Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few." So begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it’s all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that’s just the beginning. In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics—from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality—in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice, and it is now available to a new generation of seekers in this fortieth anniversary edition, with a new afterword by Shunryu Suzuki’s biographer, David Chadwick. |
Contents
Beginners Mind | 1 |
Right Practice
| 5 |
Right Attitude
| 35 |
Right Understanding
| 85 |
Zen Mind
| 127 |
Afterword by David Chadwick
| 135 |
Back Cover
| 152 |
Other editions - View all
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice Shunryu Suzuki Limited preview - 2006 |
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice Shunryu Suzuki No preview available - 2006 |
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind--Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice Shunryu Suzuki No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
accept actually appreciate attached attain enlightenment attitude aware become Beginner’s Mind big mind Bodhidharma body and mind breathing Buddha nature called calmness comes composure concentrated create D. T. Suzuki dana prajna paramita delusion derstand difficult disciple Dogen Dogen-zenji dualistic effort Eiheiji emphasize emptiness everyday everything existence experience express feel forget form is form freedom frog gaining idea give Hinayana Huston Smith intentionally left blank Japanese koan listen live lose Mahayana means ment mountain ness Nirvana ourselves particular perfect prac practice of zazen practice zazen problem pure realize religion Richard Baker right posture right understanding Roshi Shunryu Suzuki small mind someone sometimes Soto spirit sutra Suzuki-roshi talk teacher teaching tice Trudy true nature true practice true sense true zazen truth try to attain understanding of Buddhism Usually wonderful Zen master Zen Mind Zen practice Zen students zendo