Zen Dawn in the West

by Philip Kapleau

Book Overview

Great book that will answer your questions on Zen Buddhism. Author: Roshi Phillip Kapleau Publisher: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1980, 2nd printing This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385142749
• ISBN13: 9780385142748
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Digesting the Dharma

Written as a sequel to 'The Three Pillars of Zen,' which has established itself as a classic source of Zen instruction for Caucasian people - in half a dozen languages, this book illustrates something of the 'digestive process' involved, as Westerners endeavour to translate the meaning of Zen into - and out of - their own experience, practicing in a cultural milieu different to that in which Zen developed - in its Asian home. The key parts of this book comprises a series of perspectives and summary remarks conveyed by Western practitioners - close to Philip Kapleau, and Kapleau's responses -fleshed out with succinct and frequently witty obervations. Inevitably perhaps, what we find in this book differs quite considerably from the atmosphere found in the 'Three Pillars of Zen.' In the latter, people were immersing themselves in Zen practice and to that extent, 'turning back' their minds - away from the play of surface distinctions, in quest of some deep, underlying truth. The present work explores the interface between such Zen-based insight, and the spiritual challenges and practical demands of life in the crucible of contemporary Western experience. As such, the issues raised in this book will touch almost everyone who has endeavoured to make sense of Zen in the context of Western society - with all of its virtues and vices. Inevitably, the need for a socially 'engaged Buddhism' comes to the fore, especially where peace issues and environmental issues are at stake. In this respect, Western Zen is likely to play a role considerably more 'radical than that of its 'conservative' Asian counterpart. Such topics have been given thoughtful consideration in this book, and they will prove stimulating to many Western Buddhists. My only reservations about this book, concerned isolated observations which seemed at odds with the otherwise positive agenda set forth in the rest of the text. Zen should have a role in the workplace. Albert Low has articulated some imaginative and constructive views on this topic (he also wrote the preface to this book). However, in isolated places, such ideas begin to make Zen look like the means to some other end - the servant, rather than the master, in the situation. Such dangers fell into even sharper relief, with a stray comment from some of Kapleau's Japanese friends, hinting that Zen was the 'secret' behind Japan's industrial and commercial success. I'm afraid that this struck the reviewer as a 'sell-out' to big-business and corporate Japan. There are indeed special Za-zen kai and pep-talks in some Japanese companies, but their emphasis is not upon the well being of the workers, but upon maintaining corporate profits. Japanese is the only language in the world with a special term for 'death from over-work' (karoshi), the levels of stress experienced in the Japanese work place, well nigh crucifying. Again, while Japanese culture is noted for its sensitivity to the forces of nature and the play of the seasons,