Zen Buddhism

Lo Zen non si può descrivere con le parole, lo zen si può solo vivere. Le storie zen sono un mezzo per cogliere, da un'ombra proiettata su un muro, qualcosa del fiore dello zen. Queste 54 storie sono state tradotte dalla collezione che John Suler ha fatto di storie zen o taoiste già pubblicate o che gli sono state raccontate o inviate sul suo sito "Zen Stories to tell your neighbors".

Howard Fast began to formally practice Zen meditation after turning away from communism in 1956. The Art of Zen Meditation, originally published by the antiwar political collective Peace Press, in 1977, is the fruit of Fast’s study: a brief and instructive history of Zen Buddhism and its tenets, written with a simplicity that is emblematic of the philosophy itself. Fast’s study of Zen also inspired his popular Masao Masuto mystery series about a Zen Buddhist detective in Beverly Hills.

Americans and others in the West have certain expectations and images that come to mind when the word Buddhist comes up. Most people have seen the Dalai Lama on the news or in magazines, and he has almost become synonymous with Buddhism in general. The truth is that by far, the majority of the world's Buddhists are not bald Asian men in orange robes. Buddhists look like you or me--just normal people who try to fit the ideas developed by Buddha into normal modern life.