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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2021
A short, concise autobiography about German professor and would-be mystic Eugen Herrigel who travels to Japan and takes up Japanese Archery in a quest to understand Zen. The good thing about this book is that it is short and sweet and communicates Zen simply. But I'm very skeptical as to whether some of the events in this book took place as written. Herrigal seemed to have no trouble casually moving to Japan for five years; or understanding extremely vague and complex Buddhist ideas through conversation with his Master (who must have spoken remarkably good German?); and in one passage the Master's abilities seem superhuman. Did all of this really happen? If so, perhaps 80-ish pages is too short, actually.
The legacy of this book is tainted by the fact that Herrigel was a staunch supporter of the Nazi Party. How can a mind that has been liberated by Zen also subscribe to the Nazi ideology? The two seem incompatible--in fact, any concrete ideology seems incompatible with Zen. Is this really just a book on muscle memory and repetition after all?
The legacy of this book is tainted by the fact that Herrigel was a staunch supporter of the Nazi Party. How can a mind that has been liberated by Zen also subscribe to the Nazi ideology? The two seem incompatible--in fact, any concrete ideology seems incompatible with Zen. Is this really just a book on muscle memory and repetition after all?
