The Last

There is no God in Buddism as we conceive him in the West; God is more like the American Indian God, a Spirit that exists in everything. A Spirit of pantheism. Because God is seen as an eternal force rather than an old man with a beard makes the Orient neither a godless nor an immoral world.

As a philosophy, one can pursue Zen and still adhere to many other religions. Many religious representatives have looked into Zen and found the parallels between it and the basis of their own religion. Having done so, they have found that the meditative teachings, the emphasis on moderation, and the focus on appreciation of the moment to be very enlightening and an aid to the adherence to the spirituality of their choice.

I hope this site will have, at the very least, piqued your interest in Zen or clarified a few points about it. Zen seems to have become a misued adjective rather than a noun in today's terminology. Everyhting is Zen This or The Zen of That. The other day I heard someone say, "Oh, that's like so Feng Shui." What the hell did that mean? To paraphrase a common quip, it's like the weather, much is said about it but no one understands it and very little is done about it.

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Bibliography & Recommendations

Here are a few books that might interest you should you care to pursue any of these lines of thought further. Some are introductory and some are verging on being tomes. They all serve their purpose. The answers are simple no matter what the question. I've picked these up fairly recently so they should be available for at least a little while. Classics are marked with an asterisk (*).

Besides your usual massive on-line bookstore, you might also want to try The Bodhi Tree Bookstore. This is an independant bookstore which opened in the early '70s in Los Angeles and it carries nothing but books on Spirit of all pursuits, from Ancient Egyptian beliefs to Buddhism to Christianity to Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to Mythology to Occult Sciences to Rastafarianism to Voudon to Western Tradition to Wicca to Zen as well as philosophy. The eastern half of the store is devoted to Eastern philosophy and the western half to the West. It has always been a true pleasure to walk into the store and see all these religions co-existing together in harmony. Not one gun has been fired in the store in the name of God for thirty years.

<http://www.bodhitree.com/>

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Buddhism

Boisselier, Jean The Wisdom of Buddha Abrams Discoveries

Bloom, Pamela Buddhist Acts of Compassion Conari Press

Taoism

Lao Tzu Tao te Ching (When looking at new versions, I always read poem #11 and see if I like the translation of it. If I do, then generally the rest of the poems are nicely done as well. I have been re-reading this since 1968. There is even a nice version by Ursula K. LeGuinn.) *

Mair, Victor H. Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu University of Hawai'i Press (Something like the Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu basically has to be rewritten and so I give Mair authorship credit. This is the translation of choice as made by several people. I remember his translation of the Tao Te Ching was good. It's a dense book and I'm digging away with my little honey-spoon. Some work is so pleasurable.) *

Watts, Alan What is Tao? New World Library (This, along with What is Zen?, were taken from a series of taped lectures made by Watts before he died and were reconstructed by his son. A very good Western view of Tao and probably best read before What is Zen?)

Zen

Dunn Mascetti, Manuela & Timothy Hugh Barrett The Little Zen Book Barnes and Noble (A collection of Haiku, Koans and Sayings.)

Fontana, David Discover Zen Chronicle Books (Thorough and yet sparse as well. A good starting point. Covers a lot of ground in a thin book.)

Grigg, Ray The Tao of Zen Alva Press/Book Sales (Grigg stresses the concept that there is very little Buddhism in Zen which is only a skip away from Taoism. As you wander through the historical threads, you learn one heck of a lot about what makes up the fabric of Zen and why it is what it is.)

Mitchell, Stephen Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Grove Press (Stephen Mitchell has translated and compiled several works and here he has put together transcripts of lessons by the first Korean Zen Master to come to the United States and set up a series of temples. At first you may question his stock answers until you realize that the answer to the problem is always the same and is really very simple. An illuminating book along with The Empty Mirror as an example of a journey into a monastery and a confrontation with a Master. Frustration, illumination, and a lot of humor. A previous basic knowledge of Zen might help you wade your way into this one.)

Nhat Hahn, (Thich) Zen Keys Image Books/Doubleday (The first book in the United States on the Vietnamese Zen tradition. Thich Nhat Hahn (Thich is a title) is very well received and this long out of print book has been revised and reissued. Historical references, stories, practices, explanations and thirty koans at the end: it's all here.)

van der Wetering, Janwillem The Empty Mirror St Martin's/Griffin (A young Dutch man lives in a Japanese Zen monastery for two years. His advances, frustrations and failures. Engrossing. Reads like a novel.)

