Review: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

AdamC — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:36:40 +0000

What it is: This book is a transcription of talks on Zen Buddhist practice that Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki delivered to a small sitting group in Los Altos California in 1970. He came down from San Francisco once a week to join the group’s meditation periods, and afterwards answered their questions, encouraged them in their practice of Zen, and helped them to have perspective on their lives. His approach was informal, and he drew his examples from ordinary events and common sense.

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi was a Soto Zen priest and the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. He was born 1904 in rural Japan, arrived in the United States to teach in 1959, and died of cancer in San Francisco in 1971.

Description: I have read many Buddhist books, and this one is my favorite. In fact, I have read many books (full stop), and this one is my favorite. ZMBM is mystical and otherworldly yet day-to-day ordinary, it is philosophical and technical yet beautifully poetic and literary, it is challenging and demands your best yet is gentle and patient, it is traditional yet modern, it is serious and sincere yet light-hearted and easy, it is simple yet deep, it is Japanese yet American. To summarize : pimp as muhfgn hell. Steven Mitchell included excerpts from ZMBM in his anthological collection of traditional “enlightened” writings called “The Enlightened Mind”, and it’s easy to see why. My perspective is that these words emerge from the still silent heart of genuine spiritual liberation.

Anecdote: Suzuki Roshi was purportedly a small man with a wry and sometimes mischievous sense of humor. Once, while being transported between Zen temples, he reportedly ordered a burger, and then, saying he wasn’t that hungry, switched lunches with his driver (later admitting that it was because he thought the guy was too attached to being a hard-line vegetarian). Suzuki Roshi’s, a Zen master in his own right, described him as “soft and warm on the outside, hard as stone [in his self-discipline] on the inside”.

Potential Turn-Offs: I’ll leave others to try to cook some up. I can’t think of any. Maybe if your iman declared jihad on all religions besides your own? Aside from fundamentalism like that, if you’re into depth, clarity, beauty, and profundity, this is a good book for you.

What I Got out of it: In the twenty years since I first read it, every time I pick up this book and read a chapter or three, I get something out of it that speaks powerfully and directly to what is going on in my life. The relevant information is usually simultaneously simple, obvious, and everyday-decent, and yet also magical, deep, and paradoxical. I have noticed that my favorite books seem to grow deeper as the years go on, and the deeper I get, and ZMBM was the first book I noticed that seemed to be doing this. I look forward to seeing what as yet undiscovered treasures it will hold for me twenty or thirty years from now.

Learn more about Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

Review: Green Gulch Zen Meditation

admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:41:10 +0000

Location: Muir Beach, CA
What it is: Green Gulch is the San Francisco Zen Center’s retreat center in Marin County, CA. They have a Sunday sit that’s only $5 donation requested for 45 minutes of really good meditation in a really beautiful setting in a Zendo on their ranch (really), followed by a talk by one of the monks. If you want to go to a longer 1 day, 2 day, weekend, week-long, or even 3 month retreat there, that’s possible, too.
Growth Potential: Zen Buddhism, especially meditation, is all about letting go of desire – the root of all pain and suffering. Sometimes, sitting for long periods of time is easy, as a respite from the world. Other times, you can’t shut your mind up. The SF Zen Center is good at providing a setting for you to work through the noisy-mind phase and work towards calm … especially at Green Gulch, where the peaceful setting is very conducive to tranquility.
Pop Potential: The SF Zen Center’s approach has always been to make meditation and a Zen Buddhist lifestyle easily accessible to Westerners. In the Bay Area, its not a stretch…but their approach is easy and no pressure, so even a Midwesterner would have no problem. I even like the monks’ talks, as they don’t try to get too tremendously caught up in quoting the Zen koans and Japanese philosophers from the last millenium. Talks are always geared toward modern topics with relevance. Mainly, its a good weekend getaway for the over-stressed and over-worked Type A SF city boy or girl.
“Get Real” Potential: At times, like any of the Bay Area’s alternative “seeker”-type activities, you may look around the room and notice a preponderance of spiritual, middle-class, middle-aged caucasian folk. Buddhism is so fashion forward. But don’t go for who’s there or why they’re there. Just decide what you want to get out of it and go get that. Which leads me to…
What I Got out of it: I don’t go nearly enough, but its one of my favorite Sunday activities. I feel so centered and calm afterwards and usually just want to sit in the herb garden and stare at the grass or the flowers. Much better than staring at a computer. Oh, and the tea and muffins are good, too. After its all over, you can try their organic lunch, walk down to the beach, or jet on over 5 minutes to Stinson Beach for a good old-fashioned beach hang-out.
Learn more about Green Gulch Zen Meditation

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Review: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

Review: Green Gulch Zen Meditation