num_pages: 478
description: Zen is often difficult for westerners to grasp except superficially. Westerners tend to regard something as real only if it can be verbalized. Zen, as Suzuki stresses, is above all a practical philosophy and way of life; it was not meant to stay on a page for academic contemplation. It is essentially beyond verbalization, but very real."Strictly speaking," explains Suzuki, "Zen has no philosophy of its own. Its teaching is concentrated on an intuitive experience, and the intellectual content of this experience, and the intellectual content of this experience can be supplied by a system of thought not necessarily Buddhistic."Therefore, rather than examine Zen abstractly, in Zen and Japanese Culture Suzuki explains it in the context of a cultural matrix, with fruitful results. He examines Zen's relation to the art of swordsmanship, to the samurai's code of honor and conduct (bushido), to haiku poetry, to feeling for nature in visual art and architecture, and to the ceremony and art of tea. In this way, Zen and Japanese Culture goes a long way toward illuminating the mysteries and apparent paradoxes of Zen.Zen is revealed more as a stance towards life than a set of propositions and rules - a stance involving a special relationship to life, death, one's body, and one's mind. Seeing Zen's effect on a whole culture helps us understand its real meaning in practical terms, and its power to inspire grace, dignity, and beauty."[a] delightful book" - The New York TimesISBN: 1-56731-124-5
language: English
title: Zen and Japanese Culture
titlecomplete: Zen and Japanese Culture
genres: History, Cultural, Philosophy, Religion, Buddhism, Japan, Spirituality, Japanese Literature, Nonfiction, Zen
ratings_count: 922
publisher: MJF Books