The long-awaited new book on the essence of Zen practice from the beloved author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

“Our way of sitting is for you to become yourself.”

In this long-overdue book from one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the last century, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi shares simple, warmhearted teachings on a practice that is fundamentally about becoming yourself. In his inimitable style, filled with humor and insight, Becoming Yourself speaks directly to the newest beginners while also serving as a touchstone and a continual source of inspiration for even the most experienced practitioners and Zen teachers.

Becoming Yourself is based on the late Suzuki’s lectures and brings to light many of his unpublished teachings. Throughout, Suzuki Roshi’s voice is clear and resonates with the unmistakable power of true wisdom.

Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well.

In a beautiful companion volume to Shunryu Suzuki's first book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, this is a collection of thirty-five lectures taken from the last three years of Suzuki's life that has been masterfully edited by Edward Espe Brown, bestselling author and one of Suzuki's students.

In Not Always So Shunryu Suzuki voices Zen in everyday language, with humor and good-heartedness. While offering sustenance -- much like a mother or father lending a hand -- Suzuki encourages you to find your own way. Rather than emphasizing specific directions and techniques, his teaching encourages you to touch and know your true heart and to express yourself fully.

Wise and inspirational, Not Always So is a wonderful gift for anyone seeking spiritual fulfillment and inner peace.

"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 of Shunryu Suzuki's classic. 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 thirty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much re-read, 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. It's a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice.

"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 of Shunryu Suzuki's classic. 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. It provides an instant teaching on the first page. And that's just the beginning. In the thirty years since its original publication, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much re-read, 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. It's a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice.

"An opportunity to peer even more deeply into Suzuki Roshi's Zen mind and ponder the true meaning and value of recognizing the non-dual in our ordinary lives. The repartee with his students is by itself a great and unexpected gift, reviving that charming voice and warm wisdom we grew to know and love so well through "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"--Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of "Wherever You Go, There You Are and coauthor of "Everyday Blessings

"Suzuki Roshi's gentle wisdom shines through these intimate talks on the Sandokai. I am grateful to Mel Weitsman and Michael Wenger for their labor of love."--Robert Aitken, author of "Taking the Path of Zen and Original Dwelling Place

"Buddhists and lovers of Buddhism who have read and reread Suzuki Roshi's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind over the years, as well as those who are just discovering the wisdom of this wonderful, profound teacher for the first time, will welcome this new book of lectures on Zen training as a gift we did not expect to receive. "Branching Streams should be read slowly and savored."--Rita M. Gross, author of "Buddhism After Patriarchy

"Through the poetry of knowing and doing, Shunryu Suzuki points out a path of practical wisdom for Americans today, in a voice so close at hand it can touch their inner experience of the interdependence of existence, open their ears to hear its harmony of difference and sameness, and awaken their willingness to be true to its mystery."--Stephen Tipton, co-author of "Habits of the Heart

"A wonderful manifestation of Suzuki Roshi's fresh insights and teachings--small, pithy, wild nuts delicious to anyone who chooses to taste them."--Peter Matthiessen "Muryo Roshi," author of "Sal Si Puedes(Escape If You Can)