Author: Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki

About:

Dr. Suzuki is generally regarded as the outstanding spokesman for Zen Buddhism in the West. A master stylist in the English language, he writes of Zen with the directness and concreteness that characterize Zen itself.

As he describes the training of the monk, he is as the same time bringing this rigid mental discipline to life in a manner no conventional explanation could. Dr. Suzuki's book is enhanced by 43 drawings from another Zen monk, Zenchu Sato, depicting the latter's own experiences as a novice. This is a major work that must be read by any Westerner who is interested in understanding Eastern thought.

Excerpt:

The first interview may end with this kind of conversation, since the monk is a perfect novice in Zen. Anciently, however, even the initial interview between a new arrival and the master went directly into the heart of the matter, and something like the following took place:

 

Hsueh-feng (Seppo) asked a monk, “What is your name?”

Monk: “My name is Hsuan-chi” (“mysterious loom").

Seppo: “How much cloth do you weave everyday!”

Monk: “Not a piece of cloth I have on me.”

Seppo: “Go back to your Zendo.”

Before the monk took a few steps to leave the master's presence, the latter called out: “Your kesa (priestly robe) is dropping on the ground!”

The monk turned his head, whereupon Seppo said: “Fine that you have got a piece of cloth over you!”

 

Han-chu (Ganshu) asked a monk: “Wang and Huang, Li and Chao—these are not your original family names; what is your original one?”

Monk: “Same as yours.”

Ganshu: “Let alone being of the same family; I want to know your original family name.”

Monk: “When the River Han reverses its downward course, I will tell you.”

Ganshu: “Why not now?”

Monk: “Has the River reversed its course, or not?”

Ganshu was satisfied with the monk.