ZEN PSYCHOLOGY In A Nutshell
Enlightening Insights & Perspectives For Living Mindfully
This book considers key insights and realizations found in the tradition and practice of Zen. These are timeless penetrating perspectives on the nature of being and reality... which have been discovered and re-discovered by great seminal thinkers, teachers and open-minded individuals in the East and the West, throughout all of recorded history. The work endeavors to distill the essence of Zen into succinct statements... which can point the way and be useful for living mindfully.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
A Preface
On The Nature of Zen Knowing
Zen Psychology
Insights & Realizations
Zen Mindfulness
On The Art &Technique Of
Living Mindfully
A Zen Ode
Uplifting Perspectives
Addendum
Golden Guidelines
For Life & Living
EXCERPTS:
ON THE NATURE OF ZEN KNOWING
For Those That Understand...
No Explanation Is Necessary.
For Those That Don't...
None Is Possible.
ZEN PSYCHOLOGY - Insights & Realizations
Much of our understanding, and many of our life experiences, are at a level which is beyond the intellect's abilities to explain or to communicate (ranging from simple experiences like riding a bike and swimming - to profound insight into the nature of being and reality). This deeply intuitive knowing is often overlooked, undervalued and doubted - yet it is far more crucial and powerful than our limited mental and verbal abilities.
Truth, beauty, joy and peace are immediately available in the real world. There is no special place to go, and nothing out of the ordinary to do - to acquire access to these merits - other than to get real, come to your senses and pay attention.
Preoccupation and consumption by the past and the future (e.g. drivenness and hurry sickness) are human foibles that rob one of being fully present to savor and participate in life. Realization of the ultimate magnitude of the moment enhances enjoyment and effectiveness.
ON THE ART & TECHNIQUE OF LIVING MINDFULLY
The following considers the art and technique of living mindfully and mindfulness - which can be described as a mental state of clear minded awareness that is unencumbered, unfettered and unhurried. The art of living mindfully entails being fully present to experience and savor being alive, awake and aware. The technique of mindfulness involves consciously focusing one's attention on thoughts, feelings, actions and experiences - many of which can at times be self-defeating and toxic.
A ZEN ODE - Uplifting Perspectives
Let us joyfully stand in awe and wonder...
Being mindful of the marvels and mysteries in life and nature...
Finding peace and serenity in the power and wisdom of the universe...
Gracefully accepting and courageously trusting
That which is beyond our understanding and comprehension...
Allaying unfounded fears and speculations.
(c) Copyright 2012 - Dr. Dan Matzke, Ph.D.
KeyWords: Zen, enlightenment, awakening, satori, insights, mindfulness, psychology, self help, personal growth & development, emotional intelligence

An exploration of the life of the Zen priest-poet Ryokan is interwoven with memoir of the author as she observes Ryokan's life during her own training as a Zen priest in Japan and encounters Ryokan in contemporary life as a model for learning and renewal. Ryokan loved the game Hide-and-go-Seek, Kakurenbo in Japanese, and this provides a metaphor as the author seeks to uncover the mysterious pathway of the hermit priest who seems to defy description. Ryokan had no plan to promote himself in any way or to encourage popularized stories about his life. He simply continued to live, not as a unique figure, but as someone authentic to his vow, living the Dharma somewhat hidden away as a hermit priest, as he climbed up and down the slope of his mountain refuge bearing the cold in winter and enduring the mosquitos in summer. Yet nearly 200 years after his death, Ryokan is known globally and we hold him in high esteem. Our wish to know him might suggest our hunger in these difficult times to touch a rare sainted life that is unabashedly simple. Perhaps we long to live fully in the courageous way that Ryokan did, to help us withstand with some grace the frictions and challenges that beset us. Translations of Ryokan's poems by the acclaimed Nobuyuki Yuasa highlight each chapter, and appear throughout the book; they serve to express Ryokan's teachings in the Dharma and his wisdom as a guide in the 21st Century. The memoir gives a personal glimpse into Zen training today where the author was the only woman and the first foreigner in the history of the 700-year-old temple. This creative medley-biography of Ryokan, author's memoir, poetry of Ryokan, and teachings in the Dharma-opens us to a new interpretation of Ryokan as a profound teacher, scholar, poet, hermit, and priest. The book includes an appendix with practice to honor Ryokan and to hold him throughout time as a true friend and guide in the Buddha Dharma. The book is for general readership as well as for seasoned meditators.

2013 Reprint of 1955 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This collection of essays reprints seven articles or lectures written by Suzuki beginning in 1906. The are: The Zen Sect of Buddhism Zen Buddhism An Interpretation of Zen-Experience Reason and Intuition in Buddhist Philosophy Zen: A Reply to Dr. Hu Shih Mondo The Role of Nature in Zen Buddhism Index

Modern man has found that material achievements are failing him, but in his escape from despair, he has become an easy prey for the deceptive cult of "Zen-Existentialism." There has emerged a mode of radical "New Humanism" with its emphasis on "human autonomy." In place of the God-man appears the "man-god." There is a search for the "world within," the "limitless inner space," the "expansion of consciousness," and the transcendental experience of "Satori." First published in 1969, this book prophetically anticipated the growth of New Age developments in the decades to follow. Lit-sen Chang directly spoke to the Hippie movement of his day, which was then seeking various means of transcendence through drugs and eastern mysticism.This book also reflects fifty years of bitter experiences of the author's spiritual pilgrimage and shows how he was miraculously delivered by the grace and power of God from his "cul-de-sac." Chang writes of the utter futility of the fantasy of the East, analyzes the root causes of the crises in the West, and points out the doom of auto-soterism after his careful diagnosis of the human problem in cultural, philosophical, religious, and theological terms.

Author Brad Warner (Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, and Sex, Sin, and Zen) revisits seventeen of his earlier essays on topics ranging from vegetarianism to punk rock, working for Japanese monster movie makers, and the art of Zen writing, complete with all-new analyses, introduction and afterword.

2012 Reprint of 1956 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The "Book of Tea" by Okakura Kakuz is a long essay linking the role of tea (Teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English Tea classics. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuz argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters. This edition contains a new forward and a biographical sketch augmenting the original 1906 edition.

This is an excellent summary of ten original yoga systems, in which the Author, Ernest Wood, who speaks from more than forty years of experience in Eastern Philosophy, tells us in a very well written and easy to understand language about the teachings and philosophy of these major yoga systems. At the same time, he has also endeavored to preserve the perfect authenticity and clearness of the original teachings of these ten different well-known Oriental schools of yoga teaching and practice. The ten yoga systems are: Raja Yoga, Gita-Yoga, Gnyana-Yoga, Hatha and Laya Yogas, Bhakti and Mantra Yogas, Buddhist Yoga, The Chinese Yoga or Zen, and finally the Sufi Yogas, which includes discussions on Maulana Rumi, Omar Khayyam and other well-known Sufi poets and mystics.

"Extraordinary Zen Masters: A Maverick, a Master of Masters, and a Wandering Poet" tells the life stories of Ikkyu (1394-1481), Hakuin (1686-1768), and Ryokan (1758-1831). Each was an outstanding figure who manifested Zen in his own way. Ikkyu was unconventional and uncompromising, a relentless enemy of the sham and hypocrisy that pervaded the religious circles of his day. Hakuin underwent a lengthy and strenuous apprenticeship to become a Master Teacher of Zen, training hundreds of disciples and insisting that they endure the same trials and surmount the same massive barriers that he had. Ryokan, in contrast, was a gentle, self-effacing recluse who never became an abbot but lived in quiet hermitages, savoring nature and writing poetry. All three were artists of the highest order, employing brush, ink, and paper as a means of transmitting Zen teachings and creating unique works of art.

