The Zen Eye: A Collection of Zen Talks

by Sokei-An, Huston Smith (Foreword), Mary Farkas (Editor)

Book by Sokei-An

Genres: Spirituality, Buddhism, Zen

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

Reviews

[Slgatlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on Zen that I've found. Sokei-An had a knack for taking ancient eastern concepts and translating them in a way that modern western minds can easily comprehend. This book is a series of informal talks given by Sokei-An in the early 1930's at his Zen Center in New York (which is still there today). These talks were copied down by his students and later edited into this book.
Highly recommended for any serious student of Zen.

[Danny Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more philosophically challenging look at Zen. Not surprising knowing that Sokai was a contemporary of DT Suzuki. Sokai comes from the Rinzai school, so it was nice to read something on Zen from that perspective (as I lean more towards the Soto school.) More interesting is how Sokei frequently references his life amongst Americans in NY, in the 1930's, and what he sees, lifestyle wise, as spiritual deterrents in the West.

[Pan · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty standard pointing toward the More. none of the phrasings seemed particularly interesting/exciting. maybe they will at another time.