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Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs

Steve Hagen

4.09 · Rating details · 973 ratings · 74 reviews

“[Hagan’s] book will appeal to readers interested in what true Zen practice is supposed to be about beyond all the popular images and colorful stories.”

—Robert M. Pirsig, New York Times bestselling author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Buddhism is Not What You Think is a clear, direct, and engaging guide to the most essential elements of spiritual inqui/>Buddhism/> ...more

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Paperback, 272 pages

Published September 29th 2009 by HarperOne (first published October 7th 2003)

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Feb 11, 2013 Roisin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites-nonfiction, read-2014

"Whatever you hold to, let it go.
Step into this moment.
Come back to just this.
It takes some effort.
But come back, come back, come back to just this.
Just see what you've been ignoring for so long".

This is how Steve Hagen ends this immensely comforting and insightful book. I picked up this book during 2013 after some personal struggles that left me feeling a lot of things, both physical and emotional, none of which were comfortable, or pleasant or things that I wanted to be experiencing. Earlier that yea "Whatever you hold to, let it go.
Step into this moment.
Come back to just this.
It takes some effort.
But come back, come back, come back to just this.
Just see what you've been ignoring for so long".

This is how Steve Hagen ends this immensely comforting and insightful book. I picked up this book during 2013 after some personal struggles that left me feeling a lot of things, both physical and emotional, none of which were comfortable, or pleasant or things that I wanted to be experiencing. Earlier that year I'd been to a training workshop on Acceptance and Commitment therapy and was inspired by it to learn more about this alternative way of thinking where thoughts do not have precedence over our behaviour, but are seen as something that can be heard and left behind if that is what would be most helpful in that moment, and in the long-term. A major component of ACT is learning mindfulness skills. Learning the ability to be aware of thoughts, emotions and body sensations for what they are. Sitting with those feelings and really feeling them. Instead of buying into our thoughts about them, which is just the way our minds work.

When I don't feel well or happy I like to look at books. They are comforting. I like the musky smell. They way the paper feels in my hand. I like looking at words on paper. This is what I was doing that day when I came across this book. It was sitting on my parents bookshelves and I just picked it up, took it to my room and decided to read it.

"This is not a feel-good self-improvement book" was the first thing I read. Which is just what I needed. Because when bad things happen and you're miserable, and you have zero energy, and you're in pain, you don't want some douche bag telling you that life is 100 percent the choices you make and that you have the power to be who you want to be and achieve your wildest hopes and dreams. And God fordbid that Rhonda Byrne comes along and tells you that you brought this all on yourself because you "thought too negatively". It's just not helpful. It's saying "you are in control" and when you're life is out of control, heavily dictated by circumstance or you feel blocked in with no where to turn. You don't want someone to say "it's all your choice". You want someone to say "life is shit sometimes, and that's okay because it's the the way life really is. That is reality. This is reality". This is what Steve Hagen told me.

He also told me that I am not my mind, and that my mind is not me. He told me that I am not separate from the world around me, that the only certainty in life is change, that even the very molecules in my body completely change, technically making me something different, and yet I remain the "same". I am always changing from one moment to the next. He told me that every moment is a new moment. He told me that all we have is now. That the future and the past do not exist except in our minds. And he told me many more things that were insightful and helpful and reflected what I already felt instinctively about life but had forgotten amid it all. He also told me a lot of things that I did not know, and I am grateful to him for this.

Somewhere along the way I stopped reading it. I think I was unwell and couldn't focus on it. So I left it for a while. And then I came back to it, and I was glad that I had, because just reading this book made me feel better about life. It made me feel like life is okay. And once I got through it all. Once the moments I was having were filled with a strange thing called happiness it made me feel that life, that reality, is wonderful. It made me feel that the very act of existing, of being, of this world, of experiencing anything at all is a miracle.

