 27, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060957549
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060957544
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #2 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Suzuki, Shunryu
    #12 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Buddhism > Zen Philosophy
    #19 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Buddhism > Zen

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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Roshi Will Always Be Present, March 2, 2004
By Swing King (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
When you think of Zen Buddhism, chances are the first name that comes to mind for you may be Roshi Shunryu Suzuki. His bestselling book, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," has remained a monolith in the area of Zen literature for years, and rightly so. The title of this particular book captures the ongoing paradox of Suzuki's teaching style, stemming from his often used phrase, "It may be so, but it is not always so." What this means is that people so oftentimes cling to their own understanding to the point where they cannot flex or learn anymore. We might become experts without even knowing it, even experts on not being an expert. This is possible. Yet everything changes in our world, that includes even truth. In order to help this world as well as ourselves, we must be willing to bend some and let go of our linear thinking.

Life is a process of learning. But learning alone is simply not enough. There isn't a good practice or a bad practice, there is only practice. That means you, "vow to save all beings suffering everywhere." That's not good or bad. That's your job. Roshi Suzuki helps each and everyone of us step into the world that is eternally present and free from all opposites. Where everything we encounter is, "Just like this." Only that. Every action leads to understanding, so please don't separate anything; this is Roshi's most precious gem he has left behind for all of us. Buddhist life is just life. It's going to work, caring for the garden, and taking a walk. I do hope you'll buy this book so you may step into the world of practice as stated by Suzuki here, because it's the key to all of the happiness humanity can ever know. The happiness of no happiness. Hopefully you understand that point. As Korean master Seung Sahn would likewise state, "Only go straight." Enjoy this book.

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet presence, April 11, 2005
Can we accept ourselves and our lives just as they are? That is what Shunryu Suzukis asks us to consider in this wonderful book. The slim volume is a lovely successor to "Zen Mind Beginner's Mind" imploring us again to slow down, let our true nature find its expression in meditation and stillness. And then we can find our way in life-- feeling our way along-- supported in our expansive magnificence, and encouraged by our very limitations.

"One day, something wonderful will happen..." Here is the expression of Zen in a modern teacher who came to America to share a quiet enlightenment.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing!, June 16, 2002
By Austin Gallaher (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This new collection of talks by Shunryu Suzuki is astonishing. They are perhaps more profound and more beautiful than those of Zen Mind,Beginner's Mind. These talks have the feel of a beloved friend returning after many years --ready to continue the simple but beautifully profound conversation about the nature of being human and the practice of living in the true world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars It is OK
Not the masterpiece of Zen mind beginners mind but ok I still can't get myself to finish reading it.
Published 4 months ago by Honored Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars For those who are into Zen...
and Karma, and have an interest in other Buddhist ideas, this is an interesting read. Teaches a lot about approaching life through a calm, thinking, and proactive manner.
Published 9 months ago by TN Waltz

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so filling
Much as I would have liked it to, this book just didn't do much for me.

A collection of transcribed and edited talks given by Shunryu Suzuki, a prominent teacher in... Read more
Published 9 months ago by ShriDurga

4.0 out of 5 stars Suzuki is The Master
Anything about Suzuki is worth reading and I wish I could visit his places in Californis. This is a book that I will read again.
Published 12 months ago by D. Dzuryachko

4.0 out of 5 stars Short essays for more advanced students
I am very new to Zen and have read several books on the subject. I have practiced zazen for a little while, so I am, by no means, advanced on the subject of Zen and zazen... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. Hicks

4.0 out of 5 stars Just sitting will "Kill the Buddha!"-- not reading about him
On page 110, it is written: "Because we do not cling to any particular standard for thinking, for us there is no true way and not false. Read more
Published 23 months ago by andris virsnieks

5.0 out of 5 stars Be a frog...
Outstanding book with insight into a true Zen master. Written after the passing of Suzuki Roshi by one of his students, it is an insight into a beautiful man. Read more
Published 23 months ago by J. J. Marino

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-felt truths
Ed Brown definitely knows Master Suzuki's heart.
And he presents the warm heart of his master in a logical and progressive ordering of a few of Suzuki's lectures... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Robert Hughes

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift of wisdom
If you are truly after understanding the nature of Zen Buddhism this book will be the greatest gift ever. Read more
Published on September 16, 2007 by N. Nozari

5.0 out of 5 stars What's not to like?
His first book, ZEN MIND BEGINNERS MIND, one of my first 30 years ago, I have read once every other year, and always find other things to guide me. Read more
Published on July 31, 2007 by Kat Smiles

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