it is refreshing to be reminded that Zen is, at heart, a practice for waking up from the dream we inhabit to free ourselves from the suffering that dream imposes on us.
Everything Is the Way: Ordinary Mind Zen
by Elihu Genmyo Smith —
These days, when Zen has become a kind of shorthand for anything that is enigmatic or aesthetically spare, it is refreshing to be reminded that Zen is, at heart, a practice for waking up from the dream we inhabit to free ourselves from the suffering that dream imposes on us.
Smith’s eminently practical Zen teachings never lose sight of that concern. Whether it takes the form of zazen (meditation), koan work or just eating your breakfast, the aim of Zen practice is always intimacy with ourselves and everything around us.
Some practices include the art of being still, the art of intimacy and commitment, the practice of non-abiding and the practice of experiencing ourselves moment after moment.
$17.95 — Shambhala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 02115.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 31, Number 4, August/September 2012.
January 30, 2016
August/September 2012 Issue, Book review