The Social Organization of Zen Practice: Constructing Transcultural Reality

by David L. Preston

Preston provides both a first-hand account and a theoretical analysis of the way an American Zen community works. The form Zen practice takes in the United States is described in detail through close study of two Zen groups in southern California. Preston leads readers through the buildings and grounds of a Zen residential community and introduces them to the main forms of Zen practice, paying special attention to the styles and implications of meditation. The book's second half develops a theory of the nature of religious reality as it is shared by Zen practitioners. Prestonattempts to explain how this reality--based on a group's ethnography yet at the same time transcending it--relates to meditation and other elements of Zen practice by drawing on the notions of ritual, practice, emotions, and the unconscious found in the writings of Pierre Bourdieu, Randall Collins, Erving Goffman, and Emile Durkheim.

190 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 1988

Reviews

[A. Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in 2003, and as I recall it focused on the social pressures exerted on lay Zen practitioners during meditation retreats.

Zen rituals (eating, chanting, bowing) are sufficiently subtle and complex that a relaxed, mindful state is required to correctly perform them. Preston argues that since we all watch each other during these rituals, if only out of the corners of our eyes, practitioners know each others' degree of mindfulness in a given moment. And since we know we ourselves are being watched, it motivates us to practice mindfulness diligently, if only so we don't slip up in public.

When I read this, I found this insightful. I'd practiced Zen for two years. These days, I wonder if what Preston describes is anything but a brief phase. His vision of Zen is rather Calvinistic: because outward behavior implies inner salvation, everyone tries to act like they're saved.

But in my own experience, I don't spend much time watching others during a Zen retreat, and I worry little how they're judging me. The motivations Preston felt are useful early on, but I think we need to relax as quickly as possible, and just perform the rituals well for their own sake.