Thank You and Okay: Diary of an American Zen Failure in Japan

It wasn't until I finished this excellent book that it occured to me how really good Chadwick's writing is. 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.

Every zennie at some point or other nourishes the idea of travelling to Japan to sit in a temple with other monks. The tendency is to have romantic notions of Zen in Japan, from reading various books where practice there seems more pure. (Why have the Japanese Zen people come to the West?) So naturally, we are curious about other people's experiences in Zen in Japan. Jan Willem Van De Wettering wrote a number of books about his Zen experiences, and those who read to the end of these books can detect a distinctly cynical tone, where the groundwork for this cynicism is laid in Japan. "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

I learned more about living in Japan and what Japanese Zen is all about than from any other book I've read in 20 years. David Chadwick gives a real feeling about what its like to live in a Zen monastary and I'm very grateful to him for such a wonderful, insightful book..

There are perhaps fifty books about Westerners living in Japan, and perhaps fifty more about the West's encounter with Zen. Chadwick's book is by far the most appealing of these. His refusal to type-cast the Japanese he meets, his beautiful and disarming candor, and his unpredictable reactions to new experiences make this a wonderful book even for a reader who's never been to Japan, or one who has no particular interest in Zen. Everybody I've recommended it to has loved it.

I have a certain (though very limited!) degree of experiential overlap with the author of this book. Like him, I practice zen - although unlike him I have never pursued the practice as far as Japan. Like him, I have practiced zen at the San Francisco Zen Center on Bush St. But since I live in Dayton, Ohio, I don't practice zen there all that much! And finally, like him, I have been to Japan and been amazed, amused, and astounded by the place. However, unlike him, I was only there for a short time - 10 days. But it was long enough so that I kept laughing and saying "Yeah! I know what you mean!" as I was reading the book. This is just a damn good book - it's kind of like a Kerouac book without the tiresome, self-conscious "artistry." I don't think I could have talked to Kerouac in a million years - I'm not intense and hip enough by any stretch of the imagination. But this guy, I could really enjoy spending some time with him. And I think most people will feel the same after reading the book - really great!