Category Archives: Book reviews

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Guro Shoshin Huby – Reading about Zen: Reflections on China Root, Taoism,Cha’n and Original Zen by David Hinton. Shambala 2020.

Why and how do we read about Zen, Buddhism and Buddhist practice? Indeed, is reading a good thing, or will this detract from the focus on an experience-based practice? Francis Dojun Cook in How to Raise an Ox makes the point that reading and talking about texts is not necessarily a different activity from washing […]

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‘The Gateless Gate – The Tales of the Human Heart’ by Woo Young Tetsugen Yang

Which book on Zen (or Buddhism generally) has had the most impact on your life and practice and why did it particularly resonate with you? The Gateless Gate – The Tales of the Human Heart As Sensei often muses, for a tradition that prides itself in ‘without relying on letters and words, transmission outside scriptures, […]

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Book review: The Great Failure – A Bartender, A Monk and My Unlikely Path to the Truth.

We welcome your contributions and pieces from new contributors.  Here is Jan Shigetsu Jones first book review. The Great Failure – A Bartender, A Monk and My Unlikely Path to the Truth. Natalie Goldberg (2004) I was fortunate in coming to write this review in that the author gave an interview about this book in […]

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