The Zen Environment: The Impact of Zen Meditation

by Marian Mountain

Provides a basic introduction to the Zen philosophy and experience, discussing the principles of Zen and the impact of Zen meditation on life and human understanding

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, Spirituality

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

All around the nation
There's a New Explanation -
People in motion.
People in motion.
- San Francisco, 1967.

Footloose and fancy-free in an enjoyable romp through the majestic coastal environment of Big Sur, in the heady seventies...

The Flower Children DID have something to say.

Problem is... they said it all wrong!

But Jesus told it to us as it really is, to our unstoned, sober heads.

Marian and Jack are affable Kerouaken Dharma Bums, energized by the Esalen spirit, who wander from seaside residence to seaside residence as easy-going but responsible house-sitters, practicing the Zen way.

The way of the sensui - wandering monk in Japan. The literal meaning of that word is cloud-rain: one who’s exposed to any and all precipitation... like a real nut case?

As a faithful fallback they have their cozy little trailer, Samsara, and like so many hippies eke out their sustenance joyfully living off the land.

Now, of course, we all know such idylls never last - and where are they now, all these alternative seventies movements?

Replaced by newer, improved alternative California self-help movements, of course!

But somehow Marian manages to talk good basic homespun sense throughout...

One major and insightful catchphrase she’s coined here is the Old Home Town theory. I believe she picked it up from her California Zen master.

We ALL have our old home towns within us - pet peeves that have grown into ever-inviting cozy affective obsessions of the mind - that always seem, as her late Buddhist contemporary Toni Packer pointed out, to sprout in the dark, humid comfort of our indolent imaginations like mushrooms!

How many of us return, over and over, to the same wilful half-awake Mistake in our lives, like a pup attracted to his own mess? I know I do. Especially at times when I recoil from the outside world abruptly, and take solace in my old home town thoughts.

Yikes. A sure recipe for disaster, or at least mild depression.

And the affectiveness part invariably traps us in its cozy sentimentality... And so many others among us completely Disown their childhood because of that pesky “home town” - together with their inner child’s innate snd essential spontaneity!

I catapult myself again and again to the same self-destructive la-la Land in my mind, and friends who know me well just sigh: ah well, there he goes Again!

Another Old Home Town is that same old New! Improved! Scam that catches us every time we shop....

And Marian’s right - they’ll STRANGLE us, untended, these cheap Old Home Towns.
'
They can turn us into semi-creepy caricatures of our awake selves, and send us into a rapid downward spiral.

Wakey, wakey, guys. Wake up to Reality!

Let’s greet EACH NEW, ORDINARY DAY with a smile on our face and a spring in our step! Our doom and gloom moods turn us into crappy, heartless persons. Don’t live for your emotions. LEAVE that old home town of your stultifying self!

So as much as that sunny way of life had its value, remember that - as good as it sounds, and as healthy as it is - the fresh, sparkling Zen Environment will always flop without Responsibly ethical Self-Awareness. When we fly high, we always crash.

Losing ourselves is wonderful, but in this sterile, in-your-face modern world, we have to constantly remember ourselves and the values that make us tick. For that old home town is in fact the lies we've been carefully taught to shield ourselves from the truth.

"What is truth?" Pilate asked, having methodically asked himself that in order to prevent his own guilt from seeping out into the light of day. And so the Woke World asks us now, daring us to make fools of ourselves!

Jesus didn't answer, of course, because he saw right through Pilate's - and the Woke World's - trap.

So yes, folks, by all means LOSE all your Old Home Towns, keep your mind sharp...

But keep your FEET on SOLID GROUND, and watch your back, cause life’s not a bed of Roses:

At the Best of Times!

For if you take my contemporaries the Hippies' word for it -

And LOSE YOURSELF IN FREEDOM -

Some day very soon you’ll have to PAY for it...

Dearly.

[Matt Albers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most important book ever written in the history of mankind. At least, you know, for ME. You probably won't think so. But if you are interested in Buddhism, Zen or not, this is a well written and thought-provoking tale. Marian Mountain was one of the first Americans to experience Zen, and doesn't fall prey to the unfortunate belief that since Zen is Japanese, those who practice Zen must emulate Japanese culture. She realizes that the teachings transcend cultural boundaries to reach people from all over the world. This book is essential American Zen.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alright look... if you're going to abandon your husband and two children to go live in a zen monastery (using the story of the buddha to justify doing so natch,) and then you leave the monastery after a year because you can't hack it as a monk and you don't respect the way the Japanese practice zen, and then instead of returning to your family you go be homeless and hook up with some illiterate lumberjack because you like his muscles and you stop practicing zazen after several masters spent valuable time teaching it to you, that's fine, but don't expect me to read your dumb book about zen.

[Robin Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Zen book I could read over and over.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice book where the author tells of her accounts in finding zen environment. Instead of talking about what zen is- she shows you- which I think is an important quality of any book about zen. Its also interesting as a story of someones life. She and her husband are living on Big Sur in the 70's as travellers. They house sit for people on occasion but have no home of their own except for a camper named Samsara. *p.s. this book is nice read a little at a time and you discover more the more times you read it. This makes it a very good book in my opinion.

[Artun Turan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marian's book is deeply moving. She was brave to follow her duty to the extent she did. I've come to know her through this book, and through a post like this somewhere else, curious that Rober Pirsig wrote an introduction. Did not expect it to open a door to compassion striking the heart. Recommend anyone to spare time to read this book.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading book made me dislike the author mucho