The Zen Mind

These are some great Zen books by a Japanese Zen Master who thought in SanFrancisco in the 60s, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi:
- Not Always So
- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

His biography:
Crooked Cucumber

From Not Always So:

"To open you innate nature and to feel somthing from the bottom of your heart, it is necessary to remain silent".

"Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality."

If you are here, then u should read thee book : "The game of life, and how to play it" by Florence Scovel Shinn..... Believe me, everything will come to place then.....

oh zen is not a religion blah blah blah. Thats what gets on my nerves about religions and beliefs they try to make it so special and unique from other teachings. Just keep it real. Its a religion about not thinking. And practicing that. I promise it gets you no where your just the leaf going down the stream with no control or thought to guide you to the proper success. Zen doesn't believe in success so if yo uwant to be successful look elsewhere you have no meaning to life with zen

so funny how people say they aren't teaching but they are. Quit trying to make it look so special and just say it for what it is. People aren't robots and to fight our own inner emotions of being a human being is actually contradicting what they say. Oh don't have feeling or greed or guilt etc. Right but you do. Everyone does so quit trying to sound all mystical and special. If you can hide all your feelings and thoughts then fine your a god. But you can't so get over it.

Zen is not a religion, nor an adherence to strict rules, nor inner reflection. It is exactly what it is and nothing more. The rituals you see are not done for worship or obligation to authority, they are done simply for the act of doing.

A good Zen Master would insist that he has nothing to teach. And he, in fact, does not.

If these things sound paradoxical, then congratulations, because you have just stepped upon the path to understanding Zen. Truely Understanding Zen.

Beautiful

I find the religious nature of Zen very paradoxical.

@atfatw: zen is neither my friend, zen just is just what is.

Is it so hard to become a part of a common group that believes the same things and to live a life that not only is acceptable to a religious group but that is acceptable to a general set of moral principles?