Books for Prep | |
 - Kind of DepressingThis is a gem of a book, but it is brutally frank and honest. There are no sugar-coated solutions to the difficulty of being alive, no place to hide, no true refuge. Thus, this is definitely the best Zen book I've ever read. His experience as a psychoanalyst was fascinating, too, and gave me a new appreciation of this much maligned profession. But the sad fact is that the author busts our illusions and delusions. He ferrets out our "secret practice" which is always goal-oriented, usually towards some comforting end or safe harbor at the end. I find that this existential truth is a little too hard to bear and it frightens, annoys and saddens me. But the climax of the book is when the author says that the gentle kiss of moment by moment attention is the one thing that alleviate this (my paraphrase.) This is what we can do, what we can count on, what will comfort us. I think the secret practice is the desire to be comforted once and for all time, usually way down at the end of the road, usually heaven. I know I certain harbor this secret dream and illusion. But heaven is right here, right now. Even Christ said as much, but we all keep chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. How about that for a great metaphor?!?!? Forget the beautiful rainbow in the sky! I want to find that d*mn pot of gold, which will endure forever. The rainbow is ephemeral, I want solid gold. Wow, the human condition is a tricky one. Occasionally I just have to turn away from all this and eat potato chips and watch "I Love Lucy." The intensity of the truth is just too much to bear! But thank you to the author!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Rating:  - Book is great, the author isn'tEvery single thing written on the reality of Zen since Alan Watts can be no more than an "Alan Watts" rehash. Alan Watts about said it all through audio books and written. Since the book is a lot of that, it is great. I got it at the library and was thinking of buying it, but now I will not. The author made one comment concerning Buddhists who believe that we return endlessly to help those who are unenlightened. The guy stated that there are "numberless sentient beings so to hell with them" This reminded me of the Walmarters in NY, the author's home state, who seemed to have that opinion toward the worker as they crushed to death. "Oh, gee, there are plenty more of him" as they live out there greed. The author is just to "NY" for me Rating:  - Well written and modernI read this after having read "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" and "Everyday Zen". Those two books are collections of Dharma talks given at a zendo while this book is a consistent book in it's entirety. I found it very well written and reasoned. It doesn't fall back on "new age" type analogies that so much as some Zen books. It brings Zen into the modern western world while still recounting some of the tales and koans of early Buddhism. It also references Socrate's and more recent western philosophers. Magid is a practicing psycho-analyst and I found his comparisons of therapy and zen illuminating but I also found this book a good exploration of Zen by itself. Having said that I may have not found it so useful if I had not read other material about Zen and meditated at a couple of Zendos before reading it. Rating: - Great Personal InsightsVery good personal descriptions of his experience and the essence of Zen, not the sitting, but the meaning. Rondavous with Advita thinking in the end. Rating: - Arrival TranquilityMagid writes clearly and helps the seeker acknowledge his own hidden agenda. Must read for serious seekers. page 1 of 2
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