Suzuki Books

Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki

My husband, Jack Elias, a student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in the early days of San Francisco Zen Center, recommended Crooked Cucumber to me shortly after we met. At a loss for words to describe his Zen teacher, he handed me the book and said, "David has said it all amazingly well." I didn't know much about Zen, and all I knew about this great Zen master was that he had authored the classic, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. I didn't know who David Chadwick was, either. After reading the book, though, it soon became apparent that the birth of American Zen Buddhism, the life of Suzuki Roshi, and a deep admiration for David, the author of this beautifully written and exactingly reported biography, had all entered my mind's world ineffably and permanently. I remember this book and its stories the way one recalls favored scenes from one's own personal history. This phenomenon itself has proven interesting food for contemplation. Sometimes out of the blue, details of Suzuki Roshi's life arise vividly and with great immediacy. In those moments I think about how this teacher lived, and how he made his difficult way to enlightenment. Quite simply, this book continues to nourish me, though I'm not a Zen student. Crooked Cucumber changed my mind in ways I can't pinpoint, but for which I'm nonetheless deeply grateful. A thousand thanks to David Chadwick for delivering Suzuki Roshi to us with such love, humor, and rigorous specificity.

If you are interested in the story of Zen in America, you must read this book. Paints a vivid portrait of one of the premier teachers, giving a "behind the scenes" view of what a spiritual teacher's life is like, without the mythologizing you often find. A good read, too. The story of his life in Japan draws you right in, and the descriptions of San Francisco in the sixties bring it to life, although the forward momentum of the narrative begins to bog down into various random anecdotes from his students.

For the continuation of the story after Suzuki's death, you should follow up with "Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion and Excess at San Fransciso Zen Center" .

--Alan Zundel, the HeartAwake Center

This is a very good book. You can read "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" and find out what Shunryu Suzuki says. More importantly, you can read this and see how Shunryu lived his life - an even better example. Simply and accepting (well most of the time except when he threw the odd wobbly). The book shows that there is nothing to zen, and then of course, there is everything.

It could benefit with an index

This is really the only way to get the skinny on Shunryu Suzuki in a short amount of time. David was kind enough to allow me an interview regarding this (then) recently published book for my last (online) edition of Royal Vagrant, back in February of 2001. In addition to the information he graciously shared with me, I really enjoyed the book a great deal as readable biography and a useful guide to ordination and what to look for in a Zen/Ch'an teacher.

"Crooked Cucumber" is what Suzuki's own Zen master called a naughty Suzuki as a boy. Suzuki was a little bit lazy and devious and the name is an endearing trademark for the man's affable appreciation for the natural bent of a person's character, especially in Americanized Zen practice (and it MUST become somewhat "Americanized", is what he would have said, to become authentic practice for Americans).

Chadwick is a talented author and fuly deserves to be remembered as the man who captured Suzuki's personality and life down on paper.

I came to this book with some reservations, having been told that it was a largely flattering and hagiographic "authorized" biography by one of the subject's most avid students. I expected a saccharine-sweet, whitewashed vanilla ride...and was very pleasantly DISAPPOINTED, lol!

While the author makes no secret of his own profound respect and admiration for Suzuki, he does not omit many ambiguous and less flattering details and events in the subject's life and character. So while the portrait of Suzuki that emerges is largely positive, it is not without some shadows and warts as well, i.e. it is not a two-dimensional characterization by any means. We get a balanced insight into Suzuki the "Zen master" (=highly skilled teacher of Zen) as well as Suzuki the perfectly imperfect human being.

What sets this book firmly in the top echelon of biographies is Chadwick's fluid and graceful storytelling, and the skillful interweaving of Suzuki's own writings and talks into the narrative. In some ways it reads almost like a novel, with the vivid and often lyrical descriptions and re-creations...Chadwick's prose certainly does not have the tedious smell of your typical academic writing. Every few pages there are italicized excerpts from the teacher's books or recorded talks, and they are for the most part very well chosen, with the events that are subsequently described complementing and/or exemplifying those thoughts perfectly. In this way, when you read "Crooked Cucumber" you really get to enjoy two books in one: a very enjoyable biography about a very interesting and irresistible man, and that man's own unique interpretation and practice of Zen philosophy.

