Share <Embed>

Buy New

$9.91

List Price: $16.00
Save: $6.09 (38%)

$9.91 + $3.99 shipping

In stock.
Usually ships within 4 to 5 days.

Ships from and sold by allnewbooks.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France.

Select delivery location

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$14.68
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: BOOK- LAND

Add to Cart

$16.00
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Add to Cart

$16.13
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: bargainbookstores-

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback – February 18, 1994

by Zen Master Seung Sahn (Author), Stephen Mitchell (Compiler)

61 customer reviews

See all 6 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$14.60

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.91

$9.78

$5.11

“Somebody comes into the Zen center with a lighted cigarette, walks up to the Buddha statue, blows smoke in its face, and drops ashes on its lap. You are standing there. What can you do?” This is a problem that Zen Master Seung Sahn is fond of posing to his American students who attend his Zen centers. Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is a delightful, irreverent, and often hilariously funny living record of the dialogue between Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn and his American students. Consisting of dialogues, stories, formal Zen interviews, Dharma speeches, and letters using the Zen Master’s actual words in spontaneous, living interaction with his students, this book is a fresh presentation of the Zen teaching method of “instant dialogue” between Master and student which, through the use of astonishment and paradox, leads to an understanding of ultimate reality.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $53.83

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn by Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback $9.91
In stock.
Ships from and sold by allnewbooks.
$3.99 shipping
Only Don't Know: Selected Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn by Seung Sahn Paperback $19.96
Only 11 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Compass of Zen (Shambhala Dragon Editions) by Seung Sahn Paperback $23.96
Only 17 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Seung Sahn

62

Paperback
$23.96
Seung Sahn

24

Paperback
$19.96
Amanda Palmer

483

Paperback
$8.79
Robert V. Levine

29

Paperback
$16.64
Tim Ferriss

533

Hardcover
$17.33
Tim Kreider

169

Paperback
$9.04

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Consisting of dialogues, stories, formal Zen interviews, Dharma speeches, and letters using the Zen Master's actual words in spontaneous, living interaction with his students, Dropping Ashes onthe Buddha is a fresh presentation of the Zen teaching method of 'instant dialogue' between Master and student that, through the use of astonishment and paradox, leads to an understanding of ultimate reality.

Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Grove Press; Reissue edition (February 18, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802130526
ISBN-13: 978-0802130525
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 61 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #150 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Eastern > Buddhism > Zen > Philosophy
- #184 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Eastern > Buddhism > Zen > Spirituality
- #33203 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer Reviews

2 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 61 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

Religion & Spirituality Books

4.5 out of 5 stars

Buddhism Books

4.5 out of 5 stars

Philosophy Books

4.5 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jim Martin

I DON'T KNOW !!!

October 28, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very interesting read indeed... I found the intermittent cursing to be quite humorous. It's without a doubt - an entertaining, and mind boggling adventure. It makes you feel as if you're right in the classroom, getting smacked with Seung Sahn's stick.

I'd be lying if I said I was able to figure out the various kong-ans, but I'm sure I'm not the only one (I wish there were answers to these riddles, BUT that's probably asking for way too much). However, I did notice that even though I didn't understand the kong-ans that certain things did make more sense as the chapters went on... So, by the end of the book, you have a slightly better understanding than you did at the beginning. This book definitely needs to be reread. Some stories are just plain funny, some are puzzling, and some have a story to tell. *It seems that every other page someone is getting hit hard, hahaha... It's a good thing that hitting is a sign of affection from student to teacher. I've never read a book even close to something like this - it makes you wonder how amazing this man was in person. I subsequently purchased another book from Soen-sa, "Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake". I want to see how this one fares as well.

I'm hesitant to take a stab at this BUT, if I had to write something that I learned through these pages:

Naturally scriptures, holy reading and their corresponding history are very important (so is growing up and learning all the necessary skills we need to survive in this crazy world). Additionally vital is at some point in our life, we have to stop thinking we know everything. Human beings today are at a point where we just think our way through life. We think we have an explanation for everything --- I think, I think, I think.... We forget our true nature of just feeling or experiencing `things as it is'. Instead of simply experiencing something right in front of our eyes --- we sit, stare, try to break it down and explain it all... With all of this going on, we fail to realize that this precious moment is fleeing from us... What should we do? We must drop everything - `put it all down' and realize these things staring us in the face, every second of every day. We have to lose our overactive mind, and just see with our eyes what is in front of us - appreciate it for what it is, and experience it for all it has to offer...

I can honestly say that after reading this book: what I thought I knew - I DON'T KNOW...

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Mark Sillman

His first and best - a unique book

March 16, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Echoing many other reviewers: this book is great. It's funny, it's. serious. It's the voice of a Korean Zen master who has just arrived in the US (written in 1977), just-learned English, who coins his own idioms to get things across. It does not at all read like a "spiritual" book, or like any other Zen book. It's as though the mind and spirit of Huck Finn were fused with a riddling chessmaster and used to present Zen.

