Zen for Beginners

Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book #24

by Judith Blackstone, Zoran Josipovic, Naomi Rosenblatt (Illustrator)

Zen from its foundation in China of the 6th Century AD, has always been more than a religion. It is an intriguing system of principles and practice designed to give each individual the experience of eternity in a split second, the knowledge of divinity in every living thing. To create a book about Zen, however, is risky. It is one thing to describe the factual history of this exotic strain of Buddhism. Itâ s quite another to successfully convey the crazy wisdom of the Zen masters, their zany sense of their uncanny ability to pass on the experience of enlightenment to their students. The authors of Zen For Beginners have clearly overcome these considerable risks. The books uses an engaging mix of clear, informative writing and delightful illustrations to document the story of Zen from its impact on Chinese and Japanese culture to its influence on American writers such as Japanese culture to its influence on American writers such as Ginsberg and Kerouac.

Genres: Nonfiction, Buddhism, Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, Zen, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an informative but nevertheless superficial little introduction to Zen Buddhism. The tone is friendly and informal, but this is really not a book for people interested in practicing Zen; it's aimed more for those curious about about it from an intellectual or cultural perspective.

I really enjoyed the first section on the history of Buddhism, and how it traveled from India to Japan, and how the tradition of Zen evolved into different schools of thought and into what it is today.

The sections on philosophy and practice are very simple: I'd be tempted to say too simple, but then again, since this is for casual readers, it does the trick.

If you are interested in better books on Zen for beginners, check out "Hardcore Zen" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) or "Taking the Path of Zen" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).

[Kevin Frint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, lightning read with a unique art style that truly walks you through Zen Buddhism. Bears repeated reading and practicing to enjoy it to the fullest.

[Amanatia Junda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku Zen untuk Pemula ini diharapkan dapat menjadi perkenalan yang menyenangkan tentang apa itu Zen? Namun seperti biasa, kendala terjemahan menyebabkan banyak kalimat di dalamnya tersendat. Meski demikian, membaca buku ini, ibarat menelusuri sejarah panjang lahirnya Agama Buddha dan berserta aliran-alirannya.

Jika selama ini, saya hanya mengetahui kisah hidup Sidharta Gautama hingga ia menjadi Buddha dan meninggal, Zen untuk Pemula mengajak saya keliling daratan India, Cina, hingga Jepang. Begitu banyak nama guru yang muncul di sini. Penjelasan atas tahapan tahapan berlatih Zen pun juga diuraikan.

Ilustrasi tidak terlalu mendukung menurut saya. Terlebih ilustrator lebih memilih melukisnya dengan kuas Cina --saya kira-- dan banyak gambarnya yang cukup absurd, sehingga tampak asal-asalan. Namun saya mencoba memaklumi bahwa ia punya pertimbangan sendiri menghiasi buku ini dengan ilustrasi yang cukup absurd.

Well, sebagai perkenalan, buku ini cukup kronologis dan tidak memusingkan.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author(s) state from the beginning that Zen is an impossible subject to cover, and that they didn't even want to take this project on. It ran really hot and cold for me. I enjoyed knowing the brief history of Zen and its terms, but I think they muddled around a bit too long with each individual monk/Zen master, and for me, it became rather monotonous and hard to tell them apart.

The illustrations bring a little fun to it.

[Zevi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Even though some of the illustrations are rather crude, I still really like them and think they add a lot to the text. This book encapsulates many of the basics and history of Zen without going into too much detail. This book reminded me of some of the things in the novel, Red Zen by Jason Earls. Check that one out of you get a chance.

[Mikael Lind · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical overview was interesting and the one thing that saves this book from getting only one star. Apart from that, this book almost made me more confused than I was before. And the illustrations are terrible! Not funny, not nice to look at, just annoying. Not recommended!

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for beginers on the Zen path. It is clear and easy to read and understandf

[Thai Son · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stuff!
The introduction that is not an introduction is spot on
and there are many more (humorous) gems
as with all For Beginners books, actually.
I'm a fan.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As good as anything else out there I suppose. More slanted toward Rinzai Zen. A quick, fun read.

[Brent]

I love Beginners books.

[Debi Cates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any "for Beginners" approach should provide enough of an overview to spark interest to search for more thorough sources. Or, it should give at least enough information to satisfy a general curiosity on its subject.