Watts, Alan What is Zen? New World Library (One cannot have a list of Zen books without including one by Watts. When I first came to California, I kept stumbling into the middle of a series of lecture tapes on the radio at two o'clock in the morning -- the perfect time for an insomniac to seek enlightenment. I had no idea who the lecturer was but he was enthusiastic, easy to follow and he made perfect sense. Unfortunately I ran into the end of the lecture series. It wasn't until several years later that the lecturer and Alan Watts connected in my mind. No dry dogma here. But there are a few perceptions that swing doors wide open.)

Zen Tales and Koans

Reps, Paul Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (A miniature edition of this lives in my backpack.) *

Salajan, Joanna Zen Comics & Zen Comics II Tuttle Publishing (Two little books of cartoons that capture the spirit of Zen philosophy.)

Senzaki, Nyogen The Iron Flute Tuttle Publishing

Non-Denominational

Sluyter, Dean The Zen Commandments Tarcher Putnam (A light-hearted but serious and common sense approach to seeking enlightenment by an expert on meditation. Not dogmatic. Very straightforward. The Zen spirit dominates.)

Meditation

Davey, H.E. Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony Stone Bridge Press (Davey explains how the action of brush calligraphy as a form of active meditation. Quite thorough. He only offers a few projects of painting but it is enough. The rest of the book focuses on the process and background.)

Low, Albert Zen Meditation: Plain and Simple Tuttle Publishing (A quick run-down on Buddhism and Zen and then the hows, whys and wherefores of meditation. A manual.)

Suzuki, Shunryu Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice Weatherhill, Inc. (Suzuki came to the United States in 1958 and started the Zen Centers in Northern California. This book is taken from a series of lectures. When Houston Smith asked Suzuki soon before his death why he hadn't stressed satori in his work, his wife whispered, "It's because he hasn't had it." "Sh-h-h," responded Suzuki, tapping her with a folded fan. "Don't tell him!" Simplicity and humor. These are Suzuki's paths to enlightenment. This is not a meditation manual as much as it is a support when you start wondering why you're just sitting there staring at an invisible spot when Green Acres re-runs are coming on in forty-eight seconds.) *

Oriental Arts and Culture

Hadamitzky, Wofgang & Mark Spahn Kanji & Kana: Volumes 1 & 2 Tuttle Language Library (Handbooks of the Japanese writing system. Very handy if you're planning on pursuing calligraphy meditation. It's fascinating for a Westerner like me who knows nothing about the language to look at the characters and the repeating elements and to see how they affect the meaning of the element next to it. Pictures become words.)

Ikkyu Crow With No Mouth Copper Canyon Press (Stephen Berg's translation of Ikkyu's poetry is well done. Ikkyu was a carousing monk whose appreciation of wine, women and the song of poetry set him apart form the staid Zen monks steeped in Buddhism. Beware, some poems are quite crude. The Crow refers to the call of a crow through which he gained enlightenment.)

Okakura, Kakuzo The Book of Tea Tuttle Publishing (The tea ceremony, flower arrangement, art appreciation and the foundation on which they are structured. A lovely book.) *

Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro In Praise of Shadows Leete's Island Books (A Japanese novelist looks at the darker grains of the older arts and architecture of Japan in comparison to the flash of the modern world and in so doing, he straddles the worlds of tale and essay. An appreciation of the world of Hiroshige and Kurosawa as opposed to a bout between Speed Racer vs. Pokemon as refereed by Mecha-Godzilla.)

Go Links

The American Go Association <http://www.usgo.org/>

Ishi Press Go Supplies and Books <http://ishigames.com> An excellent collection of books from Japan which are straightforward and clear. Ishi Press also offers books from elsewhere as well as supplies.

Samarkand Go Supplies and Books <http://www.samarkand.net> Janice Kim's site. She's the first Westerner to earn a dan level in Korea and has won high awards in several Go tournaments. She has a great love of the game and it shows in her books. The basic books focus on the Korean approach. The site offers a wide variety of books and supplies.

NOTE: You can also play Go online. The game is becoming more and more popular amongst the younger generations due to the binary basis of the game. As a result, several gaming sites offer Go. Whereas computers can play Chess and beat Grand Tournament Players, there has yet to be developed a computer program which can beat a Go Master and usually quite lower levels of players can crush computers. There is a subtlety to the game that computers can't pick up on. It isn't won through knowing all possible moves, something else is happening in it. Like meditation in Zen, you will never reach mastery until you play the game.