It's been a very long time since I've been as engrossed by a biography as I was by this one...maybe we could get David O. Russell (director of the ingenious and deeply Buddhist "I Heart Huckabees") to make a film out of it!

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.

After 30 years of daily meditation (15 in the style of Monk Dogen) and always failing to reach calmness of mind in every session,
a book like this gives a nugget of hope.

For example:
specifically, on page 6 of the Chapter on "Calmness of Mind," it offers:
"Exhaling, you gradually fade into emptiness--empty, white paper."

This is as clear as it gets;
the essence of the connection between breath, body, mind and emptiness.
Thank you very much.

Other concepts are also explained nicely.

For example:
Suzuki explains the meaning of the koan of "Jumping Off the 100-foot Pole,"
starting at page 16. (Myself, I've never really understood this one. I've always pictured myself reaching the top of the Pole and then trying to decide what to do next.)
Suzuki explains that this is precisely where I make my big mistake--stopping at the top of the pole and thinking. He says that the secret is just to say "Yes!" and jump off from there--forget the top of the pole and extend your practice.

One last example:
In the Chapter "Stand Up by the Ground" (page 139)
Suzuki explains "Immo,"
which can also mean a questioning, "What is this?"
A very subtle point here.
"What" or "It" is both something very definite ( "What" is "it"? may refer to that specific table right over there, and at the same time something beyond description and comprehension, maybe this table has only one leg and functions more like a chair and is merely drawn by an artist to symbolize some basic human emotion.)
Oh boy, my mind really runs wild with kind of "stuff."

Maybe Ed Brown will write a new book, giving his own commentary on these concepts.
Didn't Zen successors always write commentaries on scriptures?

Well, maybe "not always so."
Yet this book is like a Zen scripture.

Thank you very much Mr Brown.

If you are truly after understanding the nature of Zen Buddhism this book will be the greatest gift ever. Infinite wisdom of this man will touch you with every phrase, not colored, not wrapped in unnecessary complications, simple, deep and true. This is a book to read many times and to feel lucky time after time.

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 meditation. This book is geared more for those who are more advanced into the world of Zen and Buddhism than I am as there are a lot of things written that I really don't understand (I know that's somewhat Zen in and of itself), but seriously there are better books for beginners. Hopefully in a few years I can pick this book back up and get more out of it.

That being said, the essays are short and wonderful and even though I didn't "get" all of them, there were a lot of great little nuggets inside. For the price, this book is packed with great stuff, I'm just not sure it's for beginners.

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.

Not always so is a simple book with a single teisho or talk every couple of pages. This allows you to read one talk and digest it without having to delve into any serious brain bending. Suzuki Roshi presents the most complex ideas of Zen in a refreshing and accessible way. I enjoyed reading the 1-2 pages and then going to sit, just as if he gave me a personal teisho.

It is a thin book, but would you expect anything less from someone who could say one word and hold everything in it?

If you are new to Zen or an old master there is probably something wonderful to find in here for you.

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." Is that not a meaty philosophical idea that could lead to endless intellectual discussions about the Buddha etc. etc.? His life will be prolonged in your mind and get in the way of your practice.
The book does end on what Zen really "is"; "So the point is just to sit..." (page 152). "Even though our practice is not better than a frog's, we continue to sit." (page 151). "Just sit for the the sake of zazen" (page 152).
But you won't make a best-seller with: Just sit. Just sit. Just sit., page after page. Sazuki's best-seller "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" was already too much more than enough to get across the simple idea that Zen is what happens to you when you sit still and follow or count your breaths. And what happens to you cannot really be put into words and ideas.
I give the book four stars for the interesting personal stories, philosophical and psychological discussions. But for the real practice itself-- sitting and meditating in Zen fashion--it was entirely unnecessary.

I love this book!!! It talks about success at music as well as success in life. Very uplifting and motivational.

This book revolutionized my life. I visited a Suzuki flute instructor and fell in love with this method. I saw how excited the children were about learning and how much joy they had. When I read the book I understood why. Dr. Suzuki has a mastery over how children respond to love and encouragement. Reading the stories in here about patience, love and encouragement changed the way I taught flute and also the way I approach life in general. I now try to emulate Dr. Suzuki's teachings in all my interactions. I would recommend this book to every music instructor, whether Suzuki or traditional, every teacher, every parent, and any person who works with or has contact with children. I bought this copy to give to a former student, to help him remember his roots as he begins his music career. I hope he will choose to emulate Dr. Suzuki's love and wisdom in his teaching.