For me this little book was the former, a spark!

I have been aware of Zen Buddhism since reading Alan Watts in the mid 80s starting with another beginner's book, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. That book blasted opened my way of thinking. I continued on to read a few other Watts' works and was mostly satisfied with the way my own thoughts were transformed. I always knew, though, a time would come when I would want to go deeper.

Now is that time.

This short book provides a short overview of the history/myths of Zen Buddhism beginning with Buddhism. Then a short presentation of Zen Principles and Zen Practices including unique concepts. Another short history continues up through the introduction of Zen to the West. The last two chapters -- the most enjoyable for me -- were Zen Art and Zen in Daily Life. Also included are a Sources by page number, a Glossary, and a Bibliography, also all short.

Yep, expect a whirlwind ride. Be warned you may find, like me, there were a few quotes and concepts that were included but not explained or not explained enough, yet apparently are well-known to those familiar with Zen. In those cases, of course Google is a big help.

In general, the presentation felt 80s zine-like to me. The many illustrations were often irreverent, uneven in quality, and rarely added significance as either by way of further information, of clarity, or even of aesthetics to the text. (There were a couple of illustrations I couldn't make out heads or tails as to what they represented -- the illustration of "the forms" on pg 51, after much consternation, remains a blob of Stonehenge to me.) The text of the History chapters, while interesting, covered too much ground and I'm sure, short-shrifted the subject badly. Elsewhere I noticed more than once when the authors introduced a new terminology (words of Sanskrit, Japanese, or Chinese origin) without explaining it until later.

Still, it was a happy fit for me. It was a book I had on hand that provided me with enough information confirming this is the direction I want to pursue more deeply. It makes me laugh when I wonder how many Zen Buddhists are here stranded in West Texas.

Here's possibly my favorite passage, third to the last page, referring to the message within Zen teaching to have confidence using your own first-hand experience:

There is a story about a 5th century Zen master named Tao-sheng who had this kind of confidence. During his lifetime in China, Buddhist teachers did ot think that all forms could be said to have Buddha nature, regardless of their consciousness. Tao-sheng was sure that everything does have Buddha nature and for this he was expelled from the Buddhist community as a heretic.

Later when the complete Nirvana Sutra was translated into Chinese, it was found that Buddha had taught that all forms do have Buddha nature. But at that time, Tao-sheng trusted his intuition so strongly that he was content to lecture on the subject to the rocks in the field. The story goes that the rocks nodded in perfect agreement with the master.

Years later, a Master Ungan remarked that the rocks were nodding long before anyone bothered to speak to them.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable and illustrated primer on the history and main ideas of Zen Buddhism. I read it very quickly (it was a low word-count) and learned a bit more about the who's who of Zen. The cartoons were funny. I have become a practitioner of Zen, in my own way. It is easy and impossible in equal measures. Someone smarter than I am compared Zen to high wire walking: string a cable between two poles a hundred feet above the ground. Make sure the cable is taut. Walk across the cable without falling.

Easy, right?

Book #1 of 2018, in the bag.

[Michael Sypes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information is OK, but no more revealing than much of what you might guess at Zen, however inaccurate that might be, i.e., it does little to undermine the suspicion that it's just quoting nonsense phrases, claiming they're deep. The sections on meditation, zazen, and general history are good, good enough for three stars. The cartoons are a drag however. Uninteresting, uninspiring, and often ugly, like a toddler's scribblings. The book would probably be better as a short pamphlet without them.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great find on Scribd.com. I really enjoyed this book. It has a terrific description of the Zen Buddhism lineage, and some great insights surrounding Buddhism in China and how it migrated to Korea and Japan. Terrific read!!

[Alastair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have much of a mind for history but this is a fun little book (more like a comic or graphical novel, really) which reminded me of playing old school adventures games in the 90s and I wish it kept going for a bit longer.

[Rigoberto Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zen for beginners fails to give a much better understanding for those interested in the subject. It focuses too much on Zen masters but not much Zen. A brief history of Zen would be a better title

[Andrew Sytek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book for someone who doesn't know much about Buddhism. Short and to the point, no excess information that would overwhelm the reader. Keeps the reading very entertaining.

