Zen Essence

This is a desert-island Zen book. Thomas Cleary has selected brief teachings from 18 great Zen Masters, beginning with Ma-tsu in the 8th century, ending with Yüan-sou in the 14th, keeping infallibly to what is assimilable and useful for present-day readers or practitioners, rather than the impenetrably Ancient Chinese or the Silver-Mountain-Iron-Wall baffling. The first time I read this, years ago, I was amazed at the way each excerpt seemed to have been chosen to speak to me personally. It's still the best anthology of its kind I've come across and one of a handful of Zen books I return to again and again. This book even tells you how to make use of its contents. Master Hsüeh-tou said: "The wise boldly pick up a truth as soon as they hear it. Don't hesitate for a moment or you'll lose your head". And Master Wu-tsu said: "Talking about Zen all the time is like looking for fish-tracks in a dry riverbed." How on earth did Thomas Cleary find enough hours in the day to translate an entire library of Buddhist writings? He must have acquired more merit than Mother Teresa and Gandhi combined. The shorter ones are all available now in 5 omnibus volumes, but you don't always want everything in an omnibus: this one is well worth buying by itself. Cleary's praiseworthy desire to keep things relevant sometimes leads him to translations I find jarring, e.g. "What do you go to a "Zen center" for?" And his own interpretations, as given in the Afterword, are highly personal, novel and subjective, and should be approached with severe scepticism. But this in no way detracts from the value of an exemplary book.

Recommended as a short and sweet introduction to Zen, this book did not disappoint. Cleary's introduction and translator's afterword are superb. The translations themselves are beyond excellent. I'd give this book 6 stars if I could.

I wholeheartedly agree with the other reviewers: this book is amazing. It is worth far more than it's price. All the quotes are useful (although I recommend Charles Luk's Zen and Ch'an teaching vol. 1 to get an idea of why some of the more anti-meditation words were said) and great spurs for practice. I personally bought the pocket addition. Who says Zen is just sitting on yer arse? This gives some clear, consise, Sudden Enlightenment techniques. Truly, a collection such as this is the standard by which to measure all other teachings.

This is the most important book I have ever read - especially the introduction! The intro did an excellent job of explaining how Zen can't be explained, how you can't find your essense on purpose, that you can make yourself free. Working from these few pages of the intro, I was able to finally free myself and practice Zen. The book itself is full of quotes from Zen masters over the centuries. In these quotes you can see how much we have in common with the past, as well as get authoritative support for the non-religious / non-cult view of Zen. These simple, timeless quotes provide no-nonsense guidance for finding your own Zen essence.