Suzuki's philosphy is a good one, and I happen to agree with his theory of Talent Education--which posits that children are the products of their environment and that, given suitable environs and nurturing parents, the ability to do just about anything is present in all of us from birth. Suzuki likens the process of learning to perform music to a child's easy,if prolonged, acquisition of his native language. Focus is made on practice--rote and repetitive--as the key to proper traning. Short and easy to read, but there's a lot of flower-fluff and almost scientific method involved. A lot of Suzuki writing "I think" and "I feel" and "I knew" without much research or external input to back some of his arguments. The chapters here (which is essentially the same tome as "Ability from Age 0") are disjointed, and often read like a loose string of Dr. Suzuki's anecdotes as both a student and teacher of violin. Some of this may owe to the translation from Japanese. Much of it is downright naive, very preachy, and self-congratulating. In Suzuki's perfect world, ALL children are special and wonderful, and anger is "unnecessary," war is nonexistent, and love is all you need. Idealistic, if not practical, words for most of we parents who aren't exactly as Christ-like as Suzuki portrays himself to be. What the doctor seems to forget, however, is that were his advice followed to the letter and all children given the opportunity to capitalize on their ability, everyone would excel, everyone would be noble--which would be great--but then no one would be special any longer, because we'd ALL be talented little geniuses in EVERY aspect of our lives. Sadly, ours is not a perfect world. A majority of the world population live in less-than-nurturing circumstances, which ensures that some children will always grow to be miserable, angry, or in perpetual need--which in turn breeds want and war.

In short, a great inspirational book for parents and teachers, in music and in life. But if anyone can really espouse all the virtues Suzuki is selling here, they should change their name to Jesus and ascend into heaven forthwithly.

This book should be required reading for music teachers, and for parents who would like their young children to have music lessons. I teach piano and violin to young students, and I felt it was immensely helpful to me. It was a constant reminder that patience, persistance, and a deep love of music will yeild the most profound results with even my most difficult students. It is all to tempting to dismiss the abilities of a particular child, especially one who tends to be uncooperative, instead of recognizing that each child has enormous potential. The touching stories Mr. Suzuki shares of students who overcame terrible difficulties, from blindness to infantile paralysis, to play the violin as best they could, moved me more than words can say.

The book wonders between autobiography, philosophy, history of how Suzuki's philosophy developed, and technique but the message is clear. Most children's success is dependent on the culture parents create EVERYDAY at their home and for their children. The parents are the creators of culture and the culture is what is done, talked about, emphisized, supported, given time to, and encourage everyday with love. It is easier if society at large supports the culture that parents want but parents ultamately have to create their own culture for their children and the key is what is done everyday and it requires a serious investment of time.

We are what we do everyday (Suzuki is in line with Aristotle on this one). Patience, perserverance, determination shrouded in love 15 minutes a day, for a child, is better than an hour one day a week. Parents talking about it, encouraging it everyday, making it the family culture, are keys to success in music as most anything for most children. There are a lot of distractions that wish to throw our children into worshiping the vanities in this world, the best way to fight this is to create an inner dignity and harmony that comes from a serious but loving endevour everyday.

This book was produced as he was shown at the Royal Academy in London. I begged the poster at the tourist-board in Stockholm and got my parents to buy the hardcover version at the exhibition. Collecting Hiroshige prints in Stockholm I would have loved to see them in London, but the book is the second best thing. The reproductions are terrific, the text short but informative. All the different subjects of Hiroshige are displayed, landscapes, fan motives, fish, flowers and so on. Get it and then get some real prints!

I recieved this not knowing its large format and the images in full color on quality paper. Informative and accurate descriptions of the work. You will not regret buying this book. Makes me sigh....

I have no experience with art at all, but from my point of view this book is a jewl. Printings are so beautiful and relaxing, and they are numerous in this book. Also the book is well organized with explanations about the paintings.

The text provides the necessary background to facilitate understanding of the fantastic pictures. A great variety of photos provide wonderful insight into the world of Hiroshige. The pictures can be perused for pure enjoyment. Terrific book.

