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Suzuki-roshi says: “The world is its own magic”—a feeling that pervades the entire book. As you read the text closely, the same statement or sequence of ideas is simultaneously simple and obvious, obscure and perplexing, and illuminating. Here indeed is a book of intense, profound, joyous reflection.
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ZEN MIND is one of those enigmatic phrases used by Zen teachers to throw you back upon yourself, to make you go behind the words themselves and begin wondering. “I know what my own mind is,” you tell yourself, “but what is what my own mind is? Is it what I am doing now? Is it what I am thinking now?” And if you should then try to sit physically still for a while to see if you can discover just what your mind is, to see if you can locate it—then you have begun the practice of Zen, then you have begun to realize the unrestricted mind.
The innocence of this first inquiry—just asking what you are—is BEGINNER’S MIND. The mind of the beginner is needed throughout Zen practice. It is the open mind, the attitude that includes both doubt and possibility, the ability to see things always as fresh and new. It is needed in all aspects of life. Beginner’s mind is the practice of Zen mind. This book originated from a series of talks given by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki to a small group in Los Altos, California. His talks were recorded on tape by MARIAN DERBY, head of the Los Altos Zen group, who conceived the present book. The transcriptions were edited and organized by TRUDY DIXON, one of Suzuki-roshi’s closest disciples. The introduction is by RICHARD BAKER, a Soto Zen priest and the Dharma Heir of Suzuki-roshi, who is presently carrying on Suzuki-roshi’s work. |