An Introduction to Zen Buddhism Paperback – 28 Jan. 2013

Very low quality reprint of a few magazine articles. Only 56 pages in total. Horrible pixelated scanned cover. I recommend you to look for the full version by Suzuki instead. Returned immediately. However, return/refund was free/immediate, so thanks Amazon - I'm still a happy customer :-).

It is exactly what it says it is and I was not disappointed.

Be careful --- some of the reviews refer to a much longer version of this book (9 chapters, over 100 pages), but this version is actually only 3 chapters (as shown in the Kindle sample via 'Look Inside')

Very Good

Quite a difficult book. I've reread parts of it many times and gradually gain some insight.

Perfect

delighted

Not always easy but still a classic

Summary of this book is :1. Zen cannot be explained in words.2. Satori cannot be explained in words.With koans and utterings of masters scattered here and there, the book gives a great insight into trying to understand zem.Its a great read.

Ich habe mir dieses Büchlein gekauft und mich auf den Aufsatzband von Suzuki gefreut, da er 1934 erstmals erschienen zu einem Standartwerk der westlichen Zen-Vermittlung gehört. Dann kam dieses Buch an mit dem selben Titel vom selben Autor. Ich erwartete ein einfaches reprint ohne Anspruch. Es sind 3 Aufsätze und ein Vorwort drin. Ich las die Sachen mit genus und wunderte, dass es nur so wenige Aufsätze sind und dann borgte ich in einer Bibliothek das Original aus und sah, dass dieses 9 Aufsätze und Vorwort hat. Dazu noch ein Register. Das bedeutet, dass in dieser billigen Ausgabe 6 Aufsätze und das Register unterschlagen wurden. Das ist wirklich unerhört!Ich raten allen ab diese Ausgabe zu holen. Lieber eine antiquarische mit allen Aufsätzen, mit der man auch richtig umgehen kann. Sieht auch hübscher im Regal aus, als diese Broschüre.

O livro é muito bom, apesar de não parecer ser o livro completo, este ebook aparenta ser uma pequena parte do livro An introduction to Zen Buddhism, do mesmo autor , o qual na versão impressa tem o prefácio escrito por Jung.

It's a good introduction to zen. A bit confusing in some parts, bit I guess that's why it is an introduction.

It's a joy to read this deservedly famous writer's introduction to ZEN.

D.T. Suzuky è uno dei massimi esponenti del Buddhismo zen. Questo libro è per chi vuole iniziare ad approfindire lo Zen. Vanno poi letti gli altri suoi libri ma cosa più importante è sperimentare gli insegnamenti del grande maestro.

Excellent livre de Suzuki Roshi

I was looking forward to this book but I must say the cover looks like it has been photocopied, and there are enough multiple typo's in the book to make me think about not even finishing it. If the understanding of zen is trying to decipher sentences then this works really well.Please avoid this copy if you want to purchase any book to understand zen. I must say DT Suzuki is being woefully let down by the presentation and editing in this book.

This book appears to be a reprint of a 1934 book of this name by D. T. Suzuki. It contains 3 chapters and 50 content pages. However, there is a 1964 book by Suzuki of the same name that contains 9 chapters--including the 3 chapters from the 1934 version--and (in my edition) about 124 content pages. I can find nothing in the online descriptive materials for this current Stellar Books offering to inform buyers they are purchasing an earlier, less complete version of the book rather than the more extensive 1964 version. If I have overlooked something I apologize. Otherwise, I find this reissue of an earlier version of the book rather misleading.

The "Important Books" edition (listed as "Stellar Books" on the copyright page) that currently sells on Prime for $7.75 is a P.O.D. reprint of three chapters of the original paperback, not the whole book. As such, perfectly readable, though with pixelated front and back cover. My bad for not checking the page count, I suppose, but should one have to?

I cannot believe Amazon would even allowed this to be sold. I returned it.This is a knock-off with just three chapters instead of nine, and it looks like somebody made it at the local copy-shop.Note: I saw the bad reviews for the kindle edition, but assumed that was a format issue and the paperback would be okay.

Alan Watts draws heavily from Suzuki and others. However, Alan is able to articulate these writings in a way the western mind can understand. Suzuki is not western culture, so he can be difficult to follow, but worth it. I look forward to reading Suzukis more in depth writings, but this brief intro on what Zen really is and is not has enlightened me. I especially enjoyed the pains taken by Suzuki to explain that Zen is NOT A RELIGION but simply life. Confused? The book explains.

I ordered the paperback (not mass market) and the cover image is quite clearly pixelated (poor quality image). The spine is plain white with nothing printed on it. None of this effects the content, which I am pleased with, but it will not be a beautiful addition to your bookshelf should you get the paperback.A word of warning, though, this book has many references (by the author) to Chinese, Japanese, and other historic information that is not for those with little or no background knowledge of Chinese philosophy. This is not a "How-to-Zen" nor does it give concrete definitions, but dances around the essence through origins and examples.I'm no expert, but I do have some varying background knowledge, without which I would be completely lost. Still, many references are tied to the time in which this was written.

D. T. Suzuki has walked a tightrope in this work. He intellectually engages the reader just enough to hold their attention but also keeps the atmosphere of reading almost poetic and fluid like in a way where the many examples of satori flow right along with his explanations and deeper insights like adding water to a flowing stream. Nothing is disturbed but yet something is added. I grasped something yet I left with nothing more than I came with. If you feel disappointed by this work, read it again but don't let your mind abide too much on this page or that. Let your mind be free, read the words like a dog drinks from a bowl. Simply take it in and feel it. Don't just stare at the words and make inferences. Let them flow through your consciousness.

I had to return my book. As many reviewers have mentioned this is a crappy paperback excerpt of the advertised manuscript. It is a mere 3 chapters while if you click the "look inside" there are 9 with an intro from Carl Jung. That is NOT what you will receive when you order this. DO NOT PURCHASE!