Thank You and Ok!: An American Zen Failure in Japan [Paperback]

Presented as a first-hand account, the text is surprisingly free of personal bias. Chadwick writes about himself as a detached observer, something many authors attempt to do but few succeed at.

I'm no disciple of Zen, but I've read this book twice and can highly recommend it to anyone interested in modern Japanese society.

"Thank you and ok" is written by someone with a lot more maturity and Zen insight than Van De Wettering. Chadwick had been sitting for his entire adult life before he followed his teacher to Japan; Van De Wettering went to Japan on the suggestion of a University professor. What others might consider bad experiences, or inconsistencies with Zen practice (such as Chadwick's friend Norman who is full of hate for another monk), roll off Chadwick like rainwater. It is precisely this maturity that makes this book such an interesting read.

Chadwick spends a lot of time in Japan resisting speaking on the topics that everyone expects him to talk about, such as what he likes about Japan. Yet, much of this book is devoted to just such an undertaking. What is so wonderful about this book, however, is that, for the most part, it presents anecdotes describing precisely what happened and only what happened. This leaves the readers to draw their own conclusions about these differences, or what there is to like about Japan.

It is so refreshing not to have to read some jaded American's judgmental attitudes and opinions about the Japanese. Although, Japanese people often identify strongly with their "unique" culture, many Japanese like any other people, when you get to know them, are what we would call in the U.S., "characters." You get a good sense of that in this book. This book breaks down a lot of cultural myths, and teaches people not to generalize about millions of people at a time.

But, as simple as it might seem, there is some genuine insight into Zen, which the casual reader might miss. The title "Thank you and ok" conveys the essence of Zen, as the book explains in more detail. A more earth-shattering insight comes from the final chapters of his stay in Japan. Chadwick is open-minded enough to change Zen schools and study with a master who works with riddles, after having spent his previous life just sitting. One of these riddles is whether a dog has the buddha nature (are animals capable of enlightenment?), and while we expect the answer to this to be "yes" (in Budhism all sentient beings have the buddha nature), a zen master said "mu" which literally means no. As an answer to this question though, "mu" points to the buddha nature itself, which is beyond yes and no. Chadwick's practice consisted of asking this question in Japanese and Chadwick replying "mu." The answer was known; it was the manner of delivery that counted. As Zenkei Shibayama might say: "you yourself have to BE directly 'mu'." The final advice given to him by his master was to continue to say "mu" with everything he did; work directly at it, be just it. This advice has deep implications.

A brief note about the organization of this book. As others have noted, the chronology of the book skips back and forth between times and places. If this bothers you, you can read about his experience as a monk first, and then read about his experience as a lay person since the chapters are clearly marked next to the chapter number as to time and place. If you decide to read this book a second time, and I recommend it, try reading it straight through and you will see how the organization of the book makes sense.

This book is a real page turner and utterly engrossing. I give it five stars, as it is one of the very best books of its kind.