Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist

by D.T. Suzuki

If the Western world knows anything about Zen Buddhism, it is down to the efforts of one remarkable man, D.T. Suzuki. The twenty-seven year-old Japanese scholar first visited the West in 1897, and over the course of the next seventy years became the world's leading authority on Zen. His radical and penetrating insights earned him many disciples, from Carl Jung to Allen Ginsberg, from Thomas Merton to John Cage. In Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist Suzuki compares the teachings of the great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart with the spiritual wisdom of Shin and Zen Buddhism. By juxtaposing cultures that seem to be radically opposed, Suzuki raises one of the fundamental questions of human experience: at the limits of our understanding is there an experience that is universal to all humanity? Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist is a book that challenges and inspires; it will benefit readers of all religions who seek to understand something of the nature of spiritual life.

Genres: Religion, Philosophy, Mysticism, Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Christianity

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎 Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō; rendered "Daisetz" after 1893) was Professor of Buddhist philosophies at Ōtani University. As a translator and writer on Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, he greatly helped to popularize Japanese Zen in the West.

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

God in Zen Buddhism

I have not finished this book but it is quite interesting in that DT Suzuki who brought Zen Buddhism to the west Says that there is a God and that we have souls. He also talks about the heavens and the hells and trance migration into various animals Transmigration is supposed to be a punishment.

I find this interesting because when I was in Zen Buddhism I believed in God and I believed in the soul but they did not. They accepted me anyway. My question is this, Did Buddhism change when it came to the west? Is this when it became an atheist religion? And yet Tibetan Buddhism has always believed in gods and demons and the various Hell's.

I am curious enough to Finish
this book. But I must say while I do believe in God, I do not believe that God is judgmental or punishes, and I do not believe in karma.

When going to the Zen monastery I made friends with a monk, and we used to sit out in the gazebo after meditation to talk. He said that he was told that he would come back as a dog because he missed his dogs too much. He also said that he did not see anything wrong with coming back as a dog because many are treated with kindness. I said that I did not see anything wrong with coming back as say, A. dung beetle. They do not know that they are being punished. They probably enjoy their life Also, I would find it interesting to come back as every creature on earth just to see how each of them feels.

Update. This God is like the God in The VEDAS. in that you are God. He also said that if we did not have evil we would not have good and therefore we would not exist. Heaven or Peerland in Buddhism is with in you. It is a state of mind. I suppose hell is the same.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd previously read some Eckhardt, at least extracts, so had some idea of the comparisons Suzuki was drawing here between the former's idiosyncratic Christianity and Zen Buddhism, comparisons supportive of Huxley's perennial philosophy claims. Unlike Christianity, Japanese Buddhism does not have a penchant for condemning mysticism and persecuting mystics.

[NosNos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good examination of some common ground between Meister Eckhart and Zen buddhism; but all over the place, fragmented, bizarrely structured, all around incoherent at points. Has a stupefying effect where all the words stop making sense due to how often their repeated. Suzuki often launches into tangents without background, context, or clear trajectories. I still don't exactly know who Saichi is, but I like to think he is a provincial sage in the style of Daoist hicks. Frustrating book in the sense that you constantly have the sensation that you're about to be elucidated on something, but then Suzuki pivots to a new discourse. Some effort is put into explaining the terms, but it's not a consistent one. Most definitely not an introduction of any kind, but requires some background knowledge to know what is being opposed and compared. Maybe, as another reviewer mentioned, this is a bad place to start with Suzuki because it makes him seem unsystematic, prone to overly generous analogy, and somewhat careless. He is not as careful as one ought to be when is doing comparative religion: his claim of Eckhart's mystical notion of God being close to buddhist Emptiness is surface level and does not consider the enormous challenge of trying to carry-over concepts from very different religious traditions. On top of it, an uncharitable interpretation of non-mystical Christianity and an opposition to what is embodied and this-worldly marks Suzuki as still not disentangled from dogmatic thinking as one might hope for a book like this.

Book's strongest points are not when discussing inscrutable mondos (Buddhist Q & As) or beating you over the head with the ineffectual nature of language to describe or contain the grand mysticisms, but when Suzuki endeavours to show what might this mysticism actually mean with regards to our perception and interpretation of life (the sanctity of the world, animals and plants being imbued with moral significance, what an experience of the eternal in everyday life might look like), IE, the phenomenology of sagehood.

