The Way of Zen (1957)

Alan Watts is like a human bridge, straddling the abyss between Zen and Western thought. On the one hand, I am impressed by his ability to accomplish such a deed. But on the other hand, I am saddened that he has been required to do so.

Zen has much to offer humans. As you are surely aware, the civilizing tendencies of mankind invariably lead to an excess of rules. IMO, Zen is an antidote to that, because its most fundamental lesson is the unlearning of arbitrary rules.

Watts describes himself as a resident of the neutral zone, having respect for both eastern and western systems of thought, but not fully existing in either realm. I like that view of reality. With a neutral mind, one is always open to consider new possibilities.

Bottomline: After re-reading this work, I still do not believe that there is a single Way. But I surely do have a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the way of Zen. ( )

An extraordinary book about Zen. Alan Watts makes you understand. ( )

The Way of Zen, by Alan W. Watts is a scholarly popularization of Zen Buddhism, written in 1957. It has the bibliography, notes and index of a scholarly book, but the looser style of a book written for real people. In the author's opinion, Zen cannot be understood in a purely literary or scholarly method. The author is, therefore, a participant observer. He attempts to put it within a context understandable by the Western mind, I think he is successful in that attempt.

The book is divided into 2 parts. The first part gives us the context for Zen. The background and history includes information on how the Eastern mind-set differs from the Western mind-set and how this informs the study of Zen. He discusses the Chinese tradition of Tao (the Way), Buddhism in general, and how they joined to create Zen. The second part of the book is about Zen principles and practices; empty mind, still body, contemplating koans (sayings), and creating art in stillness.

In the beginning, Watts reminds us how much our conventions and mind-sets informs our understanding. When we say the word fist, it is a noun, a thing. It is not a part of our body or an action we have chosen to take. Thus we can ask “what happens to my fist [noun-object] when I open my hand?”(p.5). Because our conventions are different from Asian conventions it is difficult to study Zen using translated Asian texts. We are missing the context. “... so that one who thinks in Chinese has little difficulty in seeing that objects are also events, that our world is a collection of processes rather than entities.” (p.5) It then takes pages of examples, explanations, quotations and analysis to get the feel of Tao and wu-wei. Wu is non or not, wei is action, doing, striving, busyness or grasping. Other concepts from the Tao are also expressed. The next chapters deal with India's religious background, Buddhism, how Buddhism changed when it became accepted in China, and the beginning of Ch'an (China) and Zen (Japan).

The book goes gingerly, step-by-step along the path of understanding, yet it never condescends. In Watt's words, the difference between Zen and other meditation traditions of Buddhism is the feeling that “awakening” is quite natural and possible to attain in this lifetime, at any moment. Your regular family life and duties can continue to be fulfilled while you experience the “thunderous silence” of enlightenment.

The second part of the book, the principles and practices of Zen are understandable because of the context explained in the first part of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this old friend for this review. ( )

This book was my first exposure to Zen Buddhism (and to eastern thought in general), so I can't comment on its accuracy. I can, however, say that it is well-written and explains clearly many ideas that are very hard to grasp simply because they are so different from the western way of thinking. The book covers many aspects of Zen Buddhism, and also provides information on Taoism and other Buddhist schools. It's short, mostly straight-to-the-point, and doesn't drag.If I have to gripe about something, I'll gripe about the construction "[assertion]. For [justification]" that Watts uses waaay too frequently. For it's awkward, makes the sentence hard to understand, and could always be removed easily. ( )

E' molto difficile scrivere un libro sul buddismo, e sullo zen in particolare. La materia è sfuggente, liquida, e per sua natura non si presta a categorizzazioni, astrazioni, o inquadramenti concettuali senza perderne il senso profondo.

Watts riesce a far capire molto bene il motivo e lascia intravedere, a squarci, il senso di questo modo di pensare. Non di agevole lettura, con alcuni aspetti poco riusciti, è tuttavia uno dei libri migliori che si possano trovare per cercare di comprendere il (non-)pensiero zen, nell'assenza della pratica.

Vivamente consigliato a chi è interessato all'argomento. ( )