Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki [rare books]

Book Summary

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” so begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely Miss what it’s all About. An instant teaching on the first page. And that’s just the beginning. In the forty years since its original publication, Zen mind, beginner’s mind has become one of the great modern spiritual classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics-from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality-in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page.

About the Author:

• Born: May 18, 1904, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

• Died: December 4, 1971, San Francisco, USA

• Tradition: Soto Zen Buddhism

Shunryu Suzuki was a Japanese Zen monk who helped bring Zen Buddhism to the West. In 1959, he moved to San Francisco and became the founding abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, one of the most influential Zen communities in the United States.

Though soft-spoken and humble, Suzuki’s teachings made a lasting impact. His approach was gentle, humorous, and deeply insightful. Zen Mind, Beginners Mind remains one of the most widely read books on Zen in the West.