[Alexa Tanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up as it seemed to cover two of my very keen interests; the mysticism of Meister Eckhardt and Buddhism. This is the first Suzuki I have read, and as it was so closely related to my tastes I thought it would make a good starting point. However, I was quite wrong and I think I probably should have begun elsewhere.

First of all, this book doesn't really seem to be intended to have been published as a book. It's more of a collection of small sketches (you can't really call them essays) that loosely relate to each other. It starts off quite promisingly by analysing certain quotes from Eckhardt and making rough comparisons to Buddhist philosophy, however the fragmentary nature of the book soon kicks in and this format is quickly lost. Instead, we get tangential explorations of different Buddhist concepts that don't really seem to go anywhere and come out of nowhere, too.

The editors at Routledge could have done a much better job. It is all well and good publishing a collection of fragments or short essays if they cohere and form a.. well, collection. But here we begin with comparative religious studies and end with extracts that (rather narrow-mindedly, I have to say) condemn aspects of Christianity against those of Buddhism. This would have been more understandable if they had been introduced with an editor's note to give context, but nothing of the sort comes about. Very disappointing, and more crucially, quite misleading for people new to Buddhism.

I will say that I enjoyed the extracts from Saichi's journals, a folk-Buddhist text that I didn't know about previously, and Suzuki's commentary on them. But this is a really small portion of the book that has little to do with the opening premise.

At most, the reader might find extracts from Eckhardt that are inspiring, and will prompt further reading into his work. Even then, I wouldnt recommend this as a starting point for Suzuki, Eckhardt, nor Buddhism. Having said this I won't give up on Suzuki and i'll be trying out his Introduction to Zen Buddhism quite soon as a better known book that has greater reputation.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was great. I had to take it slow and kind of break from it - read some lighter fiction in between parts. I had some great moments of insight and clarity while reading. He talked a lot about the nothingness of Buddhism and how it is mistakenly compared to nihilism... at one point I had a beautiful image in my head, an understanding of the idea he was trying to illustrate. The idea of returning to the no thing ness of before we were us. And I saw a drop of water that splashes out of the ocean, is separate & experiences all that it does as it flies through the air, apart from the vast body of water, then it returns again and the rest of the water doesn't see it as separate, the other drops don't say Oh we missed you... there are no other drops. It's all one vast seamless body of water. All one. Kind of abstract I know. And not exactly the stuff of light reading. But if you're interested in some deep thought about eastern philosophy compared to christianity... you might really like it. I did. Anyway, going to CA last week and seeing the ocean again was a wonderful reminder of that feeling I got upon understanding the metaphor of the water. I miss the ocean.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way back in my classical studies in college, I was convinced there was some connection between Eastern and Western philosophy, but couldn’t find anything specific. Little did I know then that such a mystical connection between Zen Buddhism and an alchemical reading of the Apocrypha through Meister Eckhart would reveal some much about what I wanted to know about time, space and spirit. No easy answers found in the elusive questions raised on either end, but safe to agree with Hamlet’s assessment of more things in heaven and earth than dreamt of, you know, in philosophy.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is one of the most interesting books on comparative religions that I have encountered. He takes a pretty unorthodox example of Christian theology in Meister Eckhart, but still the connections between his approach to prayer and Zen are fascinating. Suzuki is a Zen master himself, and his writing is clear, humorous and unselfconscious. A good introduction to some of the more complex ideas of a superficially simple philosophy.

[Amé · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very impressed by Suzuki's treatise on the subject of Christian and Buddhist Mysticism, me coming from a Christian background. Having some familiarity with the Christian mystical tradition I felt greatly inspired and fascinated by reading about the Pure Land mystical Buddhist tradition and practices. I was left with a deep sense of reverence and peace.

[Dan Lurie]

Some of this book was admittedly over my head, but I enjoyed the comparison between Eckhart's teachings and Buddhism.

[Jan Goericke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found D.T. Suzuki while reading Thomas Merton's "Zen and the Birds of Appetite" as a discussion on the parallels between Catholicism and Zen Buddhism, especially the sermons and writing of Master Eckert. I was curious on which level these otherwise contradictory religions could be compared. As a non-religious person, I also gained additional insight into the meaning and 'mechanisms' for religious faith. I am very interested in Buddhism as a secular life philosophy as it does not require any mysticism while providing powerful techniques, rituals, and believes for everyday life. Although Zen Buddhism seems unnecessary abstract or removed from life, I got a glimpse into it meaning and working.

