The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice Paperback – March 27, 2018

Meido Moore’s The Rinzai Zen Way is one of the most profound yet accessible books I’ve encountered.As a beginner practicing Rinzai Zen, I’ve found the second part of this tome to be full of detailed and well-organized instructions on how to practice correctly. Meido pauses the narrative whenever it is necessary to point out a small nuance or a common trap or pitfall. Meido is clear that in order to be successful on the path to discovering one’s true nature, finding a qualified teacher is indispensable, while guiding beginners to get started on their own.The first part of this book is a profound discussion of what Rinzai Zen truly is. Meido places Rinzai in context with other Buddhist traditions in a way that is extremely rare in the Western world. Meido even compares and contrasts Rinzai Zen with the Abrahamic faiths that are most common in the West, and provides readers with helpful perspectives on how to clearly understand Zen if one has a Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) background.As a beginner, this is the first book on Zen I’ve read that alleviates many of the questions I couldn’t find answers to. I’ve also shared The Rinzai Zen Way with experienced practitioners I know, some of whom have meditated for decades, and they all have responded that Meido’s insights and description of Zen is fresh, profound, and unique in the West.Along with his clear expertise, experience, and accomplishment, Meido Moore Roshi demonstrates humor and humility throughout this great work, and is someone I’ve found I can place my trust in regarding all aspects of Zen Buddhism and practical, direct instruction in the journey to discovering one’s true nature.5 stars!!!!!

Most Westerners are familiar with Zen through its Soto branch, which emphasizes shikantaza (seated meditation without content or object) and has been popularized in the West through the influence of Japanese teachers like Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind), Taizan Maezumi (On Zen Practice) and their dharma heirs. I was looking for a book about Rinzai which would fulfill the same function as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind had for Soto Zen in America - that is, a readable primer on the principles and practices of Rinzai Zen. Meido Moore Roshi's book, The Rinzai Zen Way, is that book.It is divided into two parts: the first, understanding the Rinzai Zen Way, and, the second, Practice. The first part treats an overview of Zen, the various vehicles, the pitfalls of practice, and the point of practice: samadhi (meditative absorption). The second part is an easy-to-read introduction to start practicing (in the absence of a teacher, but with the gentle reminder that true practice can only occur under the guidance of a good teacher). The second part includes tips on physical posture, on relaxation, on breathing, on chanting, and on taking your practice into your daily life. Meido Roshi writes in a clear, succinct manner, and it almost feels like he is in the room instructing you.The book is about 200 pages long. Each chapter is about 8 to 10 pages, so it is relatively quick reading, thus qualifying as a good manual to come back to again and again, especially once you have found a good teacher. Meido Roshi refers to one of the founders of his lineage, Omori Sagen, whose underrated book, Introduction to Zen Training (Tuttle Publishing) is available for a stunning $10 on Amazon. That's what I plan on reading next!

As someone who has been practicing for several years with a Rinzai group related to Meido Moore's, I was curious to see what, if any, new material might be encompassed in this book and how succinctly and clearly it repackaged concepts and exercises I had heard or seen before. I can tell you that the text turned out to be a truly outstanding instance of exactly what it purports to be and that it will be one of the first texts I recommend to anyone curious about Zen practice in general (not just int the Rinzai style) in the future. As you can tell from looking at it, it of course features Zen practice advice from the relatively uncommon Rinzai perspective (largely applicable, however, to any type of Zen training) and a presentation of the unique "flavor" and emphases of that school, breathing exercises and detailed posture and meditation instructions, and all of this is presented extremely succinctly and clearly and often with helpful illustrations. However, I was surprised and pleased to find a fair amount of other interesting material in the first half of the book including chapters presenting the author's understanding of the point of Zen, Zen's unique qualities within various taxonomies of Buddhist traditions, some humanizing personal anecdotes from a lifetime of training to illustrate various concepts and a really interesting and original section contrasting Zen with monotheistic religions. Furthermore, by virtue of its very short chapters which are uniformly quite insightful or pragmatic and clear, it has the quality, unusual amount Buddhist books, of being something of a "page turner." I think this book will be seen as a classic in the "intro to Zen practice for Westerners" genre going forward and I believe it has plenty of useful medicine for any type of Zen practitioner or other sentient being. I anticipate returning to it many times to be challenged and inspired.

Meido Moore offers an insightful and unpretentious guide to the Rinzai methods of meditation and practice. Fantastic as an introduction to Zen in general, and a solid launching point for anyone who wants to start meditating.

Absolutely wonderful book to treasure. Super fast delivery.

Simply written, very easy to understand and apply. Author uses current examples that you can relate too. Very practical and useful book for a beginner and a good reminder for those further along in their practice.

"… the wonderous path of Zen, the path of liberation within this very body, which has been handed down to us."To begin this review I want to bring up that I experience great joy reading and learning from what Meido Roshi has written in this book.The book is very well structured and cleary aimed at practice, as the subtitle indicates already. If you already practice Zen in one form or another you'll find many hints on practice in the book, which might benefit your practice. If you're considering to enter the Zen path you'll find a lot of inspiration in the book to do so and a very clear layout to what "goal" the Zen path is leading to; and the general reader interested in spirituality might find maybe motivation to undertake any spiritual practice, in order to look deeper into one's own life.One thing to mention and to conclude this review is Meido Roshi's nonsectarian Ekayana approach and attitude which is quiet a pleasure to read about.This book is a real gem!

I believe that this volume, along with Meido Roshi's other work Hidden Zen, is among the best books on meditation and spiritual practice. I purposefully do not use the term Rinzai as this book can be used by any spiritual practitioner wishing to develop a good foundation for their practice. Makes no difference if one is into zen or yoga or any other kind of meditation practice, one cannot go wrong by picking these books up. Meido Roshi's works serve as guidebooks, maps, and excellent resources one may wish to consult during their spiritual journey. Reading them, immersing oneself in them, engaging fully with the practices as they are described will save spiritual practitioners years of search, frustration, going down blind alleys, giving up spiritual practice altogether, etc. I agree with a dharma friend who said something like: “I really wish I had had these books years ago when I started my spiritual journey”. If you are a serious practitioner, read them. If you are not, read them. And then read them again. After that, if you are so inclined, seek out the author himself on Innercraft giving detailed lectures on meditation, or check out the Korinji Monastery website.

Well-written; the author's experience shines through without pedantry or excess academic side issues. Clear, and to the point. The author knows his stuff and comes across as sincere and desirous of helping.