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The Zen Reader
Founded by Bodhidharma centuries ago in China, Zen and its teachings have since spread widely, exerting a tremendous cultural influence not only across Asia, but also the modern West. To this day, Zen inspires young and old, from all walks of life, to see the world with fresh eyes—beyond our usual assumptions and prejudices.
This compendium of a thousand years of Zen teaching presents the essence of the tradition through stories, sayings, talks, and records of heart-to-heart encounters with Zen masters. The great expositors of the tradition, whose voices are recounted here, encourage us to let go of our clinging and intellectual grasping, and to open ourselves to embrace reality exactly as it is.
This compendium of a thousand years of Zen teaching presents the essence of the tradition through stories, sayings, talks, and records of heart-to-heart encounters with Zen masters. The great expositors of the tradition, whose voices are recounted here, encourage us to let go of our clinging and intellectual grasping, and to open ourselves to embrace reality exactly as it is.
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2011
23 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Cleary
245 books279 followersDr. Thomas Francis Cleary, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University; J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley), was a prolific translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Muslim classics, with a particular emphasis on popular translations of Mahāyāna works relevant to the Chan, Zen, and Soen systems.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 18, 2019
I should have researched more before going into this or at least started with a more beginner book, because I found myself looking up terms I wasn't familiar with, but it was still a good learning experience and I found that when I read aloud I could feel the words and understand more of the meaning.
Some favourites included: "Facing the end", "Now and forever", "The sphere of the enlighted", "The substance of the mind", "Body and mind" (which sounded like a poem), "Meaningless talk" (by ssu-Hsin, who's words I liked. A bit ... not darker but looking at things from a bleaker level, which I enjoyed reading about but didn't really like the tone of as it could be too pessimistic), "No Separation" and finally, anything from Dogen I enjoyed.
Some of the teachings are receptive but not in a negative way as they are worderd differently, combined with other things, but familiar enough to help me remember.
They're like proverbs, but I find it a bit odd that some of the analogies use violent scenarios to explain it's meaning (i.e. avoid drifting off by being like someone on a battlefield that will only rest when he has killed the leader and taken his head).
I feel like this would be most enjoyable, beneficial etc, to read one or a few pieces a day, but as usual, I personally read it cover to cover.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
Some favourites included: "Facing the end", "Now and forever", "The sphere of the enlighted", "The substance of the mind", "Body and mind" (which sounded like a poem), "Meaningless talk" (by ssu-Hsin, who's words I liked. A bit ... not darker but looking at things from a bleaker level, which I enjoyed reading about but didn't really like the tone of as it could be too pessimistic), "No Separation" and finally, anything from Dogen I enjoyed.
Some of the teachings are receptive but not in a negative way as they are worderd differently, combined with other things, but familiar enough to help me remember.
They're like proverbs, but I find it a bit odd that some of the analogies use violent scenarios to explain it's meaning (i.e. avoid drifting off by being like someone on a battlefield that will only rest when he has killed the leader and taken his head).
I feel like this would be most enjoyable, beneficial etc, to read one or a few pieces a day, but as usual, I personally read it cover to cover.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
August 31, 2025
Muy interesante. Una manera muy amena de comprender en profundidad las raíces del budismo zen. Además, me ha llamado la atención que no todos los maestros dicen cosas super enrevesadas, es fácil de comprender. (También hay momentos de estrujarse el cerebro.
Cabe destacar que me ha llamado la atención como los mismos maestros sabios que se supone que han alcanzado el camino del budismo zen y la comprensión total de este, presentan un poco de narcisismo frente a las personas que no son capaces de desprenderse de todo lo humano y todo lo que "no es real" y del yo en sí.
Me cuesta creer que exista la posibilidad de practicar este tipo de budismo hoy día viviendo en sociedad. Escapa de mi comprensión que alguien haya podido hacerlo siquiera en algún momento. Es admirable la capacidad para desligarse del yo hasta ese punto, pues mi mentalidad de persona que se ha criado en una sociedad occidental donde nos centramos mucho en el individuo y en nuestras propias creencias, sentimientos, emociones, cuerpo, mente, etcétera; no consigue salir de ese amueblamiento mental para poder siquiera vivir una pizca de lo que estos sabios nos sugieren.
