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Inside the Grass Hut: Living Shitou's Classic Zen Poem
Enter the mind and practice of Zen: apply the insights of one of Zen's classic poems to your life--here and now.
Shitou Xiqian’s “Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage” is a remarkably accessible work of profound depth; in thirty-two lines Shitou expresses the breadth of the entire Buddhist tradition with simple, vivid imagery. Ben Connelly’s Inside the Grass Hut unpacks the timeless poem and applies it to contemporary life. His book delivers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighth-century work, as well as directly evokes the poem’s themes of simple living, calm, and a deep sense of connection to all things.
Each pithy chapter focuses on a single line of the poem, letting the reader immerse himself thoroughly in each line and then come up for air before moving on to the next. Line by line, Connelly shows how the poem draws on and expresses elements from the thousand years of Buddhist thought that preceded it, expands on the poem’s depiction of a life of simple practice in nature, and tells stories of the way these teachings manifest in modern life. Connelly, like Shitou before him, proves himself adept at taking profound and complex themes from Zen and laying them out in a practical and understandable way.
Eminently readable, thoroughly illuminating, Inside the Grass Hut shows the reader a path of wholehearted engagement—with the poem, and with the world. Destined to become a trusted, dog-eared companion.
Shitou Xiqian’s “Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage” is a remarkably accessible work of profound depth; in thirty-two lines Shitou expresses the breadth of the entire Buddhist tradition with simple, vivid imagery. Ben Connelly’s Inside the Grass Hut unpacks the timeless poem and applies it to contemporary life. His book delivers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighth-century work, as well as directly evokes the poem’s themes of simple living, calm, and a deep sense of connection to all things.
Each pithy chapter focuses on a single line of the poem, letting the reader immerse himself thoroughly in each line and then come up for air before moving on to the next. Line by line, Connelly shows how the poem draws on and expresses elements from the thousand years of Buddhist thought that preceded it, expands on the poem’s depiction of a life of simple practice in nature, and tells stories of the way these teachings manifest in modern life. Connelly, like Shitou before him, proves himself adept at taking profound and complex themes from Zen and laying them out in a practical and understandable way.
Eminently readable, thoroughly illuminating, Inside the Grass Hut shows the reader a path of wholehearted engagement—with the poem, and with the world. Destined to become a trusted, dog-eared companion.
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 8, 2014
26 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Ben Connelly
4 books25 followersBen Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He also teaches mindfulness in a wide variety of secular contexts including police and corporate training, correctional facilities, and addiction recovery and wellness groups. Ben is based at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center and travels to teach across the United States. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 7, 2016
I wanted to like this book. I really did. Shitou’s “Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage” is a beautiful poem from early zen (Chan) relating to zen practice and of course living this life of a human. There is something about it that I find . . . special. It is clear and precise in the way of the best zen writing. It also requires from most of us the ability to sit with uncertainty or lack of “understanding” and let the images and assertions of this old hermit pass right through us, and in their own way do their work. In reading this book I was looking forward to some background to the poem, but mainly to a commentary on it by a zen teacher, perhaps along the lines of what you might hear at a teisho (a direct presentation of the dharma by a teacher). I was disappointed. Instead I found a pretty standard modern book of zenfotainmentTM for the mindful/self improvement set.
Things started off well though. At the beginning of the book a full translation of the poem is presented. I checked and apart from one word (“universe” as opposed to “world”) it is the same as the translation in the “Roaring Stream.” The author then took the poem line by line or in couplets and commented on these in brief chapters. This seemed like it would be a useful approach. However, instead of a commentary or elucidation of Shitou’s work within the framework of zen the author seemed to offer pretty standard reflections on how life is better if we don’t get bent out of shape when things are not as we want them to be and just return to the present moment, or as he did at one point, started listing all the things we are dependent upon as an example of interdependence. This is a largely intellectual approach to dharma (the way things are/ Buddhist teachings). It reflects a bhavana or developmental approach that is not consistent with zen as I know it, or as presented by Shitou.