"The religious consciousness is awakened when we encounter a network of great contradictions running through our human life. When this consciousness comes to itself we feel as if our being were on the verge of a total collapse. We cannot regain the sense of security until we take hold of something overriding the contradictions."

I found the comparison of some of the pillars of Christianity and Buddhism demonstrated in the quotes below very interesting. D.T. Suzuki discusses the differences in life philosophies/religion between the East and West. Where the Christian belief emphasizes on the individual (ie., the suffering of one for the salvation of all), Eastern religions and philosophies emphasize on the human as part of a greater 'system' with suffering arising from attachment on things, events, and circumstances which are always changing and out of individual control. I think this distinction is important in the present to understand many aspects of a globalized, multi-cultural world. I understood that although I am non-religious, I was raised in Europe with the backdrop of Christian values morphed into a mainly secular society. So, even if I do not share Christian believes, my thinking and values were influenced by this religion. For example, I am deeply individualistic.

"Buddhism has three principal figures, symbolising (1) nativity, (2) enlightenment, and (3) Nirvana, that is standing, sitting, and lying – the three main postures man can assume. From this we see that Buddhism is deeply concerned with human affairs in various forms of peaceful employment and not in any phase of warlike activities."

"Christians would say that crucifixion means crucifying the self or the flesh, since without subduing the self we cannot attain moral perfection. This is where Buddhism differs from Christianity."

A short book which is really worth a read if you are on a similar quest.

[Joseph Schrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I confess that this book, “Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist”, left me feeling as if I were engaging in a waste of time by reading it. Meister Eckhart did not represent Christianity as it was taught by its founders or its later adherents. Daisetz Suzuki tried to render Buddhism compatible with Christianity by resorting to comparing the teachings of an extremely eccentric “Christian” theologian, who bordered on condemnation as a heretic by his own church, with the near-nihilistic teachings of some Buddhists.

After having finished this book, which, by the way, ended with appendices on “Namu-Amida-Butsu” (utter incoherence and contradictions), I was left asking myself questions like, “Did Eckhart believe in the existence of a human soul or spirit that survives the demise of the physical body?”, “Did Eckhart believe in personal prayer to a Divine Being by whom one can be inspired and empowered?”, “What do Buddhists really believe ‘happens’ to a person when he or she achieves ‘Nirvana’? Is there any CONSCIOUSNESS, any awareness of experiencing some sort of reality?”, etc.

Rather than the book succeeding at making reasonable comparisons between Christian and Buddhist mysticism, I finished this book with the impression that the author had hijacked an extremely eccentric and vague version of Christianity and tried to fit it into Buddhist philosophy, much of which seems to me to totter on the edges of nihilism. I would not recommend this book for theology or philosophy. By my reckoning, it represents a failed endeavor – this possibly being the harshest review I’ve ever done of any book I read.

[Mad Russian the Traveller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting contrast and comparison of the two religions. There are profound mysteries in the eternal, and the glimpses into various mysterious aspects of reality afforded by this book gave much to contemplate for me in time to come. I shall read this again.
The discussion of the transmigration of souls was interesting, but in practical terms it devolves to a scheme of earning your way to heaven. Any method of earning your way to heaven is like the purgatory scheme in the Roman church in that it minimizes how egregious and damaging sin is. The concept of the sinfulness of mankind is mocked by the world. This sin is primarily a moral failure to live up to the impossibly high standards that God has revealed to us. Sin is not the evilness of matter; God likes matter--He created an entire universe of matter. Individuation is not evil either, since God ordained more than 7 billion unique individuals to live upon the earth (not counting those who lived in the past).
I will still think about the mysteries discussed in this book, but I raise a red flag when any human (other than Jesus Christ) claims to have transcended their personal sin and short-comings to attain enlightenment. We can get a glimpse of mysteries, but we still need a remedy for our sin.
{And that remedy is found in Christ.}

P.S. Another great thing about this book is the discovery of other new writers; thanks to Mr. Suzuki for introducing me to the poet, Thomas Traherne!

[Jake Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suzuki's essays construct a compelling dialectic between Meister Eckhart’s radical Christian mysticism and Buddhist thought. The book illuminates unexpected parallels—linking Eckhart's apophatic "Godhead beyond God" with concepts like śūnyatā and non-duality—pointing towards a universal reality transcending doctrine.

