Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings of D.T. Suzuki

DT Suzuki is one of the most influential writers/philosophers on Zen and Buddhist teachings in the western world. Whether they agree with all of his positions or not, nobody in the western Zen community would deny the importance of Suzuki's role on bringing Zen to awareness in the West. William Barrett has done an extraordinary job in compiling and introducing Dr. Suzuki's writings in this book, which is a veritable horn of plenty when it comes to the classic teachings of Zen Buddhism. Barrett's introduction alone (around 100 pages) is massive treatise on the core teachings of Zen. A great read for all! Zen students that have not yet tackled the massive corpus of D.T. Suzuki's writings would be well advised to start with this superb collection which presents the essential teachings of Zen, and the heart of Suzuki's message in a wonderful format for all.

Besides the great writer Alan Watts who was able to popularize Zen and the Eastern mindset to the West,morphing into the literary current day pschologists such as Mark Epstein and Jon Kabat Zinn, much credit must be given to Suzuki who was the undisputed earlier intellect who brought Zen as an academic calling to the West..His writing is difficult,historic, and philosophically prosed yet taking one's time with these works sheds light on Zen's themes of seeing that IS second nature because it is original nature. The great intellectual's of the day,such as Karen Horney,Erich Fromm all showed their respect to Zen in their concepts while William Barrett's introduction rings fresh as the new intellectual zeitgeist of the then day hit Western shores...Barrett himself a fine philosopher and writer offers a timely overview bringing in Heidegger and existentialism one of his areas of expertise.

This was the first book I ever read on Zen, and it remains, in my mind, one of the best. D.T Suzuki is thorough and imaginative, linking the principles of Zen to the culture and history of Japan, as well as to Western philosophy. Suzuki has a well-deserved reputation as the 20th century's foremost authority on Japanese Zen. While perhaps more of a scholar's book than a practitioner's book, this selection of essays from Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture do a wonderful job of conveying the spirit and rich history of Japanese Zen, and its roots in Chinese Ch'an. Faced with a complex topic that by its very nature does not lend itself to written accounts, Suzuki manages to neither over-analyze the topic nor sidestep the issues by refusing comment. The essays selected give a good taste of the complex spectrum of Zen, and its many cultural and historical manifestations, without swamping the reader with material. A fine and complex work by a well-respected figure of the Zen tradition.

It takes a while to understand, but Suzuki really knew what he was talking about. It provides a very good understanding of his take on Zen Buddhism.

Suzuki is considered to be the foremost authority on Zen Buddhism. Suzuki brought Zen thought to America. The best of D.T. Suzuki is included here. I've read quite a bit on the subject and I believe Suzuki has the best grasp of Zen. The reading is difficult, but so is the topic. I highly recommend this book if you really want to get deep into Zen. Another slightly easier book to understand, `Living Zen' by Robert Linssen uses Suzuki's material quite extensively.