In spite of this Mr Connelly does show flashes of the insightful zen teacher I expect he is in many situations. He does seem to have gotten in his own way at times though by over explanation. I feel that his book has been severely weakened by this.
I had the impression that if Mr Connelly and I sat down together over a cup of coffee, or a beer, that we would largely agree on most things. What I object to in this book is the watering down, the simplifying, the cognitiveization, and pseudo-theravadaization of Zen practice. This seems to be a common feature in many published works from American zen. I don’t know if this is due to publishers’ need to sell books and thus appeal to the widest possible market, or due to the influence of the American insight approach to popular self-help mindfulness based practices which have become very influential, even in zen circles it seems. Nevertheless it is a bastardiziation of the dharma, and any zen teacher worth their salt should see this, and not only shun it but clarify matters where they can.
The cover of the book has quite a few quotes of praise, including some from zen teachers. From my reading I found these hard to justify. In fact it made me wonder where they get these testimonials. It looks like they have an all purpose collection somewhere and pull them out for new books on suitable topics: zen, Buddhism, mindfulness. An author of a popular psychology book once told me that publishers paid people for these positive comments. I am not sure if they do that for this type of book. I do wonder if those zen teachers commenting had read the book, and if its contents are actually consistent with the training they received. Of course they very likely don’t want to be negative, or possibly hurtful to the author in reviewing a book, and neither do I, but there is a responsibility to be truthful, and to offer appropriate direction when asked.
One option is to say nothing. This is what I had planned, however the failure to allow this poem to simply illumine practice, and in addition to confound and hide its message can cause significant confusion in those interested in the work of Shitou, in the Song of the Grass Hut hermitage, and in zen. To remain silent, in its own way, fosters the growing misdirection around practices such as mediation, mindfulness, and zen in particular. It fosters zenfotainmentTM at the expense of authentic practice, realization of the dharma, and the significant enrichment of reader’s lives.
This book is not suitable for students of zen. It would perhaps be useful for those vaguely interested in meditation, and wanting some gentle encouragement, however it will lead you astray regarding zen.
Things started off well though. At the beginning of the book a full translation of the poem is presented. I checked and apart from one word (“universe” as opposed to “world”) it is the same as the translation in the “Roaring Stream.” The author then took the poem line by line or in couplets and commented on these in brief chapters. This seemed like it would be a useful approach. However, instead of a commentary or elucidation of Shitou’s work within the framework of zen the author seemed to offer pretty standard reflections on how life is better if we don’t get bent out of shape when things are not as we want them to be and just return to the present moment, or as he did at one point, started listing all the things we are dependent upon as an example of interdependence. This is a largely intellectual approach to dharma (the way things are/ Buddhist teachings). It reflects a bhavana or developmental approach that is not consistent with zen as I know it, or as presented by Shitou.
In spite of this Mr Connelly does show flashes of the insightful zen teacher I expect he is in many situations. He does seem to have gotten in his own way at times though by over explanation. I feel that his book has been severely weakened by this.
I had the impression that if Mr Connelly and I sat down together over a cup of coffee, or a beer, that we would largely agree on most things. What I object to in this book is the watering down, the simplifying, the cognitiveization, and pseudo-theravadaization of Zen practice. This seems to be a common feature in many published works from American zen. I don’t know if this is due to publishers’ need to sell books and thus appeal to the widest possible market, or due to the influence of the American insight approach to popular self-help mindfulness based practices which have become very influential, even in zen circles it seems. Nevertheless it is a bastardiziation of the dharma, and any zen teacher worth their salt should see this, and not only shun it but clarify matters where they can.
The cover of the book has quite a few quotes of praise, including some from zen teachers. From my reading I found these hard to justify. In fact it made me wonder where they get these testimonials. It looks like they have an all purpose collection somewhere and pull them out for new books on suitable topics: zen, Buddhism, mindfulness. An author of a popular psychology book once told me that publishers paid people for these positive comments. I am not sure if they do that for this type of book. I do wonder if those zen teachers commenting had read the book, and if its contents are actually consistent with the training they received. Of course they very likely don’t want to be negative, or possibly hurtful to the author in reviewing a book, and neither do I, but there is a responsibility to be truthful, and to offer appropriate direction when asked.