Solo tres estrellas porque no es mi tipo de lectura, y llegados a un punto estaba pensando en que todo me empezaba a sonar muy parecido.
Cabe destacar que me ha llamado la atención como los mismos maestros sabios que se supone que han alcanzado el camino del budismo zen y la comprensión total de este, presentan un poco de narcisismo frente a las personas que no son capaces de desprenderse de todo lo humano y todo lo que "no es real" y del yo en sí.
Me cuesta creer que exista la posibilidad de practicar este tipo de budismo hoy día viviendo en sociedad. Escapa de mi comprensión que alguien haya podido hacerlo siquiera en algún momento. Es admirable la capacidad para desligarse del yo hasta ese punto, pues mi mentalidad de persona que se ha criado en una sociedad occidental donde nos centramos mucho en el individuo y en nuestras propias creencias, sentimientos, emociones, cuerpo, mente, etcétera; no consigue salir de ese amueblamiento mental para poder siquiera vivir una pizca de lo que estos sabios nos sugieren.
Solo tres estrellas porque no es mi tipo de lectura, y llegados a un punto estaba pensando en que todo me empezaba a sonar muy parecido.
May 9, 2017
Excellent pocket zen book thatisnt required to be read in order. Usually I just open it up to a page at random, read a poem or mantra for the day and then put it down and continue my day, very casual read .
February 16, 2018
I keep reading old, dead men telling me that reading old, dead men is useless, that the only thing that matters is practice (and sometimes not even practice matters, that it's a waste of time). I'll keep sitting.
December 14, 2012
to be a zen reader you must be a zen believer.
that is, you don't believe, you practice. ok.
that is, you don't believe, you practice. ok.
December 19, 2019
The premise of Zen is that our personality, culture, and beliefs are not inherent parts of our souls
Zen masters are talking about waking up, seeing for yourself, and standing on your own feet
Having no false notions, being serene and not striving, is called entry by way of principle
We make progress on the Way by comprehending opposition
Living beings are influenced by conditions and actions
When the influence of joy and pain do not stir you, there is profound harmony with the Way
Living in the world is like a house on fire. Stop thinking, and seek nothing
All appearances are empty
There is no infection, no attachment, no this, no that
In truth there are no beings. In truth there is no self
We fiddle with shadows and ignore the forms
Attainment gains nothing, and loss loses nothing
We want to get rid of the reflection but leave the body
Afflictions have reasons based on mind; when mindless, where can afflictions abide?
The ignorant cling to wrong and right. The wise have no mind
Great knowledge is not different from ignorance
Why should one seek outwardly for a treasure, when the field of the body has its own bright jewel?
The right way and wrong ways are not two
The actions of great people are spontaneous
Discipline and license basically have no origin of their own
Enlightening beings live with ordinary people; their purity is never stained by the world
When you go back to the basis, who is calculating?
Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away
Objects are like floating clouds, certain to disperse
The real Buddha sits within
It is useless to bother to try to grasp dreams, illusions, and false appearances
Reality is not really real
If a Buddha would not speak, then people would have no hope of liberation
But if a Buddha speaks, then people pursue the words and create interpretations
So there would be little advantage and much disadvantage
Don’t use Buddha to search for Buddhahood
Reality does not seek reality, reality does not obtain reality, reality does not practice reality, reality does not see reality; it finds its way naturally
It is not attained by attainment
My body is the same as the whole earth
My mind is the same as space itself
I see there is nothing to see
I hear the unheard
Truly awakened people with clear eyes would just laugh
The wise know that mind is Buddha, while the ignorant wish for paradise
Naturalness of things: detachment from labels, not dwelling on traces of past, not grasping the future
When you have insight, everything you see is subtle
It’s not that knowledge is deep—things are deeper than knowledge
Knowledge cannot reach things
Truth has no comparison, because it is not relative to anything
The scriptures have body and mind for their meanings
The best mental exercise for relinquishing egotism is contemplating impermanence
If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing
Truth is not greater or lesser, but people are shallow or deep
Pride is the greatest fault
If the heart is not empty, it will not admit truthful words
Only a clear mind knows itself
See for yourself
People see others in terms of themselves
If you are ambitious, that is the way you see others
If you are greedy, you see others in terms of desire
When you are deluded, you are used by your body
When you are enlightened, you use your body
There is no Buddha outside your heart. Always keep a pure, clean heart
It is only necessary to see and hear directly
You must treat mind as if you are raising an infant
The poor suffer from want, the rich suffer from possessions
When you die, you go alone
Who goes with you? What can you take along with you?
Just do good; don’t ask about the road ahead
If you have a reason, you don’t need to shout
Zen masters are talking about waking up, seeing for yourself, and standing on your own feet
Having no false notions, being serene and not striving, is called entry by way of principle
We make progress on the Way by comprehending opposition
Living beings are influenced by conditions and actions
When the influence of joy and pain do not stir you, there is profound harmony with the Way
Living in the world is like a house on fire. Stop thinking, and seek nothing
All appearances are empty
There is no infection, no attachment, no this, no that
In truth there are no beings. In truth there is no self
We fiddle with shadows and ignore the forms
Attainment gains nothing, and loss loses nothing
We want to get rid of the reflection but leave the body
Afflictions have reasons based on mind; when mindless, where can afflictions abide?
The ignorant cling to wrong and right. The wise have no mind
Great knowledge is not different from ignorance
Why should one seek outwardly for a treasure, when the field of the body has its own bright jewel?
The right way and wrong ways are not two
The actions of great people are spontaneous
Discipline and license basically have no origin of their own
Enlightening beings live with ordinary people; their purity is never stained by the world
When you go back to the basis, who is calculating?
Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away
Objects are like floating clouds, certain to disperse
The real Buddha sits within
It is useless to bother to try to grasp dreams, illusions, and false appearances
Reality is not really real
If a Buddha would not speak, then people would have no hope of liberation
But if a Buddha speaks, then people pursue the words and create interpretations
So there would be little advantage and much disadvantage
Don’t use Buddha to search for Buddhahood
Reality does not seek reality, reality does not obtain reality, reality does not practice reality, reality does not see reality; it finds its way naturally
It is not attained by attainment
My body is the same as the whole earth
My mind is the same as space itself
I see there is nothing to see
I hear the unheard
Truly awakened people with clear eyes would just laugh
The wise know that mind is Buddha, while the ignorant wish for paradise
Naturalness of things: detachment from labels, not dwelling on traces of past, not grasping the future
When you have insight, everything you see is subtle
It’s not that knowledge is deep—things are deeper than knowledge
Knowledge cannot reach things
Truth has no comparison, because it is not relative to anything
The scriptures have body and mind for their meanings
The best mental exercise for relinquishing egotism is contemplating impermanence
If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing
Truth is not greater or lesser, but people are shallow or deep
Pride is the greatest fault
If the heart is not empty, it will not admit truthful words
Only a clear mind knows itself
See for yourself
People see others in terms of themselves
If you are ambitious, that is the way you see others
If you are greedy, you see others in terms of desire
When you are deluded, you are used by your body
When you are enlightened, you use your body
There is no Buddha outside your heart. Always keep a pure, clean heart
It is only necessary to see and hear directly
You must treat mind as if you are raising an infant
The poor suffer from want, the rich suffer from possessions
When you die, you go alone
Who goes with you? What can you take along with you?
Just do good; don’t ask about the road ahead
If you have a reason, you don’t need to shout
February 25, 2021
"Why go on being like goats, picking up things at random and putting them in your mouth? Just sit investigating the truth for twenty or thirty years; if you don't understand, then cut off my head."
LOL!!!!!!
LOL!!!!!!
October 16, 2025
Good Zen proverbs with some repetition. I found some translations difficult to understand.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews