Zen Sex: The Way of Making Love

How-to books on sex are like books on travel and cooking: the challenge is in translating the sensual dimension to words on a page. But Zen Sex: The Way of Making Love is more a guide to attitude than positions. Rather than trying to put you in the right mood, author Philip Toshio Sudo sets out to put you in the right mind for great sex.

The idea is simple: "The greatest challenge of Zen," he writes, "is to do what comes naturally in every moment; to express our true nature in every action." Sudo's way of Zen sex is to lose oneself in the experience of "ordinary" sex as a deeply absorbing--and potentially enlightening--meditation. "The more acutely we become attuned to this 'ordinary' energy, the more we begin to marvel at its dimension and wonder, the more we feel it and express it in our lives and lovemaking."

To tease readers into a more acute awareness of lovemaking, Zen Sex offers chapters on the poetic qualities of sexual expression. This is not the Kama Sutra, as Sudo says. Instead, he writes about discovery and anticipation, about scent and the cry of a lover, about the nature of entering and release. Purists, scholars, and others who prefer their Zen "dry-style" may resent his popularization and rangy interpretations. But for anyone intrigued by the merging of sexuality and spirituality, Zen Sex can bring inspiration and illumination into love play. It's a graceful little book the author designed himself, with images and calligraphy that create an open, intimate, and quietly erotic tone. One needs no familiarity with Zen to appreciate the book, but experienced Zen students may be surprised by new realms for classic teachings. --Rebecca Taylor