These are three of the greatest Zen masters in history-each unique, each an outstanding artist, and each a teacher of future generations. The biographies of these three men, in one volume, constitute an enlivening reading experience, full of insight on leading a meaningful life.

John Stevens lived in Japan for thirty-five years, where he was a professor of Buddhist studies at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. Stevens is a widely respected translator, an ordained Buddhist priest, a curator of several major exhibitions of Zen art, and an aikido instructor. He has authored more than thirty books and is one of the foremost Western experts on aikido, holding a ranking of 7th dan Aikikai. Stevens has also studied calligraphy for decades, authoring the classic "Sacred Calligraphy of the East." Other John Stevens titles that are likely to be of interest include "The Philosophy of Aikido, " and "The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei.""

Don't think of what you left behind. And don't think too far ahead. For how can one leave something to which one is tied? And how can one feel accomplishment in something never attained? One should set a destination that is within one's reach. As one reaches that point another slightly higher goal can be set - and so on, as one travels up the path. In this way the mountain can be climbed in increments. Look not at the vast mountain as a whole. Rather look minutely and scrutinize each individual step. There will thus be no discouragement, for every step is a success.

"Zen Foot-Notes: Upon the Unknown Passage" is the journal of an expedition's ascent of the highest mountain in the world - not Everest, as everyone assumes, but Pochen Point - the fabled summit of the nether world. The expedition to climb the highest mountain in the nether world is a symbol for mankind's journey through life. The summit is different for each member of the expedition. And yet, because it also symbolizes death, it is essentially the same. The expedition members discover that what matters is not the goal, but merely the path. And some realize that it is not even the path that matters, but rather the passage - the pathless path.

Wayne Omura lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of "Movies and the Meaning of Life: The Most Profound Films in Cinematic History."

WALK LIKE A MOUNTAIN is the definitive guide to walking as Buddhist practice, not just for the serious practitioner but for anyone who wants to bring more contemplative depth to their everyday walks. From kinhin during zazen sessions to pilgrimage and beyond, this handbook offers the "how-to" with clarity and insight. Posture, hand positions and foot mechanics are merely the beginning. Other topics that are addressed in this comprehensive book include: Preparations and aids Prayer walking Purification and dedication Kaihogyo (marathon contemplative walking) Leading a walking practice Walking for change Walking as daily life Walking the symbolic landscape Alms rounds Mandalas Circumambulation Labyrinths Walking Nembutsu Alternatives in contemplative walking. Innen Ray Parchelo has studied, taught and practiced Buddhism for more than 40 years and acts as both the Priest to the Red Maple Sangha and Director of Tendai Canada. He began his formal dharma practice in 1974 and has been a member of several Buddhist centres, first taking refuge in 1994. In 2008, he renewed his refuge- vows as a student of Ven. Monshin Paul Naamon, and, in 2010, was ordained a Tendai priest. Innen is has lived and worked as a clinical social worker in the Ottawa Valley since 1975. He regularly uses walking and mindfulness techniques in a social work setting. He has degrees in Comparative Religion and Social Work and has published general and scholarly articles on dharma and social work topics and is a popular conference speaker. He is the regular Buddhist contributor to the Ottawa Citizen's "Ask the Religion Experts" column. He and his wife, Judy, live with their three dogs in a old log schoolhouse, near Renfrew, Ontario.

"This may sound strange" is Christopher Taylor's second collection of poetry. It brings together a wide range of poems that are always in motion - in sound and subject, in image and tone. Simple in syntax, these poems remain in the reader's mind long after the book is closed and set aside.

