Christian Zen: A Way of Meditation

by William Johnston

Christian Zen is a ground breaking book for all Christians seeking to deepen and broaden their inner lives. Providing concrete guidelines for a way of Christian meditation that incorporates Eastern insights, it is a helpful book that can open new spiritual vistas and reveal profound, often undreamed-of dimensions of the Christian faith.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Buddhism, Christianity, Philosophy, Nonfiction

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Johnston, a Jesuit missionary living in Japan, has extensive knowledge both of Western spirituality and mysticism and also, through his experiences in Japan, of Eastern spirituality and mysticism, especially Zen Buddhism.

An authority on fourteenth century spirituality, he has translated several works from the contemplative traditions of both East and West, as well as work by the great Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo.

Reviews

[Ovidiu Lechintan · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesantă, dar nu foarte

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having come into Christianity from Zen Buddhism, I was totally ready for and interested in this book.

Overall, it's okay. A nice introduction, not too long or detailed. I'm surprised the author claims a Christian origin because there were a lot of moments when I was rolling my eyes at certain statements. This is not an actual example from the book, but how the book draws analogies, if any time scripture records Jesus as "sitting" the author would see that as a reference to Zen meditation.

So while the book tends to over-reach the analogy between Zen and (mainly) monastic Catholicism, for the most part it points out the very, very real parallels. Both can teach each other something. But that can be said for most all religions and I think this author tends to over-play the similarities a bit too much.

[George Bremner · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re a dharma geek or a faithful Christian, practicing daily prayer, and you’re interested in Zen meditation as another avenue to experience God, then this book is for you. Father William Johnston spent his ministry in Japan and decided to meditate in the Zen Monasteries to better understand the Japanese people. In this small work, he outlines a Christian approach to take the best Zen has to offer and incorporate meditation as a kind of Christian prayer. Basically, Zen uses language to pierce through the veil of conceptuality, to get to the other side of language, and into raw experience. Father Johnston, a proponent of discursive prayer, advocates the Zen approach to get beyond the words of God, the ideas of God or images of God, because these are ultimately imperfect. He wants you to pray without words, ideas or images to get in touch with raw experience, the ground of being, that is for him, God. Zen offers a practice that does just this. Father Johnston takes great pains to note that the mystical side of Christianity in the past had deep contemplative practices, but these practices have been lost, but they can be rediscovered in Christian Zen.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half the time I was thinking “YES!” Full of recognition for what the author was suggesting or discussing. The other half of the time I was all “WTF dude?!?” So probably I’m only smart enough to understand half. That’s cool. It’s probably more than 3 stars but for ME that’s where it landed.

The writing wasn’t super clear or easy to read but that’s typical of this type of book. So that lost a bit in the rating as well. I’d probably peruse this again in a few years to see if I can soak in more of what’s being taught.

[Paolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple book but very important for those who want to have a dialogue beetween western end eastern traditions. For some aspect it could be very basic it should be considered as a "seed", a must read.

[Mark Matzeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I wish I had read a long time ago. But, then, maybe I needed the basis of all the other contemplative manuals to fully appreciate this one.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little book, by an Irish Catholic Japanophile priest, is very much a product of its era (it was published in 1971; he uses the word "psychedelic" in a serious way, for instance). I found it intriguing and valuable in some aspects. But I think Merton is still the best source for Christians interested in mysticism, meditation, and zen. Johnston's writing is heavy-handed at times, and there is a bit of squirrelly theology (or maybe it's just that I don't love Catholicism), but I appreciate the effort. And his love of Japan naturally resonates with me. Thinking about "Iesu, awaremi tamae" during my new-found yoga practice.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author lives in Japan and is part of an ongoing conversation between Christians and Buddhists. As such, he can easily draw connections between the two faiths. I was happy to see that he is of the same philosophy as I: that while it is fine to see similarities between religions one must keep in mind the distinctions as well.

[Amos Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnston was an early pioneer in Christian Meditation. He explored Zen with vigor, then looked at the New Testament through the lens of Zen. I thoroughly appreciate Father Johnston's work. This book has a number of deep insights into the heart of Christian Contemplative Tradition.
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intense study of Zen meditation in light of Christian mysticism. This has become a classic in Christian spiritual practice of deepening and broadening one's inner lives. Johnston is really a great spiritual writer and it is hard to resist reading his works

[Allyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first work I read on Zen for Christians. Fr William Johnston, an Irish, charismatic Jesuit priest, lived most of his life in Japan. This thin introduction is a modern classic.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for Christians who are also interested in Eastern thought and incorporating Zen meditation techniques into their spiritual practice.

[Roderick Vesper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to be honest, I didn't even finish this one. It has some wonderful insights and points to raise in the beginning. But it starts to feel repetitive and a little forced for me.

[Scott Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny bit dated at this point, but extremely readable, humble, and clear-headed, and full of delightful quotations from Zen literature.