Flexmoney Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Is there a "Zen for Dummies" type book. Short & easy...just to get the flavor? (Yes, I realize how silly that question is.) I have Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki, sitting in front of me. I have read a book with the title something like Sidharthra. It was more of story. The title character (which the name seems common) was on his journey of enlightenment. I also have a book titled (as I remember) The Three Pillars of Zen. I haven't picked it up in about ten years. I think it was the first book I ever started that I didn't finish. I recall feeling that reading it was a bit of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Hemphill Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Flesmoney, I got a lot out of "The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle(sp?). He presents zen in a very western and easy for me to grasp format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 13, 2002 Share Posted May 13, 2002 Kyle, I'm a big fan of Suzuki's book. Simple, yet subtly profound. The Three Pilliars is good, but as you said, may take a bit of work. I primarily study the translated "ancient" classics. None of which are easy at first look. Years ago, I read a boatload of Krishnamurti, starting with "Think on These Things." He's "tough" though, and leaves you with very little. Have you read any Carlos Castaneda? "A Separate Reality," "Journey to Ixtlan," and "Tales of Power," read in that order, are pretty good stuff. There was a time when those books turned some screws... How about Dan Millman's "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" or "The Warrior Athlete"? Both good. And a great fun read is Michael Murphy's "Golf in the Kingdom." I haven't met anyone who didn't enjoy that one. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 14, 2002 Author Share Posted May 14, 2002 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted May 14, 2002 Share Posted May 14, 2002 I finally figured out what I am doing wrong. The last book by Suzuki I read was about my RG500 race bike!! (Edited by gm iprod at 1:58 am on May 14, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 14, 2002 Author Share Posted May 14, 2002 Was that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted May 14, 2002 Share Posted May 14, 2002 Flex. Maitaining them was easy, staying on them was harder. Check your email please. TTFN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles Posted May 14, 2002 Share Posted May 14, 2002 There is a "Idiots guide to Zen living" it was my first Zen book read this winter. I don’t think it was an easy read but that may just be because I was trying to grasp all of these new concepts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Sharp Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Flex, If you can find videos of Allen Watts, those helped me get started. The vid's are a little more palatable for most. Ken Wilber's book, One Taste is really good, using terms a westerner is familiar with, I think that is part of the problem for most people. Some of the terminology is meaningless and causes unnecessary confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 16, 2002 Author Share Posted May 16, 2002 Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I know I'll get all sorts of replies like - "Zen can't be captured in words, so there is no book" - but here's my question anyway. Is there a simple, short book on Zen for a beginner? Sort of like a "Zen for Dummies?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Check out 'The Three Pillars of Zen' by Philip Kapleau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 The first time I had any notion of Zen was reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was in my teens and impressionable but this book helped me a lot. It's not a guide to Zen, it's just a book that helped me see how personal happiness affects our lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Cy...I merged your thread into this one. (It sounded kinda familiar. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 The Castaneda series is extremely empowering if you let it. I read them long ago during their popularity heyday. I still have the copies... It may be time to re-read them to let them take me to another level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Cy...I merged your thread into this one. (It sounded kinda familiar. ) Thanks Flex. So what book did you read back in 2002? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carinab Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 +1 on benos recommendation of Millman's Way of the peaceful warrior. It's a bit grape nuts and birkenstock, but it explains zen principles in a storyline that reads easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green18 Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 "Zen in the Martial Arts" by Joe Hyams is excellent and acutally has little to do with martial arts but a lot about using Zen in everyday life................................ Zen in the martial arts by Joe Hyams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_4_Ever Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Anyone read 'The Power of Now' by Ekhart Tolle ? This week at work has been chaotic. Ever see what rats in a cage will do to eachother if you electrify the cage floor for a second? They turn on eachother - without thought, involuntarily... Books like Tolle's help me to step out of the cage and concentrate on fixing the actual problems, instead of reacting to the behavior. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHW Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 How much is Zen applied in Brian's book-- Beyond Fundamentals? Would that be a good place to start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 If you are a shooter...you need to have Brian's Book. I don't know if you can say zen is "applied" to it. I've seen a few questions go through here asking about "using" zen and such. I'm just not sure that it works that way. Beyond Fundamentals, what you get out of it makes sense. What you get out of it increases your understanding. Then, with that increased understanding, the next time you read it...you get more out of it...increasing your understanding more...allowing you to get more the next time. It's a nice spiral. The more you get, the more fundamental it becomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 If you are a shooter...you need to have Brian's Book. I don't know if you can say zen is "applied" to it. I've seen a few questions go through here asking about "using" zen and such. I'm just not sure that it works that way. Beyond Fundamentals, what you get out of it makes sense. What you get out of it increases your understanding. Then, with that increased understanding, the next time you read it...you get more out of it...increasing your understanding more...allowing you to get more the next time. It's a nice spiral. The more you get, the more fundamental it becomes. I find new insight and understading every time I read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Griffin Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I'm surprised no one has mentioned Seung Sahn yet. Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is an extremely entertaining book, and he captures the spirit of "happy no-mind" Zen without a lot of overexplaining or awkward mental syntax. For a more complete treatment, The Compass of Zen really covers the entire subject, again in an entertaining and "graspable" manner. The Koreans seem to be the happier, purer spirit of Zen folks, as best I can determine. H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I'm surprised no one has mentioned Seung Sahn yet. Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is an extremely entertaining book, and he captures the spirit of "happy no-mind" Zen without a lot of overexplaining or awkward mental syntax. For a more complete treatment, The Compass of Zen really covers the entire subject, again in an entertaining and "graspable" manner.The Koreans seem to be the happier, purer spirit of Zen folks, as best I can determine. H. Thanks I'll have to check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff B Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 For me, Charlotte Beck’s second book, “Nothing Special, Living Zen”, always puts “me” in my place. When you’re done with that, John Blofeld’s 1958 translation of “The Zen Teaching of Huang Po” will start to finish the job. I don’t think Ms. Beck cares much for shooting; I don’t think Huang Po would give a damn. - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now