Les Chemins du Zen

by D.T. Suzuki

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, l'auteur des célèbres et désormais classiques Essais sur le bouddhisme zen , joua un rôle déterminant dans l'enseignement du bouddhisme en Occident. Ici regroupés, ses articles et conférences - dont une, très émouvante, sur le "Suprême Idéal Spirituel" éclairent le bouddhisme Mahayana en général et l'école zen en particulier, ainsi que les paroles de maître Rinzaï et les relations entre zen et psychologie occidentale. De plus, le Dr Suzuki s'y montre tout autant expert de la culture et de l'art japonais que fin observateur de l'évolution des valeurs au cours de notre XXe siècle.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, Religion, Philosophy, Spirituality, Nonfiction

222 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (鈴木 大拙 貞太郎 Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō; rendered "Daisetz" after 1893) was Professor of Buddhist philosophies at Ōtani University. As a translator and writer on Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, he greatly helped to popularize Japanese Zen in the West.

Reviews

[Matt Dowdy]

“Zen’s life is not teleologically defined; it is like the sun’s rising in the East and setting in the West; it is like the plants flowering in spring and bearing fruits in autumn. It is we humans who take all these phenomena of Nature as having some definite design in relation to human destiny and welfare, but this homo centric interpretation of the world always ends in tragedy, if not in utter confusion of thought.”

“Our satori must have a fresh outlook on the world and humanity; it must prove itself useful and valuable in our daily life not only as an individual but as a world citizen, as a member in a system of infinite complexities which contain every conceivable existence, non-sentient as well as sentient.”

Continuing my journey into zen, fulfilling and confusing, I go on

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzuki (1870-1966) thinks of himself as a cultural ambassador. In this series of conferences and articles, he tries to put Zen doctrine and principles within reach of Western audiences. A great challenge since Zen is a question of intuitive comprehension that resists any expression and can hardly be translated into the intellectual categories of Western languages.

What is the meaning of Zen? How did the doctrine travel from India to China and Japan? Which virtues does its adept have to master? What are the differences between Great and Smaller vehicle? All those general introductory questions are tackled but Suzuki also aims at showing the manifestations and traits of Zen in Eastern - more specifically Japanese- culture: painting, architecture, gardens, tea ceremony, poetry. For his audience, he breaks some “mondos”, those Buddhist riddles, and highlights the concreteness of the essence of Zen in some haikus.
More interesting, he brings out a cross cultural perspective and builds bridges between Zen experience and Western religious tradition. It is in Eckhart’s writings that he happens to find the spirit of Zen at its fullest expression, as an experience of unity.

[Bankim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is jam-packed with very informative and deeply inspiring articles on essential aspects of the Zen path.I had gone through Alan Watts' earlier book 'Spirit of Zen' many years ago.But somehow it was this book by D.T.Suzuki which compelled me to explore more on the Koan introspection aspect.Also it compelled me to go deep in to basic buddhism in general and the Mahayana doctrine in particular.
Suzuki's english is superb,well suited to modern reader,and he writes from his heart.

[Gille Liath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zen is not a belief system; you could maybe call it, not an absence-of-belief system, but a belief absence-of-system. It’s all about that essential spiritual truth, the ultimate Oneness of All, and the fact that this cannot be put into rational concepts. Great – especially for a Catholic like me, this is necessary balance to our tendency to over-conceptualise and systematise. But, by itself, Zen seems empty of content. Some have even thought that it is compatible with positivist materialism and atheism. It isn’t, it is the very antithesis, as a positivist cannot (if they are consistent) believe in transcendent Oneness; but it does rely on having some belief system as background (and it is pretty clear that Suzuki does, as he keeps referring to God). Equally, though, you could say that ii is compatible to some extent with any religion. It’s sad, though, to see so much tell-tale sniping against Christianity. Few supposedly spiritual writers have enough peace in their hearts to resist picking holes in other’s coats where they think they can.

In the end this has the same problem as all books about Zen: the whole point about Zen, like Fight Club, is that you can’t talk about it. The one clue Suzuki does give us is that the teaching needs to be passed on by personal contact; but, given that there are almost no authentic masters, that is hardly very helpful. Most of us will just have to keep making our own way, making use of such pointers as we can find here and elsewhere.

[Kent Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heavily focused on satori it'll give words to your own personal experiences. Written with Suzuki's characteristic simplicity and depth, and filled with classic esoteric Zen stories of the old masters.

[darío hereñú · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acercarse al zen requiere paciencia.
Alcanzar el satori muchísimo más.
Como alguna vez leí de J.L. Borges, se puede "utilizar la lógica para -precisamente- destruirla".
A través de los "mondos" (varios por doquier en buena parte del libro) ilustra el autor como se va logrando esa transición.
Este, como muchos más, pone contra las cuerdas al pensamiento occidental, cartesiano.
La ilógica se transforma en lógica ("un perro no es un perro", "el puente es el que fluye y no el agua", "cual es el sonido de una mano aplaudiendo?").
Para ser una introducción al Zen (este es mi caso), resultó como jugar al juego de la oca o leer a Foucault. Avanzás una carilla, una página, pero necesitás retrotraerte a un par atrás.
Extrañamente, el paso del tiempo -sospecho- hará sus milagros.
Lo que requirió horas de abstracciones, de pronto, lo comprenderás intuitivamente, en la completa talidad de las cosas.
Recomendable para aquellos que se atreven ver el bosque y el árbol, al mismo tiempo.

[Anthony Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an ambiguous relationship to Zen, and an ambiguous relationship to this book which years ago introduced me to Zen. I am not and am unlikely ever to achieve anything that could be called "enlightened". Nevertheless, Zen holds out to me the hope that enlightenment might just be possible. I don't follow a Zen path, but I keep getting drawn back to it.
Suzuki is quite a dry old stick, and this for me makes his writings attractive. This particular book is quite personal, unlike other books of his that are a bit more philosophical in spirit. I've never really felt there was any bullshit in what he wrote. He just explains the way things appear to him to be. I get the same from Alan Watts, who has a more popular style.

[Tim Weakley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very difficult book. I think I was 130 pages into before I read something which I thought I completely understood. While written by the best Zen scholar of the last hundred odd years I really didn't find the book approachable for the average reader.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the time, I was looking for a more practical oriented book than this, but, nevertheless, a great and understandable introduction into the topic.

[Dovofthegalilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It answered my questions, probably bit more than I really wanted. A better choice would be Zen for Dummies.