Mushotoku mind means an attitude of no profit, no gain. It is the core of Taisen Deshimaru's Zen. This respected master, the head of Japanese Soto Zen for all of Europe, moved from Japan in 1967 and brought this work to Paris, from where it was disseminated throughout the West. This book presents his brilliant commentary on the most renowned of Buddhist texts, the Heart Sutra, known in Japanese as Hannya Shingyo-a philosophical investigation on the futility of philosophical investigation. Deshimaru's work fills a great gap in the interpretations of this seminal text in that he emphasizes "mind-emptiness" (ku) as the foundation of Zen practice, in contrast to the usual "mindfulness" focus of other Zen approaches. This "emptiness" and "purpose of no purpose" is one of the most difficult ideas for Westerners to understand. Yet we know that our most cherished values are based on mushotoku mind when it comes to love. We value the unselfish love of family or country that is based not on what we can get from the relationship but on what we can give. We know, too, that these virtues are not accomplished directly through our will but indirectly through dropping our expectations. In his lectures on this subject, gathered here into one volume by translator and Zen teacher Richard Collins, Deshimaru returns to a chorus: Mushotoku mind is the key attitude characterizing the way of the Buddha, the way of the bodhisattva, the way of Zen and zazen, and the way of all sutras (teachings). The written word has a checkered past in the history of Zen, which offers mind-to-mind transmission of wisdom without scripture and without words. Still, it is difficult to imagine Zen without its literature. Poems, koans, anecdotes, autobiographies, commentaries, sutras, all play a role in the transmission of Zen from the fifth century to the present. Ultimately, these written records can always be only fingers pointing at the moon of zazen. Interpretations of the Heart Sutra abound, from as early as the T'ang dynasty. Deshimaru's contribution to this wealth is colored by his Japanese heritage, his knowledge of Western philosophy, the cross-fertilization received from Parisian students of the 1960-70s, and above all by the central place he gives to mushotoku, which Richard Collins translator calls "the heart of the Heart Sutra."

Takuan Soho's (1573-1645) two works on Zen and swordsmanship are among the most straightforward and lively presentations of Zen ever written and have enjoyed great popularity in both premodern and modern Japan. Although dealing ostensibly with the art of the sword,Record of Immovable Wisdom andOn the Sword Taie are basic guides to Zen-"user's manuals" for Zen mind that show one how to manifest it not only in sword play but from moment to moment in everyday life. Along with translations of Record of Immovable Wisdom and On the Sword Taie (the former, composed in all likelihood for the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu and his fencing master, Yagyu Munenori), this book includes an introduction to Takuan's distinctive approach to Zen, drawing on excerpts from the master's other writings. It also offers an accessible overview of the actual role of the sword in Takuan's day, a period that witnessed both a bloody age of civil warfare and Japan's final unification under the Tokugawa shoguns. Takuan was arguably the most famous Zen priest of his time, and as a pivotal figure, bridging the Zen of the late medieval and early modern periods, his story (presented in the book's biographical section) offers a rare picture of Japanese Zen in transition. For modern readers, whether practitioners of Zen or the martial arts, Takuan's emphasis on freedom of mind as the crux of his teaching resonates as powerfully as it did with the samurai and swordsmen of Tokugawa Japan. Scholars will welcome this new, annotated translation of Takuan's sword-related works as well as the host of detail it provides, illuminating an obscure period in Zen's history in Japan.

