I'm back at school for the spring semester, and I decided that since we had today off, I would try reading some books I had yet to get to. I started working my way through Celtic Lore, but it was pretty dense, so I switched over to Zen. It was quite a bit shorter than the other one, but also a lot more informative than I had supposed.
Zen was something I picked up from the Goodwill here in town last fall. I have forayed a little bit into Buddhism, and actually had the opportunity one afternoon to learn some Zen meditation techniques from a monk while I was in Japan. As such, I was interested in learning more about it, and actually found this to be a reasonably comprehensive introduction.
Title: Zen: An ancient path to enlightenment for modern lives
Author: Peter Oldmeadow
Copyright 2001
Peter Oldmeadow is a Sanskrit lecturer at the University of Sydney, and when this book was published, had over thirty years' experience in Buddhist theory and practice. I found his writing style to be very approachable, and the book clarified what I felt to be several of the more challenging concepts.
The book starts with the history of Buddhism in India, as well as the Buddhist understanding of suffering and how it relates to the Eight-Fold Path. It then segues into the development of different schools of Buddhism, and describes how Zen came about in East Asia. Oldmeadow traces Zen through China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, as well as how Zen influenced practices such as calligraphy and the tea ceremony.
Oldmeadow then discusses some of the primary meditation styles in Zen Buddhism, and how the practice was spread to the Western hemisphere.
When I picked this up, I had been expecting that this would be more of a "how to" kind of a book. What I found is that it's more of a summary of the history of Buddhism, and how and why the Zen tradition developed. While it was not exactly what I was anticipating, it was a very interesting read, and in spite of its length (73 pages), I felt like I learned a lot from it. That being said, it does strike me as being more of an introductory work. If you are already very versed in the history of the spread of Buddhism, this may not tell you much you don't already know.
In short, if you would like to learn about the basics of Buddhist metaphysics and how Zen Buddhism developed, I would recommend checking out this book. If you're hoping for something more advanced, or strictly covering how to practice any given branch of Buddhism, this may not be quite what you're looking for.
Stare deep into the world before you as if it were
the void: innumerable holy ghosts, bhuddies,
and savior gods there hide, smiling. All the
atoms emitting light inside wavehood, there is
no personal separation of any of it. A Hummingbird
can come into a house and a hawk will not: so rest
and be assured. While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness
and find the true light.
- Jack Kerouac, 1959
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