Quick, stop reading this review and buy this Hardcover book in New or Like New condition now, while you can. For, this is one of the greastest modern so-called 'coffee table' art books that I have come across. Too often these days one finds that such art books which should be large, lushly produced, lovingly put together and brilliantly written are unfortunately done with punk production values resulting in poor reproductions on cheap looking paper stock and accompanied by unedifying, often stultifying essays. Not this one. As I said above it is one of the most impressive art books that I have come across in twenty years of buying them. It is printed and bound in Germany which in itself is commendable and noteworthy because it is quite expensive to produce a book there. I am so glad they did because, as good as they are, Italy and Hong Kong, two places commonly used for producing today's art books, just don't do as good a job as Prestel has done in Germany. This book was originally produced to accompany an exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts during 1997. As such, it commanded a skilled and erudite staff of authors to craft both an accurate history and an illuminating commentary of the artist and his art. They are: Matthi Forrer, author of a similar book on Hokusai; Suzuki Juzo, the author of the standard monograph on Hiroshige; and Henry Smith a Professor of Japanese History at Columbia U. You will come back to this book many times over the years because there is so darned much information to absorb, visually and intellectually and because the publisher's top notch production values have accurately captured the spirit and beauty of Hiroshige's Woodblock Prints. This is the sort of book that will be actively sought out by art book collectors in years to come. This is why I say, buy it now, while you can at such a low price. You won't be sorry.

I loved this book when I was a kid and although its out of print its worth the search! A delightful modern classic for the young at heart!

For the last twenty years, I had this vague image of a rather ecletic book as a child.
I asked everyone I knew did they remember a child beatnik. One winter visiting St. Louis I described the book to a book seller and she replied "Suzuki Bean" I tracked it down, got a first edition hard cover that set in a place of honour in my home. There was never a book like it (or since) and it brings back those warm precious memories of being and reading something a little different from your friends. This book is a must have for the ecletic parent. A "Beat" version of "Eloise (at The Plaza)"

she has been compared with "eloise," but suzuki beane is in a class by herself. this little book captures childhood, beatniks, and the struggle of the individual against society (both beatnik and mainstream establishments) all at once. unforgettable drawings by the illustrator of "harriet the spy" and cool, old-fashioned typewritten prose made me a fan for life. no matter what the "square publishers" may say, suzuki beane is worth the search.

My mother bought this book for me in 1961 when it was first published. I was 10. Suzuki has been my "baby beatnik" idol ever since. The resurgence of interest in the Beat movement makes this a must-read primer for all ages! If you lived through the era -- get ready for a flash back.

My name is Arella, my mom's name is Gelly, and we LOVE Suzuki Beane. My mom's name has been Gelly Beane since she was a kid, because she loved this book so much. Recently, while I was on the 'net researching a project on the 50's and 60's for Ms. Marsh, (@ LJH) I came across a site that mentioned Bleeker Street and had some photos of it. My mom got this weird, delighted look on her face and brought out a falling-apart (of course) copy of the book. I can't find the words to describe it. READ THIS BOOK. Okay, there's my story. ^_^

A great book that gives a quick overview from contact printing and projection aligners (1970's and early 1980's technology), but it spends most of its time and effort on the more recent (2000's) technology and processes. There was information packed into each page, providing both an overview and detail into the more recent development of lithography. It helps to have some previous exposure to lithography as well as the topics of physics, optics, and chemistry since the book will build on all of these subjects to provide the basis of the newer technology.

this book consists almost everything u need to be a lithographer and is also concise and up-to-date!

also the price is not too high.

good book!

The book provides a great overview of the Electron Beam Lithography, which was the material of interest for me. Material is conveyed in great detail while the meaning of the material is not necessarily constricted to the experts. As an undergraduate student, I found the material readable. I was also able to understand most of the information well and as a result I believe I have a good base of knowledge about lithography. I would definitely recommend this book to other students.

The book give a very good overview of what microlithography is and it gives the recent advances in the field. I highly recommend it as something very good to have if your into the field of lithography and especially if you are a non engineer.

I teach a graduate class in Microlithography and this is the best text I have seen to date. It contains all the modern techniques presented in an easy to read format. I highly recommend this text for all process engineers in the field or engineers wishing to learn more about this integrated circuit processing technique.

this is the second book that i have read by dt suzuki. i started with 'introduction to zen...' where 'introduction' was just that, and introduction to many of the ideas of zen, this book extracts from several other writings to focus in greater detail on different subjects in zen. one chapter that i was excited (but later left feeling wanting for more) about was a comparison of zen with existentialism. furthermore, i feel as though i got enough out of the 'introduction...' that much of this book was superfluous. however, that which i did appreciate were the chapters on the history and development of zen that was lacking in the 'introduction...'

