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Essential Zen
The best collection of Zen wisdom and wit since Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: koans, sayings, poems, and stories by Eastern and American Zen teachers and students capture the delightful, challenging, mystifying, mind-stopping, outrageous, and scandalous heart of Zen.
174 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1994
14 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Kazuaki Tanahashi
42 books58 followersKazuaki Tanahashi, born and trained in Japan and active in the United States since 1977, has had solo exhibitions of his calligraphic paintings internationally. He has taught East Asian calligraphy at eight international conferences of calligraphy and lettering arts. Also a peace and environmental worker for decades, he is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 31, 2020
an excerpt that i find endlessly hilarious:
Seung Sahn would say, "When you eat, just eat. When you read the newspaper, just read the newspaper. Don't do anything other than what you are doing."
One day a student saw him reading the newspaper while he was eating. The student asked if this did not contradict his teaching. Seung Sahn said, "When you eat and read the newspaper, just eat and read the newspaper."
Seung Sahn would say, "When you eat, just eat. When you read the newspaper, just read the newspaper. Don't do anything other than what you are doing."
One day a student saw him reading the newspaper while he was eating. The student asked if this did not contradict his teaching. Seung Sahn said, "When you eat and read the newspaper, just eat and read the newspaper."
April 15, 2014
I liked this book quite a bit. It is a collection of quotes and other words about Zen, called Koans, from ancient times to now.
The preface says Zen is not really about reading about Zen, and Zen is outside of words, but you have to start somewhere, and people have been writing about it for ever, so here you go.
It ranges from interesting to mind bending to near incomprehensible.
“If you are afraid of being grabbed by God, don’t look at a wall.
Definitely don’t sit still.”
Jiyu Kennett
I was intrigued by a piece that talked about life giving us cues.
So when anger or confusion arises, it is a like when a bell rang in high school and you got up and went to the next class. I don't think I can explain it precisely, but I see it as the anger is a cue to back off, the confusion is a cue to take some breathes and get some clarity, etc..
This book was a perfect match for my interest in the topic. I have even started to practice some of what I am reading, so it starts to become very personal.. For example, this book helped me be more accepting of my relationships. When I have rough spots, I can see my disappointment and hurt is tied to my opinions and ideas. When I disengage from my expectations and my gripes, I can see if this is a real problem, and I can be honest about what is really the issue. Then, like a fear you attack, or a memory you confront, it is disarmed. I like not having a blood pressure spike when a name gets mentioned.
Another quote:
"An ancient master said, “When you boil rice, know that the water is your own life.”"
The preface says Zen is not really about reading about Zen, and Zen is outside of words, but you have to start somewhere, and people have been writing about it for ever, so here you go.
It ranges from interesting to mind bending to near incomprehensible.
“If you are afraid of being grabbed by God, don’t look at a wall.
Definitely don’t sit still.”
Jiyu Kennett
I was intrigued by a piece that talked about life giving us cues.
So when anger or confusion arises, it is a like when a bell rang in high school and you got up and went to the next class. I don't think I can explain it precisely, but I see it as the anger is a cue to back off, the confusion is a cue to take some breathes and get some clarity, etc..
This book was a perfect match for my interest in the topic. I have even started to practice some of what I am reading, so it starts to become very personal.. For example, this book helped me be more accepting of my relationships. When I have rough spots, I can see my disappointment and hurt is tied to my opinions and ideas. When I disengage from my expectations and my gripes, I can see if this is a real problem, and I can be honest about what is really the issue. Then, like a fear you attack, or a memory you confront, it is disarmed. I like not having a blood pressure spike when a name gets mentioned.
Another quote:
"An ancient master said, “When you boil rice, know that the water is your own life.”"
January 31, 2018
Basically an anthology of poems by Zen practitioners. The poems are of varying quality , of course. Not the sort of book to pick up and read in one sitting, rather to be picked up read one poem.
October 21, 2022
A great collection of stories and poems
June 18, 2014
Without desire everything is sufficient ~ Ryokan
I'm still trying to work out if I consider that to be a negative, or a positive statement. This very interesting collection of zen source works is made up of a well selected group of authors modern and ancient. Gary Snyder and leonard Cohen are here. So are Hakuin, Ikkyu, and Ryokan. I don't suggest that you will understand, or even appreciate everything in the book. I know I didn't. What I will say is that if you have the time to read, and then reread your eyebrows will get a workout.
