What Is Zen?: Plain Talk for a Beginner's Mind

by Norman Fischer, Susan Moon

Overview

An accessible and enjoyable introduction to Zen Buddhist practice—in a reader-friendly question-and-answer format—by two highly regarded teacher-writers.

The question-and-answer format makes this introduction to Zen especially easy to understand—and also to use as a reference, as you can easily look up just the question you had in mind. The esteemed Zen teacher Norman Fischer and his old friend and teaching colleague Susan Moon (both of them in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind) give this collaborative effort a playful tone: Susan asks a question on our behalf, Norman answers it, and then Sue challenges him. By the time you get through their conversations, you'll have a good basic education in Zen—not only the history, theory, and practice but also the contemporary issues, such as gender inequality, sexual ethics, and the tension between Asian traditions and the modern American reality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611802436
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	02/09/2016
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

ZOKETSU NORMAN FISCHER is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and Sojun Mel Weitsman. An award-winning poet and author of numerous books, he is the founder of Everyday Zen, an organization that brings Zen teachings to people from a wide range of backgrounds. He also teaches meditation in Jewish communities throughout the United States.
SUSAN MOON was for many years the editor of Turning Wheel, the Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. A longtime writer, writing teacher, and activist, she is the author of several books and the creator of the fictional Zen teacher Tofu Roshi, whose "Dear Abby"-style advice column has entertained Bay Area readers in several publications for nearly thirty years.

Table of Contents

Preface Norman Fischer vii

Introduction Susan Moon ix

1 What's the Point? 1

2 Zazen 7

3 Form and Ritual 29

4 Awakening 39

5 History 47

6 Beliefs and Ethics 59

7 Teachings 77

8 Teachers 89

9 Stages of Practice 113

10 Over the Long Haul 135

11 Sangha 143

12 Everyday Life and Everyday Relationships 153

13 Zen and Art 169

14 Saving All Sentient Beings 177

Editorial Reviews

"This book is pure Zen, pure Norman, pure Sue, and pure poetry in spite being in the form of prose: refreshingly down-to-earth, modest, razor sharp, and subtle. Zen can’t but come alive for you in the reading, and even more, in coupling your reading with practice."—Jon Kabat-Zinn

"'What is Zen?' is a perplexing question, one I’m frequently asked, and one I ask myself, again and again. Norman Fischer and Sue Moon’s conversation is a wonderful, profound, affectionate, and immensely readable answer to this perplexing and ultimately unanswerable question. What Is Zen? is a book I know I’ll return to again and again, whenever the question arises.”—Ruth Ozeki

From the Publisher