DT Suzuki is one of the most influential writers/philosophers on Zen and Buddhist teachings in the western world. Whether they agree with all of his positions or not, nobody in the western Zen community would deny the importance of Suzuki's role on bringing Zen to awareness in the West.

William Barrett has done an extraordinary job in compiling and introducing Dr. Suzuki's writings in this book, which is a veritable horn of plenty when it comes to the classic teachings of Zen Buddhism. Barrett's introduction alone (around 100 pages) is massive treatise on the core teachings of Zen.

A great read for all! Zen students that have not yet tackled the massive corpus of D.T. Suzuki's writings would be well advised to start with this superb collection which presents the essential teachings of Zen, and the heart of Suzuki's message in a wonderful format for all.

This was the first book I ever read on Zen, and it remains, in my mind, one of the best. D.T Suzuki is thorough and imaginative, linking the principles of Zen to the culture and history of Japan, as well as to Western philosophy. Suzuki has a well-deserved reputation as the 20th century's foremost authority on Japanese Zen. While perhaps more of a scholar's book than a practitioner's book, this selection of essays from Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture do a wonderful job of conveying the spirit and rich history of Japanese Zen, and its roots in Chinese Ch'an. Faced with a complex topic that by its very nature does not lend itself to written accounts, Suzuki manages to neither over-analyze the topic nor sidestep the issues by refusing comment. The essays selected give a good taste of the complex spectrum of Zen, and its many cultural and historical manifestations, without swamping the reader with material. A fine and complex work by a well-respected figure of the Zen tradition.

Besides the great writer Alan Watts who was able to popularize Zen and the Eastern mindset to the West,morphing into the literary current day pschologists such as Mark Epstein and Jon Kabat Zinn, much credit must be given to Suzuki who was the undisputed earlier intellect who brought Zen as an academic calling to the West..His writing is difficult,historic, and philosophically prosed yet taking one's time with these works sheds light on Zen's themes of seeing that IS second nature because it is original nature.
The great intellectual's of the day,such as Karen Horney,Erich Fromm all showed their respect to Zen in their concepts while William Barrett's introduction rings fresh as the new intellectual zeitgeist of the then day hit Western shores...Barrett himself a fine philosopher and writer offers a timely overview bringing in Heidegger and existentialism one of his areas of expertise.

It takes a while to understand, but Suzuki really knew what he was talking about. It provides a very good understanding of his take on Zen Buddhism.

I have had the honour of reading numerous papers by Vernadsky and find as always with genius, a hidden underlaying dimension of truth. The Biosphere is without hesitation a work of scientific spirituality as well as pure scientific genius! In a time when environmental destruction is ramp, and politically controled scientific stupidity proliferates, logical hope and science is at hand. With Vernadsky science personifies a bridge between life and its meaning. Science is indeed the search for truth, and Vernadsky biosphere is a must for youth!!!!!

I'm very happy that Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky becomes little by little known for the English speaking public. Although his "Biosphere" has been written over 70 years ago, even now its ideas remain fresh and actual. Indeed, the "Biosphere" provides a new level of thinking which permits us to consider Vladimir Vernadsky as a deepest naturalist of our century. And now I'm looking forward to the time when they will be translated and published his subsequent books - first of all the book on the noosphere: "Scientific thought as a planet phenomenon".

I have read this Vernadsky's books in Russian - his works is the cornerstone of modern culture. Vernadsky's work will be as important for human civilization in new millennium as books of Newton, Darwin, Einstein and Plato now. I'd like to read English Edition. Vernadsky's works are important for EVERYBODY, not only for biologists. Semyon D. Savransky, Ph.D. (Physics & Materaials Science, TRIZ)

A biology graduate studying under Lynn Margulis, I was fortunate enough to be involved in preparing "The Biosphere" for publication; and even the raw typescript I transferred onto disk was impressive! Let me eagerly recommend V.I. Vernadsky, as the unsung Charles Darwin of geological and ecological science. In his time, Academician Vernadsky was a groundbreaker: the first to appreciate the vast scope of life's chemical influence upon the Earth ... this planet, which owes its own uniqueness to the very "living matter" of which we, just as all other organisms, are a part. To the readers of today, Vernadsky's own words tell us the historic beginnings of the discipline this brilliant, long-uncredited scientist's ideas founded. No student or advocate of global ecology should miss this thought-provoking, eye-opening book!

