Zen Handbook
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In the Western intellectual process of Zen assimilation - other Eastern directions of thought - such as Tao and Buddhism, have been incorporated under Zen umbrella so that gradually any Zen label was considered to be a Zen product. In fact, only a few Zen books are written from the proximity of a true Zen philosophy.
Lately, the interest in Zen reached a new peak. To some, Zen is not seen anymore as a narrow intellectual pursuit, but as a practical mean that could improve one’s life and experiences that eventually bring about the awakening.
By reviewing all the existing books on Zen I found out that in majority they are either translations of Chinese and Japanese original texts or compilations of already published materials. In this respect the current book approaches Zen from an original viewpoint. Rather than using known quotations from existing Zen books and therefore repeating what had been already said, it provides original thinking and explores in a practical way the evolution of Zen "understanding" based on my own experiences. The book goes some way towards clarifying some Zen fundamental questions, though, by observing what Zen was to my own development, it directs attention to the problem of how and what Zen could accomplish for one who embarks for Zen as a life time practice. By virtue of the fact that the book originates from within an individual experience of awakening outside of the Zen establishment it is doubtless the most accessible and reliable guide to anyone who’d like to approach Zen outside a Zen dogma, while being obliged to live a normal and responsible social life.
Zen Aphorisms, Zen Essays, No-mind Zen (Zen Handbook) is a full length original book on Zen consisting of essays, aphorisms, fables and poems never published before. The introduction consists of short essays that delineate the main Zen concepts including commentaries of practical values regarding koan approach, meditation and breathing. The introduction is more or less an overture to the language that Zen uses to make itself accessible to an intellectual understanding and also an evaluation of various Zen experiences and their possible outcome. The middle part of the book consists of almost two thousand aphorisms, fables and notes that are touching, reviewing and refreshing most of the principles found in Zen. This part of the book is an extract from 1,300 pages that I have written from 1975 to today. Upon selection, some of the early written material had to be modified and corrected to fit the later writings as far as writing style or Zen understanding are concerned. The interspersed notes within the aphorism chapter are retracing the progress or the regress of my awakening experience. Due to the fact that the written material was produced on an extended period of time, some of the Zen concepts are subject to multiple aphorisms, though each of them are setting a different tone and "understanding" of Zen or belong to a different form of expression. A few notes are written in contempt to the orthodox Zen, and needed as a moral support to those who think that Zen, as a science of freedom, allows dissent. The third part is a Zen poem with a Biblical twist. Zen and Haiku poetry represent already assimilated creative forms into Western culture. The poem, called Inner-mind Zen, outer-life… consists of typical Zen poetry in a mix with invocations of love (a Zen muse would be an oxymoron)