[Yuta Saitoh · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the book title suggests, this is the book about "Zen for Beginners", but not to be confused, this is the book for even people who have practiced because the mind of Zen is the attempt to be always beginners' mind. The practice of Zen is to become able to experience life without any interference of our accumulated opinions, ideas, fears, or prejudices. It means that every moment is new and we are new because we are not separate from the moment. By practicing Zen, you would be fully involved in what you are doing, and you would be open for anything without any prejudices.

If we enlarge the apple into the subatomic particle, the line between what is apple and what is not apple would disappear. This insight gives you the insight that there is no detachment from the world. Then, you will have no feeling of separation between subject and object. Liberation means the emptiness of persons. And thoughts and conflicting emotions are pollution to our minds because they prevent our minds from reflecting the world as it is. By practicing Zen, you would find emptiness and liberation in your mind so that you can see the world as it is.

Enlightenment means the death of our ego. An enlightened person is always aware that life is empty and concrete. Your mind is like a mirror that reflects the world appears before it. But your thoughts and conflicting emotions cast shadows on your mind and create delusion and duality in which there is a separation between you and the world. But everything is ONE. By practicing Zen, you can swipe away these shadows and delusions from your mind and you can intimately experience solidarity with all life with love and compassion.

We tend to gent into the trap of intellectual analysis and abstract understanding of the world, but they can be biased, prejudiced, and then become delusions. By practicing Zen, you can live with thorough experience with our whole mind and deepen out actual living experience.

[Michael P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zen is stupid. This will probably be taken as an affront or get me condemned by the faithful, which is stupid because a religion that so relies on paradox to make its points about “enlightenment” ought to embrace the claim that it is stupid as one side of a paradox. Alas, Zen does not see itself that way, and that is stupid.

I knew we were in trouble when the authors revealed themselves to be practicing Zennies early on, because that meant that no skepticism would be presented, and indeed none is. The stories about the founding of Zen and its early and even middle era thinkers are absurd, obviously fictitious legends that are mostly presented here as fact. The writers of this book badly needed to admit these things could never have happened. Instead, the legends are told as if they may be true, and that is stupid.

The book fails as an introduction, on other words, because it the lack of skepticism negates any objectivity. It is more indoctrination than introduction, and that is stupid.

Yes, sadly, Zen is stupid, and so is this book. Do not waste your time.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I became interested in learning more about Zen Buddhism, having completed two of Janwillem van de Wetering's three memoirs. Lazy by nature, I thought I could go the comic book route. Although I'm convinced the authors and illustrator made an effort to be informative, I believe they tried to accomplish too much in too few pages. Without van de Wetering's books, I would have entirely missed Blackstone and Josipovic's meaning (and, at times, did anyway).

If you want to lose interest in Zen Buddhism, read this book. If you want to learn more, I suggest starting with van de Wetering and then googling for anything he might have suggested.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history was interesting, but little was actually explained. And, the illustrations simply weren't very good and often had little to do with what was being said in the text. I will continue looking for a better overview.

It did make me interested enough to want to read more on the topic, so I'll give it that.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly written survey of the history and culture of zen. Good descriptions of ancient Zen masters, Chinese and Japanese. Heavily illustrated with line drawings, some of which reflect the text better than others. Nothing here is very detailed or particularly enlightening, just a short pleasant read.

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this little cartoon summary of Zen Buddhism. Generally, the "Beginners" series are excellent, informative and fun to read, and this one is no exception. It stays true to what Buddhism, and Zen is about, as well as giving some 'accepted' history/legend behind Zen Buddhism and even a few practice tips. I've had this on my shelf for years and take it out every so often.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goofy graphic novel-style book, but definitely whetted my appetite to learn more about Zen. I didn't really know the history of Buddhism and the Zen sect before this, but this book explains it in a humorous, but informative way.

[Emkoshka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm, I knew nothing about zen before I read this, and I still feel like I know nothing. It read easy enough for a dense subject, but the illustrations were just hideous. By the end though I was coming up with my own zen thoughts: 'What is reality? What you see'. 'Who am I? Who you are'. :)

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

sebagai pengantar , buku ini menjelaskan zen adalah ajaran yang berisi ... (ada dalam dirimu)

[Parthu Balina]

I started this book to learn Zen. I got engaged in the delightful style of the authors. Before I knew it I had finished the book. I still refer to it.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny primer on Zen Buddhism. Short historical anecdotes with goofy comical illustrations.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to explain what is already understood.