I'm still trying to work out if I consider that to be a negative, or a positive statement. This very interesting collection of zen source works is made up of a well selected group of authors modern and ancient. Gary Snyder and leonard Cohen are here. So are Hakuin, Ikkyu, and Ryokan. I don't suggest that you will understand, or even appreciate everything in the book. I know I didn't. What I will say is that if you have the time to read, and then reread your eyebrows will get a workout.
September 1, 2019
When arrows meet head-on: no dust, no mirror
Essential Zen comes thirty-seven years after the publication of Paul Rep's Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings (1957). The books are similar in that they both are collections of Zen writings highlighting the paradoxical and irreverent that is at the heart of Zen Buddhism.
I would put this on the same shelf as Zen Flesh, but I would not take it down as often. (Then again I may. Who is to say?) The striking brilliance of Zen Flesh comes partly from its being the first meaty collection of Zen writings in English, but also because it included writings from the precursors of Zen in the Taoist and Vedic traditions. Essential Zen takes a slightly different, perhaps more sophisticated path. The writings are heavy with the paradox of Zen and with the contradictory nature of life. Thus we have Master So-and-so contradicting himself. Thus we have enlightenment coming upon the contradiction. Essential Zen also seems more esoteric. There is little in the book like the denotative guiding stories from Zen Bones. Tanahashi mentions the famous tea pouring into an overflowing cup story that appeared in Zen Bones, but one senses that such stories have become a bit too heavy-handed. Or maybe there is a kind of precious intellectualization creeping in here, a kind of anti-intellectual intellectualism! such as has happened with the short story since the days of O. Henry and Poe. Everything has become so, so precious and so, so subtle that perhaps only those with lots of experience can appreciate the nuances. In reaction I have came up with my own Zen poem this morning:
I am putting on clean underwear today
so that in case I drop dead
nobody will find skid marks in my shorts.
Schneider titles his introduction "Graffiti on Perfectly Good Paper," more or less defining the paradoxical nature of a book that collects Zen sayings: on the one hand the sayings are worth reading; on the other they are of so little value in terms of enlightenment that they waste perfectly good paper. Tanahashi entitles his introduction, "On Positive Emptiness" and refers to the "collective consciousness of the tradition." A graphic theme in the book is the circle drawn with black-inked calligraphy pen. The final sentence in the book (from Dogen) sums up what is meant: "Your continuous practice creates the circle of the way."
Consequently this is not an introduction to Zen sort of book. It is for sophisticates. Some of the writings are amazingly beautiful, such as the poem "Song of the Bright Mirror Samadhi" by Dongshan Liangjie on pages 63-66. It is he who asks, "When arrowheads meet head-on, is it only a matter of skill?"
I also liked this Zen haiku from Lou Hartman (p. 103):
Scalding coffee from a freezing cup.
At the rim no telling
Which is which.
This is also nice: "Issan Dorsey was asked, 'What is the essence of Zen art?' He replied, 'Nothing extra.'"
There is a wonderful piece called "Roshi" by Leonard Cohen in which he and the Roshi are drinking a bit too much Courvoisier. (pp. 133-134)
Finally here is a beautiful poem by Daigu Ryokan (p. 76):
This sick pale face doesn't brighten the mirror.
My white hair keeps getting all tangled.
With dry lips, I frequently think of water.
Body so grimy, in vain I wish to be clean.
Cold and heat immediately become noticeable.
Pulse is oddly confused and disordered.
I faintly hear woodcutters talking.
The second month is already half gone.
I am attracted to these poetic writings because Zen is essentially an art, the art of living. I am also attracted because there is in the very nature of life at its core a sense of paradox. We see this in the contradictory nature of the quantum that is both a particle and a wave, something our minds cannot comprehend.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
Essential Zen comes thirty-seven years after the publication of Paul Rep's Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings (1957). The books are similar in that they both are collections of Zen writings highlighting the paradoxical and irreverent that is at the heart of Zen Buddhism.
I would put this on the same shelf as Zen Flesh, but I would not take it down as often. (Then again I may. Who is to say?) The striking brilliance of Zen Flesh comes partly from its being the first meaty collection of Zen writings in English, but also because it included writings from the precursors of Zen in the Taoist and Vedic traditions. Essential Zen takes a slightly different, perhaps more sophisticated path. The writings are heavy with the paradox of Zen and with the contradictory nature of life. Thus we have Master So-and-so contradicting himself. Thus we have enlightenment coming upon the contradiction. Essential Zen also seems more esoteric. There is little in the book like the denotative guiding stories from Zen Bones. Tanahashi mentions the famous tea pouring into an overflowing cup story that appeared in Zen Bones, but one senses that such stories have become a bit too heavy-handed. Or maybe there is a kind of precious intellectualization creeping in here, a kind of anti-intellectual intellectualism! such as has happened with the short story since the days of O. Henry and Poe. Everything has become so, so precious and so, so subtle that perhaps only those with lots of experience can appreciate the nuances. In reaction I have came up with my own Zen poem this morning:
I am putting on clean underwear today
so that in case I drop dead
nobody will find skid marks in my shorts.
