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The Last Turtle: Zero, Zen, and the Culmination of Faith
What if faith isn’t belief at all?
In The Last Zero, Zen, and the Culmination of Faith, Jim Redel dismantles one of the most persistent assumptions in both spirituality and everyday life—that faith is about believing in something unseen. Instead, he offers a radically practical alternative: faith is the activity of assigning authority in the face of uncertainty.
Drawing from Zen Buddhism, the teachings of Joshu Sasaki, and the Buddha’s discourse to the Kalamas, this book examines how we continually place trust in sources of authority—tradition, teachers, reason, and even our own direct experience—often without recognizing the underlying process.
Jim traces a clear and compelling progression from reliance on inherited beliefs and institutions to dependence on teachers and personal reasoning, to the authority of direct experience, and ultimately to the instability of the self that claims certainty. At each stage, what seems like solid ground proves provisional.
Rather than rejecting these forms of authority, The Last Turtle shows how they function—and where they fail. Even reason, often treated as the final arbiter of truth, is exposed as limited when held as absolute, creating rigidity and conflict instead of clarity.
At the heart of the book is the concept of Zero—not as a philosophy, but as a description of activity itself. From Zero, all experience arises and returns. Thoughts, identities, beliefs, and even spiritual insights follow this same pattern.
This framework reframes Zen practice entirely. Practice is no longer a means to reach a final answer, but the ongoing activity of self-awakening—an expression of faith that does not depend on certainty.
The culmination of this journey is not a final belief, nor a permanent state of understanding. It is the recognition that all authority—including faith itself—is part of an ongoing process. Nothing fixed. Nothing final. Only activity unfolding.
Written for curious beginners, dedicated practitioners, and long-time students alike, The Last Turtle offers a grounded, systematic approach to understanding Zen—not as mysticism or abstraction, but as something observable, testable, and lived.
If Zen truly works, this book asks a simple but demanding
What, exactly, is it doing—and can you see it for yourself?
In The Last Zero, Zen, and the Culmination of Faith, Jim Redel dismantles one of the most persistent assumptions in both spirituality and everyday life—that faith is about believing in something unseen. Instead, he offers a radically practical alternative: faith is the activity of assigning authority in the face of uncertainty.
Drawing from Zen Buddhism, the teachings of Joshu Sasaki, and the Buddha’s discourse to the Kalamas, this book examines how we continually place trust in sources of authority—tradition, teachers, reason, and even our own direct experience—often without recognizing the underlying process.
Jim traces a clear and compelling progression from reliance on inherited beliefs and institutions to dependence on teachers and personal reasoning, to the authority of direct experience, and ultimately to the instability of the self that claims certainty. At each stage, what seems like solid ground proves provisional.
Rather than rejecting these forms of authority, The Last Turtle shows how they function—and where they fail. Even reason, often treated as the final arbiter of truth, is exposed as limited when held as absolute, creating rigidity and conflict instead of clarity.
At the heart of the book is the concept of Zero—not as a philosophy, but as a description of activity itself. From Zero, all experience arises and returns. Thoughts, identities, beliefs, and even spiritual insights follow this same pattern.
This framework reframes Zen practice entirely. Practice is no longer a means to reach a final answer, but the ongoing activity of self-awakening—an expression of faith that does not depend on certainty.
The culmination of this journey is not a final belief, nor a permanent state of understanding. It is the recognition that all authority—including faith itself—is part of an ongoing process. Nothing fixed. Nothing final. Only activity unfolding.
Written for curious beginners, dedicated practitioners, and long-time students alike, The Last Turtle offers a grounded, systematic approach to understanding Zen—not as mysticism or abstraction, but as something observable, testable, and lived.
If Zen truly works, this book asks a simple but demanding
What, exactly, is it doing—and can you see it for yourself?
136 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 25, 2026
About the author
Jim Redel
5 books24 followersJim began a journey into Zen in 1974, with the reading of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He began a formal practice in 1989, including a 20-year study with the Zen master Joshu Sasaki.
Jim also studied (and continues to study) the martial arts - primarily Aikido, the sword, and the short staff.
Jim also studied (and continues to study) the martial arts - primarily Aikido, the sword, and the short staff.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 4, 2026
An interesting take on the concept of "zen" and the allegory of the turtles riding on the back of other turtles to (very briefly) explain the building of religious concepts upon each other and how faith requires different levels of understanding.
**I received a copy via a goodreads giveaway.
**I received a copy via a goodreads giveaway.
August 17, 2026
This was really interesting. I specifically liked the idea that faith isn't a thing but an activity. When I read that, it just absolutely blew my mind. I had never thought about it like that.
Thank you for the Giveaway.
Thank you for the Giveaway.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews