Reviews

Zen Is Right Now: More Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, Author of Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

tommyhousworth's review

4.0

I gave the volume that preceded this one ("Zen is Right Here") five stars for so many of the revelatory anecdotes and quotes about and from Suzuki Roshi. This follow-up has fewer of those epiphanal moments, as if scraping together more in-person accounts from former students maybe became more difficult or the stories were not quite as awe-inspiring.

Still, from my vantage point, it's a solid 3.5 - 4 star book and worth reading if you appreciate his teachings and insights. Of course, for the supreme source material, nothing can touch his landmark "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", which I am going back to reread thanks to these two pithy collections.

richardwells's review

5.0

One of those little books you'd like to savor, but which is so good - wise and entertaining - that you devour it in a couple of sittings, no matter how hard you try to stop.

Shunryu Suzuki sounds like a teacher without pretensions, and with a wicket sense of humor. Most of the entries in this book are only a few sentences long, the longest only half a page, and are students' reminiscences.

As good as those old fashioned Malted Milk Balls.

birdlaw91's review

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

2.5

rynstagram's review

3.0

*review based on an ARC

Quotes:

• "What I say is not true teaching. I just give you the hint" (xv). 
• "You have your now. I have my now" (1).
• "'What is the most important thing for me to do?' I asked Suzuki Sensei ... "'Just get up' (15)."
• "It's not necessary to hold yourself in any one position" (17).
• "A student asked Suzuki, 'What is enlightenment?' 'Enlightenment?' Suzuki said. 'I think you won't like it'" (26).
• "In zazen, leave your front door and back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don't serve them tea" (35). 
• "...his brightness covered the whole doorway as he invited me in" (37).
• "...zazen was like standing on your head: standing on your head has no point or goal. It's easy to do but hard to keep doing" (47).
• "The important thing about zazen is not that it gives you power but that it gives you possibility" (67). 
  • if you replace "zazen" with "dreaming" this could apply to Ronan from TRC
• "To have what Buddha says in your mind is not so good, but to have a mischievous idea in your mind is sometimes very agreeable" (73).
• "Independence is a delusion. We are dependent on everything" (78).
• "Please try to sit with a soft mind like bread dough--you know, how it sticks together and then with fire becomes something wonderful to eat!" (81).
• "You don't need to disappear if you don't want to" (83).
• "Life is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea--and sink" (93).
• "A student asked, 'How do I respond with my everyday mind when my house is on fire?' Suzuki answered laughing, 'On fire? Why don't you get out of it? You will find a good new one'" (116).
• "...like climbing a mountain--the higher you go the more beautiful the view is--but it gets lonely" (120).