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Zen Conversations: The Scope of Zen Teaching and Practice in North America
42 Zen Teachers talk about the scope of Zen teaching and practice in North America ... Discovering Zen / The Function of Zen / Zen Practice / Adapting Zen to the West / Compassionate Action / Ecodharma
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold / Chimyo Atkinson / Mitra Bishop / Melissa Myozen Blacker / Domyo Burk / Shinge Chayat / Wayne Coger / Mike Fieleke / Diane Fitzgerald / Koun Franz / Patrick Gallagher / Genru Gauntt / Bernie Glassman / Sunyana Graef / Ruben Habito / Taigen Henderson / Robert Kennedy / Bodhin Kjolhede / Rebecca Li / Albert Low / David Loy / Elaine MacInnes / Genjo Marinello / Myokyo McLean / Seiho Morris / John Negru / Dang Nghiem / Rinzan Pechovnik / Phap Vu / Dosho Port / Yoshin Radin / Bobbie Rhodes / David Dae An Rynick / Hozan Alan Senauke / Henry Shukman / Shodo Spring / Joan Sutherland / John Tarrant / Robert Waldinger / Rinsen Weik / Zen Mountain Monastery / Tetsugan Zummach
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold / Chimyo Atkinson / Mitra Bishop / Melissa Myozen Blacker / Domyo Burk / Shinge Chayat / Wayne Coger / Mike Fieleke / Diane Fitzgerald / Koun Franz / Patrick Gallagher / Genru Gauntt / Bernie Glassman / Sunyana Graef / Ruben Habito / Taigen Henderson / Robert Kennedy / Bodhin Kjolhede / Rebecca Li / Albert Low / David Loy / Elaine MacInnes / Genjo Marinello / Myokyo McLean / Seiho Morris / John Negru / Dang Nghiem / Rinzan Pechovnik / Phap Vu / Dosho Port / Yoshin Radin / Bobbie Rhodes / David Dae An Rynick / Hozan Alan Senauke / Henry Shukman / Shodo Spring / Joan Sutherland / John Tarrant / Robert Waldinger / Rinsen Weik / Zen Mountain Monastery / Tetsugan Zummach
186 pages, Paperback
Published June 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 6, 2023
A breezy read; multiple teachers' views on Zen.
A strange book in many ways. McDaniel, a publisher of Buddhist lit, decided to interview 42 Zen teachers (mostly US, some Canadians) about what the practice means to them. The book collects snippets of conversation, divided into six chapters, as follows:
1. Discovering Zen: Essentially what led the teachers to the practice. Rather a limp start to the book. Some came through reading the West-Coast beat writers, some through psychedelic drugs, lots by happenstance.
2. The function of Zen: This chapter seems oddly titled, since Zen doesn't have a function in the sense of "gaining" something. The book provides different takes, however, on the old Soto-Rinzai debate of whether actively encouraging kensho through koan or similar practices is better than "just sitting".
3. Zen Practice: Some overlap here with Chapter 2. Looks at the different approaches to Zen across the diversity of the 42 teachers and their respective Zen groups.
4. Adapting Zen to the West: What should American Zen look like? Should it replicate some of the formalities of Japanese Zen? Or completely reinvent itself? Be formalistic? Or free form?
5. Compassionate Action: To what extent should Zen communities actively pursue sangha-based community engagement? Or can one assume that individuals, through Zen practice, will become more compassionate and therefore engaged without any organizing structure?
6. Ecodharma: Essentially an extension of Chapter 5. Does Zen practice lead to a compassionate engagement with other living beings that, in turn, prompts efforts to tackle environmental degradation?
While one applauds McDaniel for taking on this project, there is something scattershot, half-baked about the end result. With each conversation limited to a page or two (and sometimes just a paragraph), we get multiple different, usually unconnected sound-bites from the 42 teachers, rather than a deep-dive into their thinking. The book raises a lot of questions, but doesn't take the reader very far in exploring possible answers. That said, asking questions is often a good start, and warrants the three-star rating rating.
For a more in-depth exploration of different perspectives on American Zen, I'd recommend the now somewhat dated but still good "Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers" by Helen Tworkov.
A strange book in many ways. McDaniel, a publisher of Buddhist lit, decided to interview 42 Zen teachers (mostly US, some Canadians) about what the practice means to them. The book collects snippets of conversation, divided into six chapters, as follows:
1. Discovering Zen: Essentially what led the teachers to the practice. Rather a limp start to the book. Some came through reading the West-Coast beat writers, some through psychedelic drugs, lots by happenstance.
2. The function of Zen: This chapter seems oddly titled, since Zen doesn't have a function in the sense of "gaining" something. The book provides different takes, however, on the old Soto-Rinzai debate of whether actively encouraging kensho through koan or similar practices is better than "just sitting".
3. Zen Practice: Some overlap here with Chapter 2. Looks at the different approaches to Zen across the diversity of the 42 teachers and their respective Zen groups.
4. Adapting Zen to the West: What should American Zen look like? Should it replicate some of the formalities of Japanese Zen? Or completely reinvent itself? Be formalistic? Or free form?
5. Compassionate Action: To what extent should Zen communities actively pursue sangha-based community engagement? Or can one assume that individuals, through Zen practice, will become more compassionate and therefore engaged without any organizing structure?
6. Ecodharma: Essentially an extension of Chapter 5. Does Zen practice lead to a compassionate engagement with other living beings that, in turn, prompts efforts to tackle environmental degradation?
While one applauds McDaniel for taking on this project, there is something scattershot, half-baked about the end result. With each conversation limited to a page or two (and sometimes just a paragraph), we get multiple different, usually unconnected sound-bites from the 42 teachers, rather than a deep-dive into their thinking. The book raises a lot of questions, but doesn't take the reader very far in exploring possible answers. That said, asking questions is often a good start, and warrants the three-star rating rating.
For a more in-depth exploration of different perspectives on American Zen, I'd recommend the now somewhat dated but still good "Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers" by Helen Tworkov.
November 3, 2023
I enjoyed this book, which consists of interviews with Zen teachers in North America. Their perspectives on how to practice and teach Zen in the West are interesting. I practice myself, with a cooperative group that has no teacher, so the doings of teachers are of interest to me. There are a variety of approaches and perspectives shown here. For those who are interested in Zen or practicing it, this book gives some different takes on it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews