The Zen Monastic Experience

by Robert E. Buswell Jr.

Robert Buswell, a Buddhist scholar who spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea, draws on personal experience in this insightful account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. In discussing the activities of the postulants, the meditation monks, the teachers and administrators, and the support monks of the monastery of Songgwang-sa, Buswell reveals a religious tradition that differs radically from the stereotype prevalent in the West. The author's treatment lucidly relates contemporary Zen practice to the historical development of the tradition and to Korean history more generally, and his portrayal of the life of modern Zen monks in Korea provides an innovative and provocative look at Zen from the inside.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, History, Religion, Zen

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent book gives a down to earth account of how Korean Zen (Son) Buddhist monks live on a day to day basis. Far removed from the mysterious to the point of magical accounts from fiction and other literature, this point paints of picture of rigorous, demanding daily living and the real circumstances of monks at the monastery.

It also goes into some motivations for becoming monks and many stories of monastic life.

[versarbre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent scholarly reportage that is promised to stay as a standard reference for quite a while. Too bad Holmes Welch(1924-1981) died too early to read it. He would love it.

[Inga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gets a five from me because it's full of the nitty-gritty details of monastic life and explains the otherwise obscure customs and vocabulary particular to that life, but I have a feeling that for someone not invested in the study of Korean Buddhist monasticism Buswell's account would fall flat about a chapter and a half in, when he mostly abandons the narrative thread and delves instead into the structures of temple life. Neither is Buswell concerned here with Seon (Zen) doctrine as he is in his more well known translation of the writings of Korean monk Chinul. Rather 'The Zen Monastic' experience is an mixture of memoir-ish sentiment and an academic's language that will be of most interest to those concerned with (a) monastic structures, and/or (b) the modern Korean Buddhist tradition.

[Paulus Germanus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about Zen, yet unlike Sawaki's or Watts' approach to the subject - more of an anthropological description of monastic life with some brief, succulent commentary from the author's own subjective perspective - a Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies and a former Jogye Order monk himself.

Washes away many illusions accumulated over the plateau of 'western' Zen approach. A good, sobering book for any Zen practitioner/enthusiast, whether current or prospective.

I've devoured this book in about a week :) A very well written study of monastery's bloodstream. Recommended: 5/5.

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of a Son Monastery in Korea. Buswell's prose is fluid and assists to make the book quite readable.

[Grey Sandstrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s no one’s fault that there is no way to make this topic interesting to read.