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Title: Zen Meditation in Plain English by John Daishin Buksbazen, Peter Matthiessen ISBN: 0-86171-316-8 Publisher: Wisdom Publications Pub. Date: April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Destined to be a Classic
Comment: You can always pretty much guarantee that if Wisdom Books publishes the book, it's guaranteed to be concise and helpful to followers of the "Way" ; and so it is in this book.
This book is destined to become in the future a classic guide for beginner's of Zen meditation. In loving and uncomplicated prose, John Daishin Buksbazen uncovers the actual core of Zen: the straightforward practice of following our breath and in so doing awakening to our life as the Buddha.
Zen Meditation in Plain English offers a durable foundation for meditation, illuminating the significance of finding ourselves a good teacher practicing with a community of practitioners, while also giving us instruction on how to practice in the meantime on our own (or in addition to with others). John Daishan Buksbazen was another great student of the late Taizan Maezumi Roshi, one of the most prolific Zen masters of modern times. Don't miss this book! It's a must have for any beginner.
Rating: 4
Summary: :"Getting Started" Manual for Zen Meditation
Comment: Zen has a built in feature that makes it a little difficult to fathom at first. Those who have been practicing a while have developed enough insight that they see things a different way and therefore communicate in a different way. This communication is defined by a lilting, flowery and (in my view) often opaque use of language. The rest of us have a hard time figuring out just what the heck they're talking about. Unfortunately, in order for we "have-nots" to get it, we need some useful instruction from the "haves". This communication gap, if you will, can interfere with the learning process.
The title of this book implies an effort to bridge the gap and Buksbazen does a laudable job of delivering the goods. Don't expect an intellectual tour de force. That's not what it's about. Rather, this book is merely a short, simple, plainly-stated guide to getting started with "just sitting". The book is divided into three sections. The first provides a brief history of the Zen movement in Buddhism. The second, the heart of the book, provides some practical advice for the most basic form of Zen meditation, breath counting. The final section gives you some practical advice on continuing your practice within the "meditative community", an essential facet of meditative practice.
I especially appreciated the author's assurance that Zen is not as inaccessible as it might seem to us beginners. Don't worry, he says in effect, just start practicing and as you get better at settling your mind, you will begin to understand more and more. It will take some time and effort, but it will come. If you're looking for a book on different forms of meditation or a discourse on Zen practice, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for an easy "Getting Started:" manual, you might want to give this book a try.
Rating: 5
Summary: Taming the mind.
Comment: I was encouraged to "just sit" when I started practicing Zen meditation, but John Daishun Buksbazen's meditation manual offers much easier intructions to Zen practice. In his Foreward to Buksbazen's how-to guide, Peter Matthiessen notes that "this gentle book . . . is a wonderful introduction to Zen Buddhism, and also an invitation to a new life" (p. 13). Buksbazen is a Zen Buddhist priest and a psychoanalyst. Meditation offers us "a way of getting deeply in touch with the true Self," he observes; "not just the narrow self; that much can be accomplished through psychotherapy or a number of other disciplines. But sitting deals with the 'big-S'-Self, that most basic level of reality that has nothing to do with culture, social status, intellect, or even personality. It deals with who you really are beyond all specifics of time and place. And who you really are, ultimately, is the universe itself" (p. 35).
Organized into three parts, "Buddhas," "Sitting," and "Community," and then followed by a section of "Frequently Asked Questions," Buksbazen's 123-page book offers its reader an excellent introduction to taming our minds and discovering who we are through the practice of Zen meditation.
G. Merritt
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Title: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, Shunryu Suzuki ISBN: 0834800799 Publisher: Weatherhill Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment by Phillip Kapleau Roshi ISBN: 0385260938 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 27 February, 1989 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Everyday Zen : Love and Work by Charlotte J. Beck ISBN: 0060607343 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 22 March, 1989 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Carl Gustav Jung ISBN: 0802130550 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: November, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Being Zen : Bringing Meditation to Life by Ezra Bayda ISBN: 1590300130 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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