Essays in Zen Buddhism, First Series

I just looked up what year these were published and nearly fell out of my seat when I saw 1927, this version I think came out in 1948. I first became interested in it in the 1960s when I was a philosophy major looking for enlightenment!!Now I have then on my Kindle so I can't lose them as I did my original paper back. You can never lose a Kindle book thank to Amazon!!D T Suzuki is a scholar and this is a scholarly work not a self help book. Reading it now in my post enlightenment phase, I am amazed at it depth and the amount of information included between these covers. Back when I first read it there was not the vast material on Buddhism as there is now, so often these early works get put on the back burner. I invite those who read it long ago like me to revisit it on their Kindle. For those who are serious about Zen, but who have not read it, I am sure you will be surprise like I am the amount of material that is here. Just remember this is not a Pema Chrodron book, this is a scholarly work but one of the greatest scholars on this subject.

This analysis was classic scholar mode. A little hard to understand because of Sanskrit language at first but the author's handling of converting to English was enlightening. The deeper you get into the meat of the subject the reading becomes much easier. Although I did not give up on trying to pronounce the Sanskrit, it allowed me to understand the Indian roots to the Chinese culture that it became because of the difference in the two cultures. A friend gave me a magazine on United States adaptation of Buddhism and I found it comical to see Eastern Buddhism culture of poverty to the American way of making a buck. Well worth the effort for the historical significance. If you are looking for a twenty-first century model this is not for you. However, if you want to become a student of Buddhism it is a must!

I repeatedly return to D.T. Suzuki's essays. I have all three volumes, and cherish them equally. To my mind, very few writers explore the depths of Zen as thoroughly as Suzuki. I especially love the way his essays are peppered with sayings, stories, and translations from the classics. My highest recommendations.

Dt Suzuki is hands down the best scholar of Zen and teaches that while his scholasticism is great, it is also necessary to know when to do away with the intellect and use intuition.

DTZ has as much historical as academic creds by now. He was a pioneer in presenting Zen to the Western world. An academician rather than a Zen Master, he still knew more than most of his academic predecessors combined and had a good hand with the King's English.

Great book to get an overview on the subject, but it might be too much if you don't know anything about zen or buddhism in general, which was my case. If you are patient enough it's a very rewarding read.

Read this and you WILL understand Zen or perhaps not ? LOL You will get my joke after you get Zen or perhaps not ....

I read Suzuki's first book in 1963 and reread it then studied Zen and I still think it influences who I am

I've long been an admirer of Suzuki, as was the Christian monk Thomas Merton who spoke of him as a brother. The very first essay here was particularly good, linking as it does a deep knowledge of the fundamentals of Theravada scripture with the development of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. For this alone the book is well worth buying. Suzuki is well versed in Western thought.

This book took me further than others I have read on Zen. However, much of it is just repeated in the introduction book. The best part is Suzuki's explanation of the Buddha's will to find enlightenment, rather than just his intelligence or mythical facade.

If you are interested in Buddhism I can truly recommend this book for you. It is a masterpiece in its field.

Analysis was very helpful

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