This book provides an intuitive insight into the heart of Zen through a translation of Seng-Ts'an's poem, Hsin Hsin Ming. Reading through the pages you will become familiar with the basic principles of Zen with an interesting collection of perspectives from Quantum Physics to more traditional views of Taoism. These different thoughts are brought together to serve the reader a rewarding experience. Hsin Hsin Ming by Seng-Ts'an is the Zen Poem that is often referred to as the poem of nothing. While very short, it is the fusion of Lao Tzu's Taoism and Buddha's Buddhism into what is known as Zen. It is like a waterfall that you listen to. It says nothing but speaks the unknown to those who can hear it. Become like a temple to hear the what isn't being said. This is to know the meaning of this poem. The central message of the Hsin Hsin Ming is to point directly to the mind by giving up judgments and opinions so you can see the Oneness and the Nothingness of what reality really is. The poem professes the need to live life with equanimity, to practice living in a state of non-duality while in this dualistic world. It is a guide to the path of Enlightenment. It isn't about trying to attain anything, rather it is about losing false views and perceptions. To remove all that the ego so desires to cling to. The path to enlightenment is the realization that there is nothing to find, nowhere to go, nothing to achieve. There is no need to search for God for God has been within you always. God, itself is your true self, your true being. It is nothing more than waking up from the dream. "Upon returning home on a cold winter night, I begin my evening by building a fire in the fireplace to chase away the chill. Once I have gathered the logs and placed them so, I start the fire. At the birth of the flames starting to flicker among the logs, it is in that moment I know that I am releasing all the memories that have been stored up in that tree. I know that I am releasing the sunshine that gave warmth to that tree, that tree from whence the firewood came. I know that I am releasing the clouds that gave it shade, the rain that quenched its thirst, the soil from which it received its nourishment, and all those enjoyments that the tree experienced so joyfully, like those memories of the autumn breeze caressing its leaves and the still of the moonlight on a winter night while that tree stood stoic in deep contemplation. And in the knowing of giving shelter in the spring and being a refuge to the song birds and the animals that called it home. Yes, while I witness the flickering of those flames, I see all of this and more, for the log in the fire is more than what it seems. It is at once an explosion of all its life's experiences and joys, and a reminder of what we leave behind, for this log has shown me, how even I, am connected to it all."

The object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view of life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism, which is generally taken as Buddhism by Westerners, to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the spiritual life of modern Japan.

Part memoir, part almanac, and part primer on meditation, Entering Zen is addressed to anyone who might wish to take up the practice of meditation, or deepen an existing practice, or explore the nuances and complexities of the Zen tradition. The seventy-five essays in this collection first appeared as columns in the Alfred Sun, the community newspaper of Alfred, New York. Ben Howard is Emeritus Professor of English at Alfred University and a longtime practitioner of Zen and Vipassana meditation. His previous books include Leaf, Sunlight, Asphalt and the verse novella Midcentury.

This fascinating and innovative book explores the relationship between the philosophical underpinnings of Advaita Vedanta, Zen Buddhism and the experiential journey of spiritual practitioners. Taking the perspective of the questioning student, the author highlights the experiential deconstructive processes that are ignited when students' "everyday" dualistic thought structures are challenged by the non-dual nature of these teachings and practices.
Although Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism are ontologically different, this unique study shows that in the dynamics of the practice situation they are phenomenologically similar.
Distinctive in scope and approach "Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism: Deconstructive Modes of Spiritual Inquiry" examines Advaita and Zen as living practice traditions in which foundational non-dual philosophies are shown "in action" in contemporary Western practice situations thus linking abstract philosophical tenets to concrete living experience. As such it takes an important step toward bridging the gap between scholarly analysis and the experiential reality of these spiritual practices.

THE ORAL TRANSMISSIONS OF THE 52 SOTO ZEN ANCESTORS: Shakyamuni Buddha founded the path of the successive 52 Soto Zen Ancestors when he awakened to the Way. The transmissions of the teachings to the 52 Ancestors in Zen Buddhist Tradition were never meant to reach the eyes of laymen. 'The Denkoroku: The Record of the Transmission of Light' was originally written only for the eyes of Zen monks. Shasta Abbey's late Abbess, Jiyu Kennett, who translated the text into English often said that the long sentences used in Zen would likely annoy American readers. But she made the decision to share some of the deeper teachings of Zen with the lay public even if they were unable to penetrate into the deeper meaning of the words. This book gives you an overview and insight into a subject otherwise only understood through lengthy study. (For more info - www.outofbodytravel.org)

At the heart of Zen Buddhism is the practice of meditation. The Little Book of Zen Meditation is as one-pointed as the mind of the meditative Buddhist. It directs the reader in a exacting manner in the techniques of Zen Meditation in order that the practitioner may focus their mind and walk the path towards Nirvana.