Zen Religion

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner guides the listener through a sequence of meditation techniques that can safely lead even a complete novice through to advanced levels. Based on his own long experience of the Rinzai Zen tradition, as taught by the great 17th-century masters Hakuin and Bankei, Daizan highlights the key points for success and addresses the pitfalls. Structured around a traditional teaching framework called 'the two wings of a bird', Daizan clearly lays-out how these methods build and combine to create a transformative and sustaining practice.

It is almost impossible to understand Zen by studying it as you would other intellectual pursuits. The best way to understand Zen is, simply, to Zen. This is what author Eugen Herrigel allows us to do by sharing his own fascinating journey toward a comprehension of this illuminating philosophy. In Japan, an art such as archery is not practiced solely for utilitarian purposes such as learning to hit targets. Archery is also meant to train the mind and bring it into contact with the ultimate reality.

The book The Way of Zen Buddhism & Zen Mind for Beginners goes beyond teachings of spirituality. The main focus of the book is to empower you to reach your full potential as an individual. Here, you’ll be introduced to Zen minimalist aesthetics, which will help you go from zero to abundance in no time.

In this series, Om Swami shares the essence of the Zen Living, combing the various branches of Zen and its associated techniques, to help the listener master the Zen way of life. There are 8 core episodes and 4 Bonus ones covering the following: Zazen, Wall-gazing, Osoji and many more to calm and center the mind while living in the world.

Bring Me the Rhinoceros is an unusual guide to happiness and a can opener for your thinking. For fifteen hundred years, Zen koans have been passed down through generations of masters, usually in private encounters between teacher and student. This book deftly retells more than a dozen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. John Tarrant brings the heart of the koan tradition out into the open, reminding us that the old wisdom remains as vital as ever.

Who knew the path to enlightenment could start with a cup of tea? Learn the hidden significance behind the deceptively simple Zen tea ceremony - one which can lead directly to Buddhahood and its absolute truth. D.T. Suzuki, once Japan's leading authority on Zen Buddhism, describes the tearoom and the tea ceremony and explains the guiding principles of harmony, reverence, purity, and tranquility.

In The Gateless Gate, one of modern Zen Buddhism’s uniquely influential masters offers classic commentaries on the Mumonkan, one of Zen’s greatest collections of teaching stories. This translation was compiled with the Western listener in mind, and includes Koan Yamada’s clear and penetrating comments on each case. Yamada played a seminal role in bringing Zen Buddhism to the West from Japan, going on to be the head of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Community.

Each of us carries a song inside us, the song that makes us human. Zen Guitar provides the key to unlocking this song - a series of life lessons presented through the metaphor of music. Philip Sudo offers his own experiences with music to enable us to rediscover the harmony in each of our lives and open ourselves to Zen awareness uniquely suited to the Western mind. Through 58 lessons that provide focus and a guide, the listener is led through to Zen awareness, with quotes from sources ranging from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis.

Are you tired of pushing, controlling, and striving—only to feel stuck and exhausted? Do you long for a life that feels lighter, freer, and more effortless? The Flow of Zen invites you to release the struggle and embrace the beauty of simply being. Through 21 short, immersive Zen stories, this book reveals the power of presence, effortless action (wu-wei), and surrendering to life’s natural rhythm. Each bite-sized tale offers a profound yet simple lesson—helping you shift from resistance to acceptance, from stress to serenity.

The purpose of this work is to show you how to apply and utilize the teachings and essence of Zen in everyday life in the Western society. I’m not really an “absolute truth seeker” unworldly type of person - I just believe in practical plans and blueprints that actually help in living a better life. Of course, I will tell you about the origin of Zen and the traditional ways of practicing it, but I will also show you my side of things, my personal point of view, and translation of many Zen truths into a more “contemporary” and practical language.

A master of psychoanalysis and social philosophy explores Zen Buddhism. In 1957, social philosopher and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm invited Daisetz T. Suzuki, the most famous Zen Buddhist master in the Western world, to a seminar at his new home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Their discussion was one of the highlights of Fromm’s life, and the paper Fromm presented (and later expanded into a book) was a watershed work. Fromm demonstrates his mastery of the philosophy and practice of Zen.

The Shōbōgenzō is the recognized spiritual masterpiece by the 13th- century Japanese Sōtō Zen Master Eihei Dōgen. It is comprised of discourses that he gave to his disciples, in person or in writing, at various times between 1231 and his death 22 years later at age 53. These discourses cover a wide range of topics pertinent to those in monastic life, though often also relevant to those training in lay life.

Climbing is a sport of perception, and our level of attainment is a matter of mind as much as body.

By philosopher, essayist and lifelong climber Francis Sanzaro, The Zen of Climbing explores the fundamentals of successful climbing, delving into psychology, neuroscience, philosophy and Taoism. Awareness, Sanzaro argues, is the alchemy of climbing, allowing us to merge mental and physical attributes in one embodied whole. This compact volume, by the author of the classic The Boulder: A Philosophy of Bouldering, puts the climber’s mind at the forefront of practice.

In The Shamanic Bones of Zen, celebrated author and Buddhist teacher Zenju Earthlyn Manuel undertakes a rich exploration of the connections between contemporary Zen practice and shamanic, or indigenous, spirituality. Drawing on her personal journey with the Black church, with African, Caribbean, and Native American ceremonial practices, and with Nichiren and Zen Buddhism, she builds a compelling case for cultivating the shamanic, or magical, elements in Buddhism - many of which have been marginalized by colonialist and modernist forces in the religion.

The people who get under your skin the most can in fact be your greatest teachers. It’s not a matter of overlooking differences - for those very differences offer a path to profound connection. Diane Hamilton’s practical, reality-based guide to living harmoniously with even your most irritating fellow humans - spouses, partners, colleagues, parents, children - shows that “getting along” is really a matter of discovering that our differences are nothing other than an expression of our even deeper shared unity.

This collection of 21 short, soul-soothing Zen stories is designed to help you quiet your mind, let go of unnecessary worries, and reconnect with the simplicity of the present moment. Each story is quick and easy to listen to, yet filled with timeless wisdom that gently shifts your perspective—offering clarity where there was confusion, peace where there was tension.

In Opening to Oneness, Zen teacher Nancy Baker offers a detailed path of practice for Zen students planning to take the precepts and for anyone, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, interested in deepening their personal study of ethical living.

When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was engaged in the practice of the deep Prajnaparamita, he perceived that there are the five Skandhas; and these he saw in their self-nature to be empty. "O Sariputra, form is here emptiness, emptiness is form; form is no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than form; that which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness is form."

What is happiness? This question can be answered in different ways. Zen and the Art of Happiness will show you how to think and feel so that what you think and feel creates happiness and vibrancy in your life. Enjoy listening to this audiobook and create a personal philosophy that will sustain you through anything!

Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the listener a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith; rather, one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.