One option is to say nothing. This is what I had planned, however the failure to allow this poem to simply illumine practice, and in addition to confound and hide its message can cause significant confusion in those interested in the work of Shitou, in the Song of the Grass Hut hermitage, and in zen. To remain silent, in its own way, fosters the growing misdirection around practices such as mediation, mindfulness, and zen in particular. It fosters zenfotainmentTM at the expense of authentic practice, realization of the dharma, and the significant enrichment of reader’s lives.
This book is not suitable for students of zen. It would perhaps be useful for those vaguely interested in meditation, and wanting some gentle encouragement, however it will lead you astray regarding zen.
March 2, 2015
Disclosure: I know Ben through a very Dear Friend.
I bought this book to support Ben, and my Dear Friend. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to "get" or like this book. I thought it would be academic and over my head. I was wrong! While I'm sure those who read books on Zen topics, or have a steady practice will get a much deeper meaning, I found the book very accessible. I found it true to what I know of Ben (mostly through that Dear Friend), smart, accepting, encouraging, easy-going, and a little sassy.
I don't practice Zen, but I have a deeper appreciation for it after reading this book. Ben is a great teacher and example and I feel quite a few lessons from this poem will stick with me and make me a more kind person to myself and others. I recommend this book.
I bought this book to support Ben, and my Dear Friend. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to "get" or like this book. I thought it would be academic and over my head. I was wrong! While I'm sure those who read books on Zen topics, or have a steady practice will get a much deeper meaning, I found the book very accessible. I found it true to what I know of Ben (mostly through that Dear Friend), smart, accepting, encouraging, easy-going, and a little sassy.
I don't practice Zen, but I have a deeper appreciation for it after reading this book. Ben is a great teacher and example and I feel quite a few lessons from this poem will stick with me and make me a more kind person to myself and others. I recommend this book.
October 6, 2014
A very nice meditation on this ancient poem by a real practitioner who doesn't live in a grass hut! Connelly is a man like the rest of us with wife, family, and a wooden house to heat. He brings this ancient meditation into the 21st century and relates it to his experiences while giving the reader a glimpse into the practices of a 21st century zen center. Real living western Zen.
August 10, 2016
My favorite passage from this rare, dear treasure of a book: "... when Buddha experienced enlightenment he said, 'House builder, you have now been seen. You shall not build the house again.' " (page 178)
August 7, 2021
Back in the Spring of 2018, while teaching at Modo Yoga Minneapolis, I had the pleasure to sit with the Minnesota Zen Center where I met Ben Connelly who gifted me his wonderful explication of Shitou's "classic zen poem." It's only evidence of the depth/breadth of my "reading" and "to read" book shelves that I've only just gotten to dig into his text! And seeing that he offers 32 short chapters, each amounting to a kind of 'stand-alone' essay, one chapter to each line, I decided to read one a day for a month, and then sit in contemplation with what Connelly has to say about that day's line.
Shitou is famous for writing the "Sandokai", variously translated as "Oneness of One and Many," "The Identity of Absolute and Relative", or "The Harmony of Difference and Equality", which is chanted daily in many (maybe most?) Soto Zen centers and monasteries, often as a counterpoint the "The Heart Sutra". Where "The Heart Sutra" has us chanting: "No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body nor mind," the "Sandokai" tells us: "Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongues taste..."
"The Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage" is not a poem that I had ever heard before, but apparently some Soto Centers, including the Minneapolis Zen Center, under the direction of Tim Burkett (Connelly's teacher who ordained Connelly as a priest in 2009) chant this poem daily as well. As Taigen Dan Leighton notes in his "Foreward", unlike the philosophy presented in the "Sandokai", this poem "offers a clear, helpful model for (zen's) actual practice, and for how to create a space of practice."
