The Little Book of Zen: Sayings, Parables, Meditations & Haiku

by David Schiller

Updated, revised, with a new cover, new trim size, and illustrations throughout, the national bestseller The Little Zen Companion, with 516,000 copies in print, is repackaged for a new generation of seekers as The Little Book of Zen . A perfect gift and book of discovery, its maverick spirit celebrates ideas drawn from Zen Buddhism that have tremendous currency today: mindfulness, meditation, compassion, paying attention to the here and now, and finding a deeper meaning in life.

While it seeks neither to define Zen nor answer its most famous koan (“What is the sound of one hand clapping?”), The Little Book of Zen  points to a calming way of looking at the world. Each page features a quote, phrase, story, koan, haiku, or poem, interspersed with essays on the Buddha, Zen arts, significant masters, and more. The feeling is that of a meditation book with 2,500 years of wisdom—from Lao-tzu to Lily Tomlin. It’s a celebration of intuition: “If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.”—St. John the Cross. Individuality: “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.”—Basho.  And self-discovery: “We already have everything we need.”—Pema Chödrön.

New material is taken from contemporary spiritual leaders, writers, meditation teachers, and others with an emphasis on the practice of mindfulness—on the heart, rather than the head. Pen and ink illustrations from the author bring an additional layer of feeling and beauty.
 

Genres: Reference

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Curtis Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little book filled with Zen sayings and other phrases, parables, &c meant to incite satori. There are some thinkers in here and some seemingly obvious statements — very emblematic of Zen itself. It pulls from a number of sources and backgrounds for its collection which ultimately comes together in a wonderful package.

I read this as a book (ie, front to back), but I think this is much more suited for bibliomancy or otherwise finding a phrase or mantra to meditate or ruminate about.

[Sandeep Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful gem of a book. I like the format....very zen-like format.....consists primarily of quotes, zen koans, zen mondos, haiku/poems, zen stories and parables and some small write-ups on important figures, etc.

Loved the juxtaposition of ideas and thoughts at times .... elucidating the paradoxical nature of Zen.

Not to be read in a hurry, but to read and reflect and keep revisiting for inspiration/ action. A must-read.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly a waste of time. Some of it did not make sense. I did find a few good insights about life.

[Faith Tydings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love quotes and this book is nothing but quotes. Quotes from people I’d never heard of and quotes that I’ve heard a million times. This is a great book of quotes!

[Milton Antwon Holden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for daily Zen reads.

[Anh Lê · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Cuốn sách nhỏ' nhưng ko nhỏ chút nào, giống như mỗi hạt cát bao hàm cả vũ trụ

Nhiều bài sâu sắc quá, ko dễ để hiểu ngay đc

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this little gem in a Little Free Library that I was donating books to. I had so much fun reading this and, it's been especially interesting to read the pages that the previous reader turned over and to see what was meaningful to them :) So many pearls of wisdom in here! Now it will be shared in my own Heartland Little Free Library :)