Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
by Shunryu Suzuki
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Book Summary Information
Author: Shunryu SuzukiEditor: Trudy Dixon
Introduction: Richard Baker
Foreword: Huston Smith
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1973-04-01
ISBN: 0834800799
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Weatherhill
Book Reviews of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
Book Review: My impression 15 years ago... A Beautiful book
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book when I was in my mid-teens. I was perhaps 15 at the time. I have been exploring "spirituality", mysticism, meditation, and various spiritual traditions, perspectives, and practices for much of my life. All this time later, this book is one that has always stood out in my memory. I feel a great deal of respect and admiration for this book and its author.
I only read it that once. I have not read it since. It is likely the only book I have read on Zen. For me it was really the only book I needed to read on Zen. It cuts to the essence of Zen and the Zen aspect of Buddhism.
This review is based on the impression this book had on me at the time I read it.
The lasting impression that I have from this book is that it provided and explained a very clear, simple, and direct approach to meditation. It also played a key part in inspiring me to pursue meditation at that relatively early age. I don't recall it going into much detail of the practical elements of meditation (such as giving instruction on specific techniques), but rather Suzuki takes the reader into an eloquent review of the state of mind one should bring to meditation or at least aim to cultivate through meditation practice and daily living. In my own experience Suzuki's elaboration on the nature of Zen Mind~Beginners Mind was more valuable and inspiring than giving detailing a meditation technique and practical instruction. Since reading this book, whatever technique of meditation I might be engaging in, I always (and quite habitually) bring to my meditation a state or intention of Beginner's Mind. This has helped me immensely. The specific technique one happens to be practicing ceases to be so important (not unimportant, just less important) and the approach to the technique takes precedence.
So what is that approach?
Reading this book gave me the lasting impression that a key to my path inward is to maintain an open, clear, and "beginner-like mind" (a mind that has no expectations because a beginner has no history of experience from which to draw any such expectations). In some way that I can not really put my finger on (I'd have to perhaps reread it to do that) this book changed my appreciation of life and reminded me of something key to my ongoing awakening and my spiritual journey.
I've just taken a look at one page in ZMBM whilst writing this review... And I am instantly reminded that the other aspect of how this book impressed me was not only by giving me some valuable keys to how to approach meditation, but also how to approach life itself. To clarity that, I will add that when I say "how" I mean "how to approach living life and how to approach meditation", in a way that is wholesome and conducive to inner peace/stillness.
I can see from some of the reviews I have read that, in my experience, a few reviewers have approached this book from a perspective of "how well does it portray various Buddhist traditions, or elements of certain Buddhist teachings and paths etc." For me, in 15 years of hindsight, that all seems completely irrelevant, except perhaps to those for whom meditation and spirituality is simply an intellectual pursuit. The value of this book could easily get lost to anyone that brings a whole lot of intellectual religious knowledge to it, and therefore fails to receive the simple yet beautiful message held within its pages and embodied by the man that wrote it. Even now when I see the author's photo I feel a deep sense of love and respect for him... all as a result of the impact that reading this book (and applying it to my life) had on me when I was around 15 or so years of age.
I don't think this book should be approached as some kind of traditional Zen text or Buddhist text. There are now plenty of these available--I suggest looking elsewhere if that's what you are seeking. I recall a simplicity about this book that moved and touched something deep within my spirit. Obviously Zen Mind has left a lasting impression... I read it at a time when the Internet as we know it didn't even exist... yet here I am all those years later writing this review !!
In closing, if you are interested in understanding how to approach meditation, prayer, life, relationships, and just about any other human endeavor, in a way that brings about stillness of Being, then read this book. Not just once, but as many times as needed to really feel the essence of its gift within you.
With blessings,
Jonathan Evatt
PS. I will add that since reading this book I have awoken to and remembered a great deal with regards to the journey to Liberation and Inner Peace. Hence I will share that this book explores a small piece of the big picture... yet I recall that it does so in such a way that it's exploration of that small (but important) piece is of great value.
People who enjoyed or are interested in this title might also enjoy the following titles. I most certainly did (read my reviews there for more info):
The Supreme Source: The Fundamental Tantra of the Dzogchen Semde
Self-Liberation: Seeing with Naked Awareness
Introduction to Tantra : The Transformation of Desire
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Summary of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
Zen mind is one of those enigmatic phrases used by Zen teachers to throw you back upon yourself, to make you go behind the words themselves and begin wondering. "I know what my own mind is," you tell yourself, "but what is Zen mind?" And then: "But do I really know what my own mind is?" Is it what I am doing now? Is it what I am thinking now?" And if you should then try to sit physically still for a while to see if you can locate it?then you have begun the practice of Zen, then you have begun to realize the unrestricted mind.The innocence of this first inquiry?just asking what you are?is beginner's mind. The mind of the beginner is needed throughout Zen practice. It is the open mind, the attitude that includes both doubt and possibility, the ability to see things always as fresh and new. It is needed in all aspects of life. Beginner's mind is the practice of Zen mind.
This book originated from a series of talks given by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki to a small group in Los Altos, California. He joined their meditation periods once a week and afterwards answered their questions and tried to encourage them in their practice of Zen and help them solve the problems of life. His approach is informal, and he draws his examples from ordinary events and common sense. Zen is now and here, he is saying; it can be as meaningful for the West as for the East. But his fundamental teaching and practice are drawn from all the centuries of Zen Buddhism and especially from Dogen, one of the most important and creative of all Zen Masters.
A respected Zen master in Japan and founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki has blazed a path in American Buddhism like few others. He is the master who climbs down from the pages of the koan books and answers your questions face to face. If not face to face, you can at least find the answers as recorded in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a transcription of juicy excerpts from his lectures. From diverse topics such as transience of the world, sudden enlightenment, and the nuts and bolts of meditation, Suzuki always returns to the idea of beginner's mind, a recognition that our original nature is our true nature. With beginner's mind, we dedicate ourselves to sincere practice, without the thought of gaining anything special. Day to day life becomes our Zen training, and we discover that "to study Buddhism is to study ourselves." And to know our true selves is to be enlightened. --Brian Bruya
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