Only Don't Know: Selected Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn

by Zen Master Seung Sahn

Here is the inimitable Zen Master Seung Sahn up close and personal—in selections from the correspondence that was one of his primary modes of teaching. Seung Sahn received hundreds of letters per month, each of which he answered personally, and some of the best of which are included here. His frank and funny style, familiar to readers of Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, is seen here in a most intimate form. The beloved Zen master not only answers questions on Zen teaching and practice, but applies an enlightened approach to problems with work, relationships, suffering, and the teacher-student relationship.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, Philosophy, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Essays, Religion

230 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book left a deep imprint years back. Teacher Seung Saha passed on a few years ago. . Just happily restarted it as a daily practice It starts with healing.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide for Zen students who are learning and need a Zen Master. This book is a series of letter exchanges between the Zen master & his students - it's like having your own private Zen teaching & master. Great book to understand what other students are thinking about when it comes to Zen & teaching. It is a nice read to keep you focused on your studies & help you.

[Yuhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excerpts from the book.

P16
You say you are doing Kwan Seum Bosal whenever you are not doing anything else with your mind. This is not good, not bad. I ask you: where is your center? That is most important. If you don’t lose your center, then any action is no problem. Also, how strong is your center? I tell you, when you are doing something, do it. When you are doing something 100 percent, this is your center; this is clear mind. But be very careful. If you keep your ideas, your condition, or your situation, you will lose your center to any action you are doing.

P36
In your letter, you said you have no choice about any food or any action, and that you are dependent on everyone, but that your mind is not dependent on anything. That is wonderful. This is correct Zen sickness; sick time, only sick. No choice, no checking, not dependent, only sick. Then sick is not sick. This is high-class practice and a high-class education.

P87—reply to a student on conflict with Jewish parents about Buddhist practice and wedding.
I read your letter. I understand your mind. I also understand your parents’ mind. Both are correct. You have your opinion. Your parents have their opinion. Your opinion and your parents’ opinion are in conflict, so you have a problem, if you make your opinion disappear, then there will be no problem. That is Zen. Then your mind will be very wide and can take care of your parents’ opinion. But if you keep your opinion, you cannot take care of your parents’ ideas. When your opinion disappear, your mind will be clear like space, and you can digest any idea, any opinion. . . .

You and Peter are already strong Zen students. But, Zen mind is not Zen mind. That is, if you are attached to Zen mind, then you have a problem, and your way is very narrow. Throwing away Zen mind is correct Zen mind. Only keep the question, ‘What is the best way of helping other people?’ If your wedding is only for you, then you are holding onto your idea, in the same way that your mother holds her idea. but if you keep the mind, ‘My wedding is only for other people,’ then this mind is already beyond time and space, life and death, good and bad, likes and dislikes. . . . If you keep just-now mind, then you can keep your correct situation and help other people moment to moment.

. . . But you are attached to Zen, so you have the same kind of narrow opinion that your mother has. Put down that mind. . . . First, follow your parents’ idea. But don’t lose your correct direction. Then following their idea is truth. The great way has no gate. If you don’t lose your direction, and keep a wide mind that only wants to help other people, the tongue has no bone.

. . . So what is a daughter’s responsibility? When you are with your parents, keep 100 percent-helping-your-parents mind. Helping your parents is very necessary. When you are with Peter, keep a wife’s mind 100 percent. Moment to moment, keep your correct situation. Any outside action is no problem—why do you do the action. If ‘why’ is clear, then any action is already great Bodhisattva action. So don’t make Zen a narrow way. There is no gate, no path, so any way and Zen’s way become one.

If you correctly understand Zen, you understand your true self. If you understand your true self, and if you are Christian, then correct Christianity is possible. . . It is only when people are attached to their opinions that they cannot find correct Christianity, Judaism, Communism, or anything.

Your mother makes Judaism narrow. But God made everything. So anyway is God’s way; everything has God-nature. Then God’s way is very wide and has no hindrance. So if you correctly teach everyday mind, then maybe your mother will open her mind and understand your actions and mind. Then for you and your mother, for you and your whole family, there will be no problem.