But of course, how can there be any such thing as a complete separation between zen practice and zen philosophy, one being the embodiment and expression of the other? So, throughout Connelly's presentation, he touches on the philosophy inherent in the practice in a light and accessible way, while foregrounding the importance -- and simplicity -- of zazen.
And, for the most part, Connelly presents a pragmatic approach, deftly weaving some of his personal life experience into his writing to emphasize the "this-worldly" view of practice. There are some lines in the poem that could easily be read as evidence of the tendency common in Zen to reify some concepts in ways the Critical Zen Movement in Japan referred to as a "dhatu-vada" approach and again, for the most part, Connelly offers an interpretation that avoids this. However, there are a few lapses where a "subtle atman" creeps in with phrases referring to "the original master...looking out through your eyes." Elsewhere I was disappointed to see the "Great Vehicle bodhisattva" described as a deity, literally "a supernatural embodiment of Buddhism's highest ideals." It puzzles me how so many who otherwise assert nonduality can posit something outside nature! Zen Naturalism sees bodhisattva's as purely and simply HUMAN archetypes, emerging out of human nature and relationship.
But again, overall, these are small and relatively minor caveats; I really love this little book and am looking forward to sharing it with my students. Thank You, Ben!
Shitou is famous for writing the "Sandokai", variously translated as "Oneness of One and Many," "The Identity of Absolute and Relative", or "The Harmony of Difference and Equality", which is chanted daily in many (maybe most?) Soto Zen centers and monasteries, often as a counterpoint the "The Heart Sutra". Where "The Heart Sutra" has us chanting: "No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body nor mind," the "Sandokai" tells us: "Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongues taste..."
"The Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage" is not a poem that I had ever heard before, but apparently some Soto Centers, including the Minneapolis Zen Center, under the direction of Tim Burkett (Connelly's teacher who ordained Connelly as a priest in 2009) chant this poem daily as well. As Taigen Dan Leighton notes in his "Foreward", unlike the philosophy presented in the "Sandokai", this poem "offers a clear, helpful model for (zen's) actual practice, and for how to create a space of practice."
But of course, how can there be any such thing as a complete separation between zen practice and zen philosophy, one being the embodiment and expression of the other? So, throughout Connelly's presentation, he touches on the philosophy inherent in the practice in a light and accessible way, while foregrounding the importance -- and simplicity -- of zazen.
And, for the most part, Connelly presents a pragmatic approach, deftly weaving some of his personal life experience into his writing to emphasize the "this-worldly" view of practice. There are some lines in the poem that could easily be read as evidence of the tendency common in Zen to reify some concepts in ways the Critical Zen Movement in Japan referred to as a "dhatu-vada" approach and again, for the most part, Connelly offers an interpretation that avoids this. However, there are a few lapses where a "subtle atman" creeps in with phrases referring to "the original master...looking out through your eyes." Elsewhere I was disappointed to see the "Great Vehicle bodhisattva" described as a deity, literally "a supernatural embodiment of Buddhism's highest ideals." It puzzles me how so many who otherwise assert nonduality can posit something outside nature! Zen Naturalism sees bodhisattva's as purely and simply HUMAN archetypes, emerging out of human nature and relationship.
But again, overall, these are small and relatively minor caveats; I really love this little book and am looking forward to sharing it with my students. Thank You, Ben!
November 12, 2024
Wherever you are right now, this is where you live. Maybe it’s time for us to decide to live where we are instead of feeling split and trying to keep up from one place to the next - maybe it’s time to live here.
August 15, 2019
I enjoyed this book very much. The style of the book made me question at first if I’d enjoy it, but it was a truly great book. The poem at first seemed straight forward to me. It made me question the reasoning for the author to explain each line. I was wrong! Each line has a message that can be applied. It’s a pleasant read that educates you on history, meaning of the mind and our world. It focuses on realism and authenticity that one should carry with them no matter where they go. While reading I almost felt that the author was validating my thoughts and presented solutions and or ideas that I could actually apply to my life. I won’t say anymore. It was a great book that even I would be happy to read a second time.
