Questions to a Zen Master: Political and Spiritual Answers from the Great Japanese Master by Taisen Deshimaru

Questions to a Zen Master: Political and Spiritual Answers from the Great Japanese Master Reviews

• 
  Fergus, Quondam Happy Face

  Life is empty, transient and necessary. So says Taisen Deshimaru, and to me his attitude is lapidary. But what's written on stone is horrendously hard to live.
  
  I liked this book. It wasn't Nearly as satisfying as the author's The Voice of the Valley. But then again, anything by this guy SHINES. I've said it before: Taisen was a Man's Man.
  
  Now, this is gonna seem funny, but much of the time the only guys that can stand the heat when the fat goes into the fire are those with a history of a botched life. A botched life can be fertile.
  
  Another master, Shunryu Suzuki, said the mind weeds of our mistakes make us grow. We can literally learn from our mistakes.
  
  But look at Ernest Hemingway - late in life, he was stunned by the oncoming headlights of the Void, froze, and dove into constant female adulation and macho companionship for solace. He shunned his mind weeds like the plague.
  
  But the Void is friendly to those who admit their follies and foibles - it's like a portable air conditioner in sultry weather. We always get back to business.
  
  Stoke the fire overmuch, though, and in such weather you're baked. And Hemingway's paranoia fried his common sense. It was obvious the Feds were out to get him (he thought, poor man).
  
  Be careful - LISTEN - when your Secret Sharer (as in Conrad’s amazing story) speaks to you with alarm.
  
  Hemingway's genius was steamrolled by an unfinished coming of age, for he never paid his dues to his Daemon. You've GOTTA pay those dues.
  
  So DON'T do like he did and live an Uexamined Life till the end.
  
  KNOW yourself NOW. The more Intuitively the better!
  
  Or pay through the nose later.
  
  Do not go gentle into that good night -
  Rage, Rage against the dying of the Light!
  
  If you read Deshimaru and understand that his self-knowledge is holistic, as I have -
  
  Your dreams will become like tattered prayer flags -
  
  Fluttering, and healing you endlessly in the saving naked North wind of Sunyata.
  
  Just Keep praying!
• 
  John

  I just completed this awesome book that provides a very upbeat and never boring understanding of Zen Buddhism. The book is written in interview style which makes reading easy and has plenty of room for the reader to take notes as desired. The book provided me with lots of new insight I would never have had a clue about. The author is of Japanese lineage and provides lots of comparisons between Zen and Christianity including an epilogue in which he is interviewed by Christian Monks. Most readers will be surprised at the similarities rather than differences between Zen and Christianity. This is especially true if one happens to be more of a universalist wii th the belief or understanding that there is one universal god who is called many, many different names. (No, Buddha is not and was never a deity.....only an enlightened human who died of food poisoning in his 8th decade of life under a Sal tree in Northern India.
• 
  Mazen Alloujami

  Un recueil que j'ai lu et relu à plusieurs reprises au fil du temps et au fil de ma progression, et qui m'offre toujours une nouvelle compréhension
• 
  Gabriel

  Taisen Deshimaru es un maestro claro e iluminador, no sólo aprendes con este libro, sino que también te es transmitida una paz transparente.
• 
  Anthony

  Mostly great but some strange opinions mixed in.
• 
  Quang

  "Khi tâm yên tĩnh, thân bất động, trong trạng thái thanh thản, tiểu vũ trụ con người là hỉnh ảnh hoàn hảo và hài hoà của đại vũ trụ" (trích một đoạn trong Dẫn nhập của cuốn sách"
• 
  Alex Lately

  It's a great look into the zen practices and buddhism. I'am really new to this kind of stuff and i've learned the essentials of the regimen. This novel is also packed with life lessons that can be applied into your daily life. It's a great quick read for anyone who has an interest for the philosophy.
• 
  Bryan Holmes

  This book was one of a few that I read before moving to Japan, as I wanted to learn more about the culture. It was interesting and helpful. I have since reread it a few times, and there is much wisdom in it. It is also fascinating how Zen and many other Eastern religions accept Christianity and other faiths. Zen is a way of life, and it has many Christian aspects.
• 
  Gabrijela

  Pitanja Zen učitelju