When I first read this -in 1979 - it was like: I've never seen anything remotely like this. I had read 2 or 3 Zen books previously - they seemed interesting but "normal" - whereas this was anything but normal. Only decades later -helped by Seung Sahn's later "Compass of Zen" and some about the Chinese and Korean antecedents - do I see how this fits.

You can read this for the ideas, or the stories, or for the history (as a record of the arrival of a new religion from a very foreign shore). And for practise: his colorful:English expressions (only go straight-don't know) are like "seeds" for meditation, aids to "cut off all thinking". So I found this useful as a meditation guide even though it does not give anything like formal instruction (the group's web site does, though).

This is maybe more useful as a "second" book on eastern spirituality - after a "first" more conventional one. It also some tolerance for certain types of questions: when you see objects are they outside your mind or inside? (But these are meditation seeds, not philosophical treatises.). That's how I came to it - and found it fresh and compelling and unexpected.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Amy L Reese

In this world, but not of it.

September 15, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Comprised of over a hundred personal letters, lectures, stories and anecdotes, this book is arranged in small chunks that make it easy to set aside, and then come back to later, or devour all at once.

'Dropping Ashes on the Buddha' gives an excellent description of Zen teaching, and the mindsets that come with different levels of understanding within the framework of Zen. It engages in active puzzle solving, using both ancient parables, humor and dharma speeches to convey how to use this puzzling to cut off thinking, and achieve a quieting of the mind. I give it five stars, because it gently explains, in plain English, some very subtle points of experience and understanding that have taken hundreds of masters many years to articulate. It is an enjoyable reading experience, despite the circular and repetitive nature of Zen teaching. I have read this book over and over, at different points in my life, and I have learned many things from it.

I would recommend this book to beginners interested in Zen, and to people who have followed the path for a very long time. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in what Zen has to offer insofar as peace and the prospect of letting go are concerned.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Rama

It's good, with many toeholds that

September 9, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Still reading it. I had heard through a podcast interview that this is one of the more accessible books on buddhism. It's good, with many toeholds that, if read carefully, can be picked out. I'm getting the feeling like this is one that will have to be read a few times to really allow the material to sink in. It's a good book and I'm very happy with my purchase.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Edward F.

Big Smile

November 5, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have read other books by Master Seung Sahn before & this might be my favorite. The teachings on striving to maintain a true "don't know" mind & letting go of attachments, while challenging, are very insightful. Reading Master Seung Sahn's words always leaves a smile on my face.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Milan Bydžovský

One hundred different stories that are all the same

April 12, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book made me think about Zen. Now I feel like a dragon with tail of a snake who run after a bone like a blind dog in circles round a keen-eyed lion, swinging my stick in attempts to hit the Moon. I know I should sit, but my leg keep itching so I'm scratching the other one. I opened my mouth and I was wrong.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Most recent customer reviews

Erushka

A Lively Portrait of a Great Modern Zen Master

I first read Dropping Ashes in 1978, and instantly fell in love with Zen Master Seung Sahn (SS) and his teachings.Read more

Published 25 days ago

Amazon Customer

Try not to read it too literally. Glaze over ...

Try not to read it too literally. Glaze over the sections that don't seem to make sense. Read the entire thing beginning to end, then do so again.Read more

Published 8 months ago

Molly K.

Deep but shallow

At times you scratch your head, but the simplicity of the message sinks in. It's worth reading just to have an insight into the mind of meditation.

Published 8 months ago

Daniel P.

A good distraction

A good read that can get repetitive. Actually helped me meditate on my commute to and from work. Recommend to folks who are interested in a break from fiction or non-fiction.

Published 1 year ago

sowelumk

It is like this:---

To write a review of this book, in this way, is to undo its very teaching. Yet saying that it is undoing is also undoing.Read more

Published 1 year ago

Cynscott

Only don't know...

If I think about a review for this book then I'd have to hit myself with a stick 30 times.

Published 1 year ago

M R Hamilton

One Star

Poor writing, unstructured, repetitive.

Published 1 year ago

Amazon Customer

This is a great book, I am really enjoying the teachings and ...

This is a great book, I am really enjoying the teachings and humor in it. Very helpful to my practice.

Published 1 year ago

John R

REACHES MONASTICS AND LAYPERSONS

MOSTLY FOR MONASTICS AND LAYPERSONS

Published on April 2, 2016

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Amanda Palmer

483

Paperback
$8.79
Seung Sahn

62

Paperback
$23.96
Tim Kreider

169

Paperback
$9.04
Seung Sahn

24

Paperback
$19.96
Chris Guillebeau

335

Paperback
$10.87
Josh Waitzkin

528

in Tai Chi & Qi Gong
Paperback
$9.98

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: chicago parks

Buy New

$9.91

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback – February 18, 1994

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Product details

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Customer Reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New $9.91

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback – February 18, 1994

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Product details

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Customer Reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New

$9.91