November 20, 2017
This book is amazing. I really wish I could meet and talk to the author and talk for days about all the thoughts that the book gave me. There is so much I wish I could ask him in person but it looks like I will have to either write him a letter or maybe get someone near me to try and talk to me but as I am so rural and the nearest town has no Zen master I would love someone to contact.
January 2, 2021
A wonderful simple easy to read take on being fluid and constant in minimalism and humanity of concepts through a commonly understood translation of the poem.
February 24, 2022
I'm just a nobody but think it says something real and helpful.
November 18, 2024
My professor recommended it to me as an antidote to my post-grad existential crisis. A grounding read I’ll definitely return to.
December 12, 2016
This book had a simple premise: to de-construct a centuries-old Zen Buddhist poem, line-by-line, and then explore the meaning behind each line. The poem can be described as a set of guiding principles for meditation practice and how it is possible to bring the practice into our daily lives through ordinary actions.
The poem is explained for what it meant to the 11th century author, as well as what it means to this author. Knowing the modern-day author personally, I can say that understanding his personal perspectives from life-experience is a big part of understanding the meaning in this book. Connelly is forthright in relating many of his explanations to personal life experience that is fairly easy to relate to. Connelly has an unusually diverse set of life experiences he draws upon. I especially value and can relate closely with his perspective gained from spending hundreds of days and nights in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. This is the type setting that makes it possible to 'live' the poem, per the subtitle. Definitely a great read to accompany extended time in any place that is not part of the anthropogenic environment.
The poem is explained for what it meant to the 11th century author, as well as what it means to this author. Knowing the modern-day author personally, I can say that understanding his personal perspectives from life-experience is a big part of understanding the meaning in this book. Connelly is forthright in relating many of his explanations to personal life experience that is fairly easy to relate to. Connelly has an unusually diverse set of life experiences he draws upon. I especially value and can relate closely with his perspective gained from spending hundreds of days and nights in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. This is the type setting that makes it possible to 'live' the poem, per the subtitle. Definitely a great read to accompany extended time in any place that is not part of the anthropogenic environment.
December 22, 2019
Ben Connelly makes the wisdom of Soto Zen, and Buddhism more broadly, accessible to beginners and beyond in Buddhist teaching and practice, as well as persons who are not specifically interested in Buddhism but are in the practicality of truth to ease the dissatisfaction that is unnaturally imposed upon the primal, timeless innocence of the human life. Connelly demonstrates, as did Shitou, that this very human life is the invitation to freedom and the house in which the undying lives for a time. In reading this application of Shitou's verse, we see Buddhist dharma, like all sagacious guidance, is simply nothing other than wisdom both particularized in this now and universally timeless in which our lives unfold to reach farther and farther into the destiny of communion with all beings, seen and unseen, in compassion and joy.
June 24, 2014
As Ben Connelly unpacks Shitou's Classic Zen Poem, readers ponder each line of "Inside the Grass Hut." Even as someone with only a basic knowledge of Buddhism, Connelly introduces readers to aspects of Buddhism in a very accessible and enlightening way. I suspect that even someone with years of Buddhist practice would gain from reading this book.
I received my copy through Goodreads First Reads program.
I received my copy through Goodreads First Reads program.
December 22, 2014
I enjoyed reading this immensely. As someone who has been reading Buddhist texts, contemporary & classical, for almost 2 decades I've grown a bit jaded, but this is a warm, engaging, personal modern approach to a classic text, a memoir of living with the poem & allowing it to reflect through a life. And a very nice change from banging my head against Buddhist tenet systems.
October 21, 2014
I liked the bite-size chapters and ideas and the way the book makes the old teachings relevant.
April 3, 2015
Great poem with refreshingly simple commentary.
January 8, 2023
Beautiful! This is the best book on Zen Buddhism I have read thus far. I read this slowly to savor its wisdom. It is a book I'll pick up and read again and again as it speaks deeply to my soul.
September 22, 2024
Excellent, clear & helpful dharma.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews