The Three Pillars of Zen [Paperback]

Then, about two years ago, I began to rediscover Buddhism (and, in particular Zen) not as an field of intellectual study, but as a practice and a way of life. I began regularly sitting - first five minutes a day, then ten, then half an hour - and occasionally sitting zazen and attending dharma talks at one of our local Zen centers.

But I still didn't really have a good grounding in some of the fundamentals. Yes, I knew the basic dharma, but I felt that I was missing something.

Enter The Three Pillars of Zen. I don't know why I happened to grab it, but it proved to be exactly what I was looking for - a good introduction to the fundamentals of Zen, with a particular emphasis on practice. Reading this gave my sitting practice something to take root in, and has offered me continual inspiration.

There's a lot here, and a lot to absorb, and I don't doubt that different parts of this book will speak to different people. For me, I found the depictions of assorted enlightenment experiences to be incredibly inspiring, but the real meat was in the collection of student-roshi interviews. I found every doubt, every question that I've had about my practice repeated, in some cases word-for-word, in this section - which was a nice thing to encounter, as a relative neophyte who is, admittedly, plagued with doubts as to virtually everything.

I would neccessarily reccommend this to someone who knows nothing of Buddhism or of the dharma, but I would reccommend it as an excellent introduction to Zen and the practice of Zen. It's a book that I return to every day, and that I find a continual source of inspiration.

Let us keep in mind that when this book was published, the West didn't really know much about Zen. It was considered, largely, to be a "philosophy" that is to be understood academically. Every author writes for his or her audience, that is, any writer that wants to write another book does. This work reminds you of, though not entirely, the flavor that Daisetz Suzuki wrote with. The scholarly, intellectual route. Which, like I said, was necessary to pave way for the many teachings we would find later in the USA as a result. Roshi Kapleau paved the way for Zen, but as for this book, it simply is not "attractive" enough for many students of Zen today. If you want an entertaining read that provides insight, this is not really your book. If you are looking for insight, and don't care much one way or the other about the "entertainment" aspect-then this book is for you. All this said, I recommend the book. The oddest recommendation I have given to date.