...more

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Nov 12, 2014 Pooja Kashyap added it

Shelves: philosophy

Simple and free flowing book, Buddhism Is Not What You Think written by Steve Hagen talks about what reality is as per Zen Buddhism. The author resonates one central point in the entire book and that is, reality is about direct experience of the real time than mere feelings and thoughts, which happen to be in constant flux in conscious and subconscious level in human mind.

Through various real life examples, Hagen illustrates the point of perceiving awareness of the current instances Simple and free flowing book, Buddhism Is Not What You Think written by Steve Hagen talks about what reality is as per Zen Buddhism. The author resonates one central point in the entire book and that is, reality is about direct experience of the real time than mere feelings and thoughts, which happen to be in constant flux in conscious and subconscious level in human mind.

Through various real life examples, Hagen illustrates the point of perceiving awareness of the current instances that is taking place in the ever-changing present moment. The author tries to delve into ontological and epistemological dimensions by referring how masses or common people generally perceive reality.

In the most articulate manner, Hagen has been successful in bringing about the concept of understanding of emptiness, impermanence, and nonduality. Very deftly, he has been able to present the flaw of human mind that fabricates ‘reality’ by past thoughts or experiences in a way that we tend to accept them as actual reality, which essentially is not the case.

The book is interspersed with teachings of ancient Zen teachers, some of them are Huang Po, Shunryu Suzuku, Suzuki Rosi, Dogen Zenji, Ju-ching, Hakuin, Linji (Rinzai), Foyan, Kuei-shan, Ts’ao-shan, Nagarjuna, Kanadeva, Keinzan Jokin (the second of the great founders of Zen sect in Japan, had compiled stories of ancient Zen ancestors) to name a few.

I liked the way Hagen has spun his interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s This Will Never Come Again and transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics in different sections under the third segment of the book.

My curiosity towards Zen Buddhism compelled me to buy this book, and I find this book extremely helpful in ways of understanding the thought process of Zen Buddhists. I enjoyed it thoroughly, recommended for those who want to take a dip into the thought ocean of Zen Buddhism.

I’d also like to add some of the profound quotations that I came across while reading:

“Nothing stands on its own. Nothing has its own being. Each thing is inseparable from, and inter-identical with, all that it's not.”

“Thus perception is an objectless Awareness since, when we just see, what is truly seen involves not objects but the Whole. Nothing actually forms as an object; nothing stands apart. No matter where we look, there's just this.”

“We think there only has to be sound for there to be sound. We overlook that there must also be silence for there to be sound. And because of sound, there is silence. Were there no sound, how could there be silence?”

“What makes human life--which is inseparable from this moment--so precious is its fleeting nature. And not that it doesn't last but that it never returns again.”

“If it's Truth we're after, we'll find that we cannot start with any assumptions or concepts whatsoever. Instead, we must approach the world with bare, naked attention, seeing it without any mental bias - without concepts, beliefs, preconceptions, presumptions, or expectations.” ...more

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Jan 26, 2008 Amy rated it it was amazing

I really like this book; in fact, I reread it this fall.

The concepts behind Buddhism are so elegantly simple, yet I find them difficult to absorb and digest. I guess that's the challenge, right?

Hagen writes in a clear and straightforward way, illustrating major points of the religion with everyday examples to which the average Western reader can relate. I find him to be an inspiring and thought-provoking teacher, and I would recommend this book as a good place to start if you are interested in ...more

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Apr 03, 2016 Mic rated it really liked it

I prefer quites over reviews:
53
According to Bodhidharma (and to Zen), if we make enlightenment—or enlightened people—into something special and set them apart from others and from ourselves, we abuse them. In the process, we also abuse ourselves. Thus enlightenment becomes remote, otherworldly, mysterious, and (seemingly) virtually impossible to realize.
Zen is about freeing ourselves from such deluded thinking.

57-58
Try to nail down what anything is. You can’t. It’s like tryin ...more

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May 05, 2018 Erjon 7 rated it really liked it

One of the best ways to be introduced to the Dharma.