It's hard to read this book without coming away with the impression of a powerful, original mind at work. Many of Vernadsky's ideas remain unappreciated to this day. In particular, the idea of life as a cosmological phenomenon, as a means by which energy is stored and transformed on a planetary scale, should become increasingly important as the science of astrobiology develops a rigorous intellectual basis.

To get a glimpse of Shunru through this text is very gratifying. He deftly communicates the paradoxical aspects of ji-the apparent-and ri-the unseen. The text takes the reader through subtle aspects of zen thinking mind, but without being overly analytical. When he hears himself getting too conceptual, he pulls away with humor and a very special humanness that communicates beyond words, which is actually the context of the Sandokai! I enjoy picking up Branching Streams and reading it for clarity and inspiration every day, and you will too.

I have no doubt that Shunryu Suzuki will be a great influence on American Buddhism for many years to come. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (though not "written" by Suzuki-roshi--it's edited from lectures) has been a work that I have turned to again and again through-out my years of practice, finding new levels of insight each time. Branching Streams is a deserving continuation to the publication of Suzuki-roshi's teaching (it is, of course, also based on lectures, coming almost thirty years after his death). But it is a little more slow-going than Zen Mind and probably won't be as accessible to those without some experience of Zen. But, like Zen Mind, there are some beautiful, even poetic moments in the text. If you are just getting started in Zen and haven't read Zen Mind, you should definitely start with that before moving on to this. But if you have read ZM, BM and couldn't get enough, you will enjoy revisiting the Master.

This is Shunryu Suzuki's commentary on the Sandokai. The Sandokai is a poem by Zen master Sekito Kisen on the inseparability of the relative and the absolute.

You will find this poem in many Zen and Buddhism books. I checked out 10 or 11 books from the library, and this poem was in... I think it was 4 of them. So it wouldnt be very hard to compare the different translations of the peom if one wished. They differ quite a bit. Although the core meaning is always the same.

This poem was written in response to the disagreement between the northern (more hinayana/gradual) and southern (more mahayana/instant) schools that started to distance themselve in the 7th century. Actually it started long before that and continues to this day. Also, the one school, by very nature contains the "other school." So while more and more people were sticking to one side or the other, the absolute teachings of Zen were suffering from this ignorance. Thats where the illuminating rays of Sekito Kisen's wisdom--in the form of the Sandokai--illuminate and expose a dualistic view that so easily creeps into Zen practice and jeopardizes it. Sekito shines his wisdom upon not just the troubles of the northern and southern schools, but on the perils of sticking to dualistic views in and of themselves.

While the actual poem is only a couple pages. It is powerful and very important to all of Buddhism. Suzuki gives a valuable commentary that takes the poem line for line. Each chapter takes 4, 5 or 6 lines of the poem. Suzuki explains and adds his own words of wisdom, experiences and views wich brings out the profound nature of these verses that might otherwise be to deep for most people. You cand read a line and think "yeah I see the meaning of that." Then Suzuki hits it from many angles and tells you not to stick to any point-of-view. Leaving you exposed to the futility of your quick tendency to grasp at things. You can tell Suzuki's understanding of this teaching comes from living experience.

While this book is full of valuable teachings, it suffers at times from being takin from lectures. I know Zen Mind, and Not Always So are also takin from lectures. But this being a commentary on a single poem and not just various lectures put together make it all the more noticeable.

Without the true voice (Suzuki Roshi) of this book around to help, the editors had to take the lectures and prune and shape them into this piece of literature. Editing plays a major role in making all the chapters cohesive. Resulting in a feeling at times of maybe losing some meaning and/or accent. But this isnt a major issue. Just worth noting. Otherwise this is a well presented book. The wisdom found here will be appreciated regardless of any difficulties inherent in a project of this nature.

The Sandokai has meaning far beyond the words used to write it. Suzuki Roshi gives us some very valuable commentary on this meaning "behind the words." If you are intersted in Zen, the Sandokai, or Suzuki Roshi you should read this book. If not, read it anyway.

