The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow

by Joey Green

Does The Wizard of Oz touch a spiritual chord in each one of us because it has a certain Zen to it? Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, is clearly a Zen Master. She sets Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road to spiritual enlightenment. When Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion let go of their conscious yearning and free their minds to function spontaneously and inharmony with the cosmos, brains, heart, and courage flow easily and effortlessly. Ultimately, Dorothy attains satori, the Zen experience of "awakening." She finds her true Self, her higher consciousness, her ultimate Oneness with the cosmos--and her home.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Spirituality

144 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Joey Green, a former contributing editor to National Lampoon and a former advertising copywriter at J. Walter Thompson, is the author of more than sixty (yes, sixty) books, including Not So Normal Norbert with James Patterson, Last-Minute Travel Secrets, Last-Minute Survival Secrets, Contrary to Popular Belief, Clean It! Fix It! Eat It!, the best-selling Joey Green's Magic Brands series, The Mad Scientist Handbook series, The Zen of Oz, and You Know You've Reached Middle Age If...—to name just a few.

Joey has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and The View. He has been profiled in the New York Times, People magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and he has been interviewed on hundreds of radio shows.

A native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of Cornell University—where he was the political cartoonist on the Cornell Daily Sun and founded the campus humor magazine, the Cornell Lunatic (still publishing to this very day)—Joey lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Scarecrow...The Tin Man...The Cowardly Lion...Dorothy - are they seeking externally for what they need when they should be looking within? This book will help you on your own path - even if it isn't paved with yellow bricks. Love books like this that tie together two very different perspectives!

[luciddreamer99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I would like this at first, but in the middle of reading it I realized it was a neat little book. Besides the references to The Wizard of Oz film, the book has a lot of quotes from Zen philosophy and Lao Tzu. While the message of the book might seem simplistic, the author explains that the enlightenment offered by Zen philosophy is often complicated by explaining it. Fans of Wicked might not enjoy the portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West as a one-dimensional selfish bully as foil for Glinda's enlightened Zen master, but the interpretation is fair considering the film version of the story. Also, the linear presentation of philosophies follows the story of the film a little too closely, though the presentation is perhaps appropriate, as a journey to enlightenment is paralleled in Dorothy's journey to find the Wizard and, of course, a way home.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everytime I find a copy of this book I buy it and give it to a friend. Its such a gem.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat of a book. Not too over the top of "self help"....just a nice way to blend the taoist philosophy with this special story. It just made me smile to learn who the ultimate Zen Master was in the story and made complete sense in the lesson learned!

[Valerie Tourangeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little book!! I have watched the movie the Wizard of OZ too many times to count and Zen wisdom really speaks to my soul so this was the perfect combination of spiritual and fun reading combined. I'll read it again. I also have 2 personal rating categories -highlights and write in margins and so far this book is had highlights on every page that I will revisit often (and then most likely start writing in the margins because it's that sort of a book. The kind of book you absorb differently each time you read it.

[Adam Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this little book!

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful spiritual extension to the book/movie we grew up with.

[Akilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a long time to read for such a slim volume, but it did contain some neat insight.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the Wizard of Oz and you appreciate Zen teachings, then you will probably get a kick out of this book.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

FUN and thought provoking! I've utilized this book as a catalyst for many dharma talks I've led. Makes a great gift!

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted this lovely book by a regular at my work place who knows that my Wizard Of Oz obsession runs wild and runs deep. As a Oz collector and "historian" of sorts - I was so excited to read this book that I honestly hadn't seen before. What a wonderful treat it was. Full of positive affirmations and life lessons. All based on Dorothy's trip over the rainbow. Some of these passages are going directly into my journal as things to look back on when I am unsure of myself. Such a lovely little book. 10/10

[Tiabtawan Limjittrakorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

หนังสือเอาเรื่องของอลิซ มาตีความในแบบเซน
ทั้งการใช้สัญญะ แก่นของแต่ละส่วนของหนังสือ และแรงจูงใจของตัวละคร
ก็เพลินดี ทำให้อยากกลับไปอ่านอลิซอีกรอบเลย

[Brian Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read linking Zen motifs with a timeless tale. At times, I felt Zen was imposed on the story, but rarely.

Zen is easy to see in "The Wizard of Oz," for Zen, in its pure form, is simply the simplicity and wisdom of Life, nothing special or not-special, embedded in some manner in any great tale of adventure.

This is a light read, speaking to the universals that make the adventure from and back to Kansas timeless. And "Kansas" means so much more than Kansas.

The treatise aptly concludes: "There's no place like home." And, like Dorothy, we have to find out what "home" means by experience. The Good Witch of the North, Glinda, proves to be the Zen Master who refuses to indoctrinate Dorothy, but somewhat misleadingly, in apt Buddhist fashion, propels her onto the journey to discover for herself, knowing that is the only real discovery.

[Sandra Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. The whole premise was taken from the movie not the book. Credits and from which translations of the Zen sage, Seng-ts'an and the Tao Te Ching were not given where as credits and permissions were given from Warner Brothers for the movie quotes. I found the wood cuts by the artist Cathy Pavia showing the characters from a Japanese view to be distracting and annoying. J. Green explaining what Baum meant from the movie version also annoyed me. I had hoped for better.

[Felgona Adhiambo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Wizard of Oz a while back but didn't really like it all that much. I'm not sure I like it any better after reading the Zen of Oz but I do have more appreciation of its interpretation. This book has some great life principles from Taoism philosophy that are simple enough to take up. Great read!!

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed this title, which I found somewhat disappointing. Not sure what I was expecting, but what I "got" wasn't what I expected. Sigh. Guess it's best not to have expectations when picking up a book!

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it. I was only able to muscle through half the book before I had to stop. It could not hold my interest and felt like it was repeating itself a bit much. I rather go back and read Tao of Pooh for a 5th time.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent intro to zen ideas using the movie as examples.

[Jennifer Kyrnin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to get into.

[Michelle Berges · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay... Nothing I haven't really read before. Props for the effort of linking the story of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz to the Zen philosophies. Overall, I wasn't impressed.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, fun Zen interpretation of Oz.