While the initial comparisons are insightful, the analysis culminates powerfully in the final chapters on the Pure Land mystic Saichi. Interpreted through a Jungian lens, Saichi’s ecstatic dialogues with Amida ("It is Amida who is chanting Amida!") shift from comparative religion to depth psychology. Saichi's raw exchanges exemplify the ego's encounter with the archetypal Self, Amida becoming a numinous symbol of the unconscious drawing the ego toward transformative wholeness (unio mystica). The Pure Land, then, is revealed not as a distant paradise but the immediate unconscious, where Saichi's nembutsu signifies ego surrender.

This Jungian reading clarifies Suzuki’s core thesis: diverse mystical experiences—Eckhart's "birth of the Son," Saichi's communion—reveal a shared psychic-noetic architecture, subtly underscoring Suzuki's own influence as a bridge between Eastern thought and Western psychology.

[Sean P. Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

I was looking for something on mysticism and discovered that this little tome was not exactly what I was expecting but it proved to be right up my alley. There is extensive comparison between schools of thought and definite levels of religious complexity are explored. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of religion. It's a cheap thrill, but it's packed with mercy and love. Enjoy!

[Jarizleifr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very comfortable read, even if the subject material is pretty heavy and requires active thought. I've been reading this back to back with a collection of Meister Eckhart's works and it really paid off. This book is like philosophical glue that makes you see both sides in a new light. Absolutely recommended for any religious scholars interested in mysticism.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting treatise on Zen Buddhism, especially in contrast to medieval theologian Meister Eckhart. He compares and contrasts the mysticism of Christianity with the mysticism of Zen Buddhism.

[Flora Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

2015/12/2

[Ala · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief but enlightening look into the bridging between Buddhism and Christianity. Showing that humans spirituality and beliefs are more similar than we wish to admit.

[cindy]

Read chapters 1 "Meister Eckhart and Buddhism" and 3 "'A Little Point' and Satori" for Kenosis.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compares Meister Eckhart with Zen. Library book. Referenced through Thomas Merton's book on the parallels with Zen.

[Greg Jarmiolowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

He was popular but not a very good writer. Explanations were all very unclear.

[Michael Tesfaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

The appendices are great. One that discusses Trisnā and another one that compares crucifixion and nirvana are great. I did not like how much Eckhart dependent Suzuki is. Over all the good read.

[Rajaa Bokhari · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of the book was more exciting than the actual content, which was fragmented, incoherent, and inconsistent. I just could not understand how this book got past an editor. Instead of doing justice to the subject it claimed to cover, the book made it an exercise in patience. You could tell the book intended to inspire its readers, but it seemed to have presumed this instead of making the actual effort to do so. It started strong but lost the thread completely. Overall, extremely disappointing and difficult to finish, though I will be pursuing both studies in Buddhism and Suzuki's work elsewhere.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe that you are able to come to a clearer understanding of mysticism when D.T Suzuki compares Christian and Buddhist mysticism. You find that there are many more similarities than differences between these two philosophies. I believe the central theme uniting both these philosophies is that there is only one "Reality". Meister Eckhart, the great Christian Mystic, states that there is an "Absolute" which he calls the "Absolute Nothingness". In contrast, "God", "relativity", is "something". This is expressed in Buddhist terms as "Trisna", the basis of all existence. Trisna is even before existence and is not yet a "what". Trisna can be called the pure will. Trisna with a small t may be described as "nature" or the manifestation of "Trisna".
In section II of the book under Appendices-section VIII,IX,X, the book becomes somewhat difficult to understand as proper defintions are not provided for Buddhist terms; however, notwithstanding the foregoing, the author gives a cogent and compelling synthesis of these two great schools of thought and offers insight into the difficult subject of mysticism. I would highly recommend this book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but pretty deep and abstract, I got about a fourth of the way through and it was just too tough so I put it way on the back burner. Maybe I'll get back to it some day.

[Adota2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read few pages of this excellent book- its sad that I lend it to a freind and still waiting for its return :( But the good part is I have a very clear idea of what the author wishes us to learn.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but obscure topic.

[George Burks]

Very deep I mean deep Zen and Christian (Meister Eckhart), ideas on spirituality, religion of both paths, and more! However, I did learn a lot of stuff on my own personal path.