This book is largely a well-executed editing effort of a number of talks that Suzuki Roshi gave of the Sandokai, a poem written in the early zen years. The poem, written by the Eighth Ancestor in China, Sekito Kisen, was intended to bridge a perceived (and I am hesitant to say) 'philisophical' gap between two zen schools of the time. One appealed to the 'clever', and the other appealed to the 'dull'. The Sandokai reveals that Buddha-nature transcends all such interpretations.

Each talk addresses a different section of the poem. Each chapter begins with the section of the poem that will be discussed. At the end of each talk there is discussion, consisting of questions from the students followed by the Roshi's response.

While superficially, bridging the gap between the "northern school" and the "southern school" was the impetus, we learn from the Roshi the poem's many deeper meanings. By reading the talks one begins to realize the great import of this poem as a primary and essential work.

Anyone who has read Suzuki's first book can attest to the Roshi's keen ability to impart the most complex subjects on a simple and understandable level. He does so in a way that also recognizes the limitations of such talks.

While this text was clearly not intended to be an introduction to practice, those who regularly practice will find it an invaluable work, and those, such as I, who have worn out the covers of 'Zen Mind Beginner's Mind' over many, many years won't be disappointed. The Sandokai is addressed by the Master in a most refreshing, sometimes humorous, and most enlightening way.

I look forward to wearing out this book as much as the first.

This is an excellent little book. It is based on the a series of talks that were given by Shunryu Suzuki in a sesshin lead by him, as it happened near the end of his life. The book in my view would be suited to a more advanced practitioner rather than a beginner. However all would benefit by reading it.

The book gives a line by line explanation of the "The Identity of Absolute and Relative" sutra. This sutra along with the "Heart Sutra" are the two main sutras chanted in Zen Buddhist services.

As practitioners we hear this sutra over and over again and it is easy to think of it as just a simple and poetic piece(even dare I say it, tune out to some extent with our own familarity), which it is. Suzuki's explanation of the sutra shows that considerably more can be gleaned from studying/meditating on this important zen work.

This is basically a collection of textx commonly used by Zen Monks in Japan, although not very comprehensive. The Dharanis are somewhat confusing, but the Gathas are nice and work well as liturgy. The Sutra excerpts are pretty run-of-the-mill, not worth comprehensive study, mainly liturgical. There is the Diamond, Heart, an excerpt from the Lotus, as well as some from the Lankavatara and some from the Surangama (more a paraphrase). Then there are numerous teachings from Chinese & Japanese masters. These are pretty good too. The Pictures are interesting as well, but perhaps more suited toward Deity Yoga. The Indian pics have a Tantric, Vajrayana feel to them. This book is not a "How-to" manual. I don't know if D.t. Suzuki actually ever wrote one. It is more of a daily recitation and/or devotional. The kind of thing you read in the morning & evening, or memorize. If you really want a good Zen Buddhist Manual, there are many to choose from, and if you want a good assortement of text, there are many more comprehensive and better organized than this. But, this book has alot of appeal to it and can be quite useful as a book for daily reflection.

This was fully intended to be an actual Zen manual, full of liturgy, ritual and explanations. D.T. Suzuki, the preimminent and enthusiastic ordained Japanese Zen Scholar, presents the subject matter as always with perfect confidence and numerous flying sparks.

Good book to have on hand if learning how to perform formal Japanese Zen liturgy or hosting your own sittings.

MANUAL OF ZEN BUDDHISM by D. T. Suzuki. 192 pp. London : Rider and Company, 1974 (1950) and Reprinted.

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was no ordinary man. A Buddhist scholar, and proficient not only in Chinese and Japanese, but also in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, English, and other languages, after attaining his Enlightenment at the age of twenty-seven he imposed upon himself an extremely difficult task - that of bringing a knowledge of Zen Buddhism to the West, and of somehow trying to get over into English, a language which was quite unprepared to receive them, the ideas and insights of the great Zen Masters.

For over two thousand years, many of Asia's most brilliant intellects have been actively engaged in exploring the mysteries of mind, an exploration which Jung himself was to admit could hardly be said to have yet begun in the West.

