Zen

by D.T. Suzuki

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a key figure in the introduction of Buddhism to the non-Asian world. Many outside of Japan encountered Buddhism for the first time through his writings and teaching, and for nearly a century his work and legacy have contributed to the ongoing religious and cultural interchange between Japan and the rest of the world, particularly the United States and Europe. Selected Works of D. T. Suzuki gathers the full range of Suzuki’s writings—both classic essays and lesser-known but equally significant articles. This first volume in the series presents a collection of Suzuki’s writings on Zen Buddhist thought and practice. In an effort to ensure the continued relevance of Zen, Suzuki drew on his years of study and practice, placing the tradition into conversation with key trends in nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought. Richard M. Jaffe’s in-depth introduction situates Suzuki’s approach to Zen in the context of modern developments in religious thought, practice, and scholarship. The romanization of Buddhist names and technical terms has been updated, and Chinese and Japanese characters, which were removed from many post–World War II editions of Suzuki’s work, have been reinstated. This will be a valuable edition of Suzuki’s writings for contemporary scholars and students of Buddhism.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, Japan, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2014

About the author

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎 Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō; rendered "Daisetz" after 1893) was Professor of Buddhist philosophies at Ōtani University. As a translator and writer on Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, he greatly helped to popularize Japanese Zen in the West.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a textbook. It’s more like what you’d find reading the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy than reading Watts or Zhuangzi or whatever. The scholarly thing isn’t really my bag, and frankly I found the book boring as shit—this is the first time I’ve ever encountered the word “contradistinction,” for example—but it feels wrong to give something like this less than four stars.

For what it’s worth, while it’s sort of neat to understand the historical context of the Warring States period when reading the Tao Te Ching or Zhuangzi, it’s pretty much mandatory to understand the context of exactly who D. T. Suzuki was and who his intended audience was in order to really appreciate this. Otherwise, you’ll be left wondering why a Zen Buddhist spent so much time talking about “God.”