Schneider titles his introduction "Graffiti on Perfectly Good Paper," more or less defining the paradoxical nature of a book that collects Zen sayings: on the one hand the sayings are worth reading; on the other they are of so little value in terms of enlightenment that they waste perfectly good paper. Tanahashi entitles his introduction, "On Positive Emptiness" and refers to the "collective consciousness of the tradition." A graphic theme in the book is the circle drawn with black-inked calligraphy pen. The final sentence in the book (from Dogen) sums up what is meant: "Your continuous practice creates the circle of the way."
Consequently this is not an introduction to Zen sort of book. It is for sophisticates. Some of the writings are amazingly beautiful, such as the poem "Song of the Bright Mirror Samadhi" by Dongshan Liangjie on pages 63-66. It is he who asks, "When arrowheads meet head-on, is it only a matter of skill?"
I also liked this Zen haiku from Lou Hartman (p. 103):
Scalding coffee from a freezing cup.
At the rim no telling
Which is which.
This is also nice: "Issan Dorsey was asked, 'What is the essence of Zen art?' He replied, 'Nothing extra.'"
There is a wonderful piece called "Roshi" by Leonard Cohen in which he and the Roshi are drinking a bit too much Courvoisier. (pp. 133-134)
Finally here is a beautiful poem by Daigu Ryokan (p. 76):
This sick pale face doesn't brighten the mirror.
My white hair keeps getting all tangled.
With dry lips, I frequently think of water.
Body so grimy, in vain I wish to be clean.
Cold and heat immediately become noticeable.
Pulse is oddly confused and disordered.
I faintly hear woodcutters talking.
The second month is already half gone.
I am attracted to these poetic writings because Zen is essentially an art, the art of living. I am also attracted because there is in the very nature of life at its core a sense of paradox. We see this in the contradictory nature of the quantum that is both a particle and a wave, something our minds cannot comprehend.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
November 28, 2024
This is a collection of short writings (poems, koans, and prose excerpts) on Zen Buddhism arranged into loosely themed sections. The writings tend toward the artistic, creative, and metaphorical, with relatively few straightforward descriptions of technique or philosophy. The writings range from those of Chinese and Japanese monks who lived hundreds of years ago to present-day poets and Zen practitioners. Among the more frequently drawn from sources are: Hanshan, Ikkyu, Dogen, Ryokan, Hakuin, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, Seung Sahn, John Daido Loori, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Peter Levitt. But there are many others, including some who have only a single piece included.
There's a substantial "Notes" section that gives source, translation, and -- in some cases -- background information. Most of the translations (both Japanese and Chinese) are by the editors, Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider. There are illustrations, but they are all ensō (circular brush paintings) and related forms.
This is a highly readable and insightful collection of short writings, and I'd highly recommend it for individuals interested in Zen or Eastern Philosophy more generally.
There's a substantial "Notes" section that gives source, translation, and -- in some cases -- background information. Most of the translations (both Japanese and Chinese) are by the editors, Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider. There are illustrations, but they are all ensō (circular brush paintings) and related forms.
This is a highly readable and insightful collection of short writings, and I'd highly recommend it for individuals interested in Zen or Eastern Philosophy more generally.
October 13, 2024
Essential Zen consists of poems, stories, koans, and anecdotes from ancient times until the present, loosely assembled into topics each represented by a beautiful calligraphy of a Zen circle. The mixture of classic and contemporary texts renders a distinctive and charming appeal to this collection of Zen stories.
Otherwise, the book is exactly what the title promises: Essential Zen. None of the stories make any sense from a rational point of view, but suggest an underlying truth that seems absurd to the mind. That, I suppose, portrays quite perfectly the essence of Zen.
Otherwise, the book is exactly what the title promises: Essential Zen. None of the stories make any sense from a rational point of view, but suggest an underlying truth that seems absurd to the mind. That, I suppose, portrays quite perfectly the essence of Zen.
January 21, 2019
Meine Unfähigkeit zwischen zeitgenössischen Amerikanern und traditionellen Japanern zu unterscheiden zeugt entweder von meiner Unfähigkeit Qualität zu erkennen oder gibt mir einen begründeten Anlass an dem Tiefgang beider zu zweifeln.
In meiner Meditationsgruppe habe ich gelernt, dass Interpretation auch bei diesen Texten stark weiterhilft. Wenige der kurzen Stücke haben mich tatsächlich berührt. Vielleicht habe ich auch zu schnell drüber gelesen. Eine Besprechung würde sicherlich helfen.
In meiner Meditationsgruppe habe ich gelernt, dass Interpretation auch bei diesen Texten stark weiterhilft. Wenige der kurzen Stücke haben mich tatsächlich berührt. Vielleicht habe ich auch zu schnell drüber gelesen. Eine Besprechung würde sicherlich helfen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2023
Gospel Nobel Truths by Allen Ginsberg is a shining light in this collection.
Along with: Sayings of A Zen Master by Kyong Ho
And
Please call me by my true names by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Many gems of quietude, buddhist teachings and respect for nature are collected here.
Along with: Sayings of A Zen Master by Kyong Ho
And
Please call me by my true names by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Many gems of quietude, buddhist teachings and respect for nature are collected here.
October 1, 2023
An excellent collection of stories, poems, and koans that cover the entire breadth of Zen Buddhism. Of course it's not complete, but it's a wonderful starting place. It also has an excellent set of notes, stating where each piece is from, who the author is, what significance they have for Zen.
May 28, 2019
Very valuable to me. I will cherish this!
December 20, 2022
Picked up in a charity bookshop in Exeter. Enlightening collection of quotes and passages from various authors.
January 10, 2023
Less then a discussion on the tenants of Zen, then a flow on the ideas of Zen and poetry. i enjoyed the immersive stanzas and funny stories.
January 10, 2025
Great collection of Zen poems, essays and anecdotes.
Easily approached yet deep. I would recommend to anyone and good to reread many times, excellent book.
Easily approached yet deep. I would recommend to anyone and good to reread many times, excellent book.
February 6, 2008
A collection of short, but wise, teachings. A good resource for those interested in deepening their practice and/or bringing more awareness to their lives. My favorite so far:
A student asked Soen Nakagawa during a meditation retreat, "I am very discouraged. What should I do?"
Soen replied, "Encourage others."
A student asked Soen Nakagawa during a meditation retreat, "I am very discouraged. What should I do?"
Soen replied, "Encourage others."
October 13, 2012
An outstanding collection. I'm sure I'll reread this more than once. I know I've just touched the surface of many of these.
I suspect that those who criticize the "essential zen"-ness of the book have not read the introduction, wherein the origins of this collection - and the consensus and community involvement it took to make it - are discussed.
I suspect that those who criticize the "essential zen"-ness of the book have not read the introduction, wherein the origins of this collection - and the consensus and community involvement it took to make it - are discussed.
May 9, 2010
Plenty of rehashed material easy to pick up from elsewhere. Does not give overview as title infers. A few neat insights, mostly material that I've gained else where as a non-reader about this subject.
May 10, 2009
As I contemplate the Infinite - I find comfort, challenge and inspiration from this work.
Perhaps a quote from another book - "Zen for Beginners" will help illustrate what Zen is all about...
" A funny thing happened on my way to all-pervading emptiness and bliss."
Perhaps a quote from another book - "Zen for Beginners" will help illustrate what Zen is all about...
" A funny thing happened on my way to all-pervading emptiness and bliss."
November 26, 2007
Great book covering the different aspects of Zen literature, with explanations and some history.
November 21, 2009
A Zen collection to open the mind in a poetic way.
October 24, 2010
Random anecdotes from the zen practitioners past and present. Every 20 pages something somewhat interesting. Abandoned 2/3 through.
March 5, 2012
I read a few pages from this book when I need to calm down. Works for me!
January 23, 2013
A collection of Zen Poetry, like some works better than others. A quick read, worth checking out.
March 4, 2016
An excellent overview of Zen. The excerpts are succinct and clear.
October 5, 2017
this is one of my favorites, I am constantly going back to it.
July 9, 2016
A wonderful survey of Zen teachings from its beginning to present day in thematically arranged quotes.
February 5, 2017
An accessible and welcoming collection of zen stories and koans that works well to create a lineage that includes modern Western teachers and practitioners.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews