Zen for Cats: Teachings of the Zen Cat Masters

by Alfred Birnbaum

Short aphorisms and drawings—with cats—bring out the humor in Zen.

Genres: Humor, Animals, Cats, Buddhism, Zen, Comic Book, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Alfred Birnbaum is an American born in 1957, living in Myanmar when he is not traveling elsewhere.

He has spend many years in Japan since childhood, and has been actively involved in the visual and performing arts there. He is also one of the leading translators of contemporary Japanese fiction, with three major novels by Haruki Murakami, and the award-winning A Burden of Flowers by Natsuki Izekawa, among his translations.

-from the back cover of Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction

Reviews

[Flo]

Sensing the movement
Distant as the back hall, do I hear footsteps?
A drawer opens on untold mysteries!
I stand at the threshold with whiskers awakened.
Traces are everywhere, at the end of my nose.

Eh. I thought it was going to be another kind of book. These hardly ever work for me.

July 26, 19

[Jobiska (Cindy)]

Eh, it's a cute idea, but neither the illustrations nor the captions are witty enough to captivate me. Passing along.

[Julie]

A little book of illustrated Zen koans and Buddhist teachings in relation to cats. It can be read as a book of philosophy or just a humorous little volume - or both! My favorites included "On Scriptures - hard is the seat of wisdom," featuring a kitty curled up on a stack of hardcover books, and "On Nature - becoming one with small living creatures," featuring a cat and a goldfish having a stare-down contest through a fish bowl. The black and white illustrations by J.C. Brown are precious.

[Pelin]

Kediler için zen, dharma yayınları için yazıyorum:
Fikir olarak tatlı bir kitap. Çizimler ve cümleler çok tatlı. Resimlerin baskı kalitesi ve çeviri konusunda şüphelerim var. Çünkü bir kısım cümleleri hiç anlamadım. Resimlerin baskısında sıkıntı var, kontrastı fazla gibi. Elle, fırça ile çizimin güzelliğini verememişler.

[Veronika]

Našla jsem ji v antikvariátu za dvacku. Jelikož miluju kočky, tak jsem si tu knihu koupit musela. Její hodnotu teda opravdu "zdokonalil" nějaký inteligent, který si tam (díkybohu obyčejnou tužkou) přede mnou psal poznámky. Závěrem tam přidal pomyslnou třešničku na dort, kde vepsal "Nechápu, co je to teda ten zen." Opravdu zvláštní zkušenost.

[Marianne]

Re-read this recently before sending it to a cat-owned niece. Certainly amusing, but I would have expected more depth about Zen teachings, even in a cat humor book, from Birnbaum who has translated many Japanese texts into English.

[Myra]

Cute little book with cute little illustrations.

[Helen]

I didn't really like this book. It portrayed some Zen concepts, but was neither humorous nor interesting to me.

[Konitha]

the art style is cute.

[Melisa Fuentes Kren]

Breves reseñas de libros sobre gatos - 2

"Zen para gatos: enseñanzas de los gatos maestros zen"
Percibidas intuitivamente por Alfred Birnbaum y Riku Kanmei
Ilustraciones de J. C. Brown
Traducción gatuna de Inés Frid
Editorial: BookPlanet

Libro publicado hace casi 30 años, precursor de muchos otros títulos que vinculan a los gatos y la filosofía.  Con ilustraciones en escala de grises, en su mayor parte caricaturescas, presenta algunos conceptos del Budismo Zen desde una perspectiva felina, en clave de humor.

Publicado originalmente en https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv1BXCWO_...

[Bernie4444]

Kat Koans – What is the sound of one can open?

You know that you are I for it before opening the book. It is postcards just hanging on by perforations; so if you do not intend to remove the cards, be careful.

The illustrations by J.C. (I hope JC does not have a religious overtone) Brown are so well designed that I would like larger versions for my library.

The authors must have lived with cats long enough to know cat-think and cat-rules. You will laugh your whiskers off.

[Cecilia]

Los gatos son seres extraordinarios, de eso no hay duda... En este libro, se demuestra cómo sus pequeñas vidas giran en torno del Zen y de cómo deberíamos adoptarlo para nuestras propias vidas... Claro, al estilo felino :p.

[Darcy]

A book written by an official translator of Zen Master writings. Very charming, true to cats...and honestly the best multi-layer description of Zen that I have read. worth spending a little time with!

[Catsalive]

Nice. Very clever ink drawings.