I hope you only go straight—don’t know, throw away your Zen mind, get enlightenment, and save all beings from suffering.

[Paul Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In your letter you said you are in jail. That is a wonderful Zen center! I also have been in jail. Maybe that jail made me become a Zen master. Perhaps jail will also make you become a Zen master! ... Zen is not special. If you make something, if you make "special,” then you have something: you have "special.” But this something, this "special” cannot help you. Put it all down. What are you doing right now? When you are doing something, you must do it. Most people only half-experience things, because their mind is carrying the weight of some previous experience, thought, or feeling. So they cannot connect with other people and this world. But when you put it all down and just do it, from moment to moment, then you are already complete. Then you will find your primary point. Then you will understand your correct situation and your correct job. To do this must only go straight — don't know it doesn't matter if you are in jail or out of jail; already you will have freedom from life and death. ... In your letter, you also said that is noisy in your prison cell, so you have a problem when you meditate. If you mind is noisy, even if you go to a mountaintop, it is noisy. If your mind is not noisy, even if you are in a busy factory, it is very quiet. How you keep your just-now mind is very important. You check inside, and you check outside — checking, checking, checking — so you have many questions. Put it all down. Then the whole universe is very quiet."

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A not-know, straight ahead book

This book provides many insights into the world of Zen Buddhism. The concept of beginners mind, not-know attitude is particularly powerful.

[P.J. Dexheimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not so good Not so bad.

[Elisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though Seung Sahn says reading a book more than once not necessary, I'm tempted.

'Only read it once, then go straight, don't know'

[Duncan Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

What are you doing reading???

Just go straight: only don't-know mind.

May you get enlightenment quickly and save all beings from suffering.

[Wade Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only Don’t Know: Selected Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn offers a clear, direct introduction to Zen Buddhism through a collection of letters written by one of the most influential Zen teachers in the West. Rather than presenting abstract philosophy, Seung Sahn communicates Zen principles through practical advice, short dialogues, and personal responses to students’ real struggles with meditation, relationships, and everyday life. The book’s central teaching—“only don’t know”—emphasizes humility, openness, and direct experience over intellectual understanding.

Seung Sahn’s writing style is simple and conversational, reflecting Zen’s focus on clarity rather than complexity. His teachings repeatedly challenge readers to let go of rigid thinking, ego-driven concerns, and the desire for certainty. By encouraging students to return to the present moment and respond appropriately to each situation, he presents Zen as a lived practice rather than a purely spiritual or academic pursuit. The letters format makes the lessons feel personal and accessible, as if the reader is receiving guidance directly from the teacher.

Despite its simplicity, the book carries significant depth. Seung Sahn addresses universal human concerns such as suffering, attachment, fear, and compassion, grounding them in everyday examples rather than abstract doctrine. His emphasis on meditation, ethical action, and responsibility to others highlights Zen not as an escape from the world, but as a way of engaging with it more clearly and compassionately.

Overall, Only Don’t Know is a thoughtful and approachable work that makes Zen teachings accessible to both beginners and experienced practitioners. Its emphasis on direct experience, openness, and mindful action offers lasting insight into how letting go of certainty can lead to greater clarity, balance, and understanding in daily life.

[darío hereñú · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that the merit of this book is that it is extremely simple: lots of letters between students & alumni and a zen master. From one side (between all) a permanent pursuit: temperance, self-communion, inner calm, free state of mind (no mind, Sir! a-mind-only-don´t-know!).
Secretly, I found on page 177, maybe, the best letter that I've ever seen.
Pure zen.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the letters compiled in this bk are from 1970s-era American dharma students who write to Zen Master Seung Sahn with their "Me Decade" 70's problems and hang-ups, and to see him lovingly smack them down/wake them up is illuminating and funny at the same time.

[Kimberly]

One you can read again and again and be reminded of how to keep life simple.

[Fred Leland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning through life is all about keeping and open or beginners mind set. This book will help you to understand and guide you how to do just that.

[Gabriel Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t know

[Ross Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating and hilarious.