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Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy
Shambhala Classics, Katsuki Sekida
This manual for Zazen (Zen Buddhist meditation) is a good introduction to its practice and the many pitfalls along the way.
Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen
Shunryu Suzuki, Edward Espe Brown, Zen Center San Francisco
an edited collection of talks by beloved Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, who died in 1971. It is impossible to overestimate the sustained impact of Suzuki's 1970 classic, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a world-renowned bestseller. Brown, ordained by Suzuki in 1971 after six years of study under him, has edited transcriptions that both read well on the page and capture the style, humor and solid grasp evident in the first volume. But this is no Zen Mind sequel, and will prove highly valuable to anyone, rank novice or Zane master. These 35 talks, delivered shortly before Suzuki's death from cancer, sparkle with simple freshness and familiarity: "Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well. The Buddha's teaching is not about the food itself but about how it is grown, and how to take care of it." Suzuki's messages are like deceptive pools of water, shimmering with surface possibilities that provoke stronger swimmers to aim for the depths.
The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment
Philip Kapleau Roshi
"The Three Pillars of Zen heralded the end of armchair Buddhism. With this practical guide to Zen meditation, Roshi Kapleau ushered in the first wave of American zazen practitioners. It was extraordinarily inspiring. It still is."--Helen Tworkov, founding editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and author of Zen in America
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Good beginners book on Zen Buddhism?