Anyone who has looked, for example, in one of the huge collections of Buddhist Scriptures such as the Taisho Tripitaka, or in a comprehensive Sanskrit-Chinese-Japanese Dictionary of Buddhist technical and philosophic terms, will have realized that, Buddhism has developed tens of thousands of words, many of them expressing the finest shades of meaning, for which English has no real equivalents.

This fantastic profusion of ideas and vocabulary, a sort of higher mathematics of thought compared to simple arithmetic, has generated a literature of extraordinary subtlety and sophistication.

One of the fruits of Suzuki sensei's sixty-five years writing, translating, and teaching, is the present book, the object of which, as he states in his Preface, is "to inform the reader of the various literary materials relating to [Zen] monastery life" (page 11). We are, in a sense, being invited into a Zen Monastery, and granted the privilege of viewing a selection of its literary and artistic treasures.

In the case of an actual applicant for admission to a Zen Temple or monastery, no-one would think of simply breezing in and saying : "OK. I'm here. What can you guys offer me?" Applicants, as is well known, are kept waiting at the gate, often for many days, before being allowed the privilege of meeting with the Master.

It's a test, a test of the applicant's humility, respect, and determination. And when the applicant finally does get to see the Master, he is expected to show the same respect, not perhaps so much for the Master as a person as for what he stands for - for the state of enlightenment and for the vast ocean of Buddhist knowledge he represents.

Suzuki sensei, would, I feel sure, have hoped that we ourselves show a similar respect for the contents of the present book - for its Prayers and Invocations; for its selections from the Sutras and from the Zen Masters; and for its fifty interesting plates and illustrations which depict Chinese and Japanese statuary, scroll paintings, woodblocks, etc., of a kind one would find at any Zen Temple in Japan.

All of them are standard Zen and are standard Buddhist fare, but just as at a feast we are not expected to eat everything on the table, readers are free to select whatever most appeals to them, without necessarily being dismissive of items that don't happen to suit their taste.

The more devotionally inclined may be strongly drawn by some of the Prayers. Students of the sutras will be delighted to find one of the key sutras of Zen, the Prajnaparamitahrdaya or Heart Sutra, a sutra one could spend one's life studying (as did Edward Conze), along with extracts from the Lotus, Lankavatara, and the mind-boggling Diamond Sutra, and a useful resume of the Surangama. Those drawn to the early Masters won't be disappointed either.

Personally I was happy to discover Suzuki sensei's fine translation of Seng-ts'an's 'Hsin-hsin-ming' ('On Believing in Mind,' pages 76-82), the very first verse treatise on Zen - which in the original Chinese takes up just two thirds of a page in the more than 100,000 pages of 'Taisho' - a text which embodies the quintessence of Zen and that deserves to be far better known. Here is the first of its thirty-one verses, with my slash marks to indicate line breaks:

"The Perfect Way knows no difficulties / Except that it refuses to make preferences; / Only when freed from hate and love, / It reveals itself fully and without disguise" (page 76).

I don't know how long Suzuki sensei spent on his translations, but I do know that Peter Haskel spent ten years to give us his marvelous translation of Bankei, and I myself, inspired by the version in the present book, spent three years working on a translation of the Hsin-hsin-ming, a text which has yet to yield up its full lode of meaning.

There are many other deep and wonderful texts in this book, including two versions of 'The Ten Oxherding Pictures.' Some of these texts will appeal to one kind of person, others to another. But all will repay careful study by the serious student, and by one who approaches them in an attitude of humility and respect.

Many other Zen anthologies have appeared since Suzuki sensei's pioneering effort, some of them with more 'up-to-date' (though not necessarily superior) translations, but his 'Manual of Zen Buddhism' has always had a special importance for me. After three years spent studying just one of its texts, I wonder how long it will take me to assimilate the rest? And there must have been many in the past, in both China and Japan, who were happy to nibble on much less than the feast provided here.

Of tremendously breath-taking range this book gives scope to us myriads of kotis of kalpas of the three thousand chiliocosms with all the essentials for becoming purely enlightened and better-looking Bodhissatvas. Pre-eminently readable gathas, sutras, koans,and sacred illustrations to please the young and old alike. Buddha is with us. Satya.

To find your way home, you must leave the house.

Many have sought the path, as illustrated within this book.

In the west all roads lead to Rome, but not all paths lead to enlightenment...

To hear, we must listen - this book sets out to lend an Eastern voice to the Western ear and express the thoughts behind the words.