Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

A detailed Summary of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Critical Book Review: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

For my critical book review I chose to read, " Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," by Shunryu Suzuki. Suzuki was a direct spiritual descendant of the great thirteenth-century Zen master Dogen. Suzuki was already a deeply respected Zen master in Japan when he came to America in 1958 intending on a short visit. He was very impressed by the seriousness he found among Americans interested in Zen that he became a permanent resident in San Francisco. His following became so large that it expanded into three major locations including, Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen training center outside of Asia. He died at the Zen Center in December 1971; a year after this book was published. I chose this book because Zen meditation is something that has interested me for a few years after learning briefly about it in high school. Zen is something that I hope to try in the near future, possibly after I visit a Zen Center when I'm in California this summer. However, after reading this book I have learned that Zen is not really something which you are supposed to try at, you're just supposed to do it and not think about it.

"Zen Mind," is composed of three major sections w

Right Attitude is the name of the second part in, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Within this part the sections are entitled, single-minded way, repetition, zen and excitement, right effort, no trace, god giving, mistakes in practice, limiting your activity, study yourself, to polish a tile, constancy, communication, negative and positive, nirvana, the waterfall. In this part Suzuki explains the type of attitude you should have when practicing zazen. The section on right effort talks about the type of effort you should put when practicing zazen. Suzuki says, " try not to see something in particular; try not to achieve anything special. You already have everything in your own pure quality."(pg.59) Suzuki explains that to practice zazen you shouldn't try to focus on anything in particular, rather, try not to focus on anything at all. To have right effort is to not put effort into practicing; just doing is the goal here. The section after right effort is entitled no trace. It is a good compliment to right effort because it displays the theme of duality that is always reappearing throughout Buddhism. No trace explains how to practice zazen. In right effort, Suzuki said not to try anything when practicing zazen, but here he says, " When you practice zazen you should do it with your whole body and mind, you should be concentrated on what you do. Do it completely, like a good bonfire burns its firewood."(pg.62) The idea in this section is to leave no trace of yourself in any other activity than what you are doing (zazen). Suzuki explains that when we do something our mind is cluttered with other things and our focus is not complete. There are traces of others things on our mind. The next section on limiting your activity was also very good. This section spoke on how zazen is for everyone. It's not reserved for Buddhists alone. Suzuki says, "our practice is for everyone, it has nothing to do with some particular religious belief."(pg.75) The universal nature of zazen is explained in this part and why everyone can practice zazen. One last section that I found interesting in this part was the section on constancy. Constancy reminds us to, "cultivate our own spirits,"(pg.83) everything we need is within us. Suzuki speaks a bit on the importance of the sutras. The sutras he explains are merely a guide, something that points you in the right direction. It's up to you to find what you want in them. A teacher can only teach so much to a student, the student has to come to his or her own conclusions on what they feel.

I found this book as a whole very interesting. There were some themes that we haven't discussed in

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Approximate Word count = 1787
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous