Waking Up: A Week Inside a Zen Monastery

by Jack Maguire

Book Overview

Takes us inside the monastery walls to present details of what it's like: the physical work, common meals, conversations with the monks and other residents, meditation, and other activities that fill an ordinary week.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1893361136
• ISBN13: 9781893361133
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Skylight Paths Publishing
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Inside Scoop On Life In A Zen Monastery

Maguire has written this book, one of his many, as a preparation, introduction and guide principally for a rather select group of people: those who would like to do some very serious practice in a Zen monastery. While each Zen monastery or center is unique and will have its own variations on the theme, he has chosen Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York, not because it is typical, but because he knows it well, having been a student there since 1994, and because its training system is broad enough so that all kinds of training might be encountered there that will be met with at other places. The system, the Eight Gates, consists of: Zen sitting, the teacher-student relationship, liturgy, moral and ethical teachings, art practice, physical exercise, academic study, and work. Maguire is a professional story teller and has good descriptive abilities, so that his description of the physical grounds makes one feel present on the property. He sketches briefly the kinds of people who come there and the sort of things that people have personally experienced there. He goes into minute detail about the order of the day and some of the eight elements of training, something that will be appreciated by those who are looking forward to actually going to a center, but a tad too detailed for the general reader. The book includes a directory of Zen places in the US and Canada, recommended further reading, a few commonly used Zen chants, and a glossary of terms. So if you are thinking about some serious practice at a Zen center or are generally curious, it is a very informative volume to look into.