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Jun 30, 2017 Masum Hasan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Buddhism is REALLY not what I thought!
The author beautifully sheds light what being enlightened really is not. You might be asking what it is then? The answer is: that is the wrong question to ask!

Here are some key points I've found most important,
First thing first, Buddhism is not a belief system, a follower is not required to believe in anything supernatural. Buddha was a human, who found out that our suffering is caused by our craving to get happiness.
Imagine our life ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 Tom Blacklock rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: thinking

This could have been interesting if he hadn't reiterated his only message on every single page. Instead it was just incredibly boring.

The message is in the title - don't bother reading the book.

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Nov 18, 2018 Heather Yockey rated it really liked it

Liked the tempo of this book.

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Mar 21, 2016 Rochelle rated it it was amazing

Buddhism is Not What You Think-Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen
In his clear and conversational style, much as he did in Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steven Hagen tackles what is a thorny issue for most people coming to Zen practice hoping to "get enlightened" "feel blissed out by Nirvana" or those who come to Zen practice hoping to "get" anything at all. As he so simply states through 43 chapters, there is no getting what all beings innately possess (Buddha nature) and no becomi Buddhism is Not What You Think-Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen
In his clear and conversational style, much as he did in Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steven Hagen tackles what is a thorny issue for most people coming to Zen practice hoping to "get enlightened" "feel blissed out by Nirvana" or those who come to Zen practice hoping to "get" anything at all. As he so simply states through 43 chapters, there is no getting what all beings innately possess (Buddha nature) and no becoming what all beings already are (enlightened). Of course, the idea that all beings are by nature Buddha, is deceptively simple, and enlightenment is so bandied about that few people understand at all what the Buddha meant when he said he was "awake." Hence the problems most people have when coming to Zen practice from the mindset of attaining, achieving, or even letting go of their constructs of reality and self. He delves deeply into the practice of 'just seeing' what is literally one's face--namely, every day Reality, with patience and loving kindness of one who recognizes the possibilities of misunderstanding the difference between seeing and perceiving. He also encourages practitioners and those who would consider zen practice to take the Buddha's instructions to heart and to not accept what he, his teacher, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, or any other spiritual teacher declares as Truth until they have examined it for themselves and found it to be beneficial. There are more seasoned readers whose zen literary forays take them into the deeper waters of the great teachings of the likes of Nagarjuna, and perhaps Hagen's book might be considered redundant. However, for a beginner, or a beginner again, this book presents the fundamentals of zen from as many perspectives as Hagen felt might be useful. Zen literature is replete with anecdotes and stories. Hagen's book does not depart from this tradition. However, he uses the stories and tales of past spiritual masters, so often associated with Zen, like an experienced chef would use delicious seasonings in a plain and nourishing soup. Taste and See!!

...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Elly Sands rated it it was amazing

This is a no-nonsense book on Buddhism and perhaps the most exceptional one I've ever read. The subtitle "Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs" is why I chose this particular book. I believe that beliefs are sometimes so unbelievable that they are hard to believe.

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Mar 10, 2012 Rich Neal rated it really liked it

Beautifully written - I'm learning a lot. A very detailed deposition of modern Buddhism that debunks the western-hemisphere initiated misunderstandings and biases towards the ONLY life philosophy that Albert Einstein mentioned as being worthy of further consideration.

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Oct 24, 2014 David rated it it was amazing

One of the best books you will find on Buddhism. Hagen gives clear descriptions of Buddhist thought and in a way that gives the reader a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts that are key to understanding the Buddha's message. Highly recommended.

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Dec 12, 2011 Jolyon rated it it was amazing

Terrific book. A lot of practical sense and getting to grips with real Buddhism. I like Steve Hagen's books and have a couple of others—they're all worth reading.

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May 13, 2008 Fort rated it really liked it

Buddhism for the pragmatic American. Explained well with none of that as-soon-as-you-try-to-explain-it-you-fail stuff.

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Sep 15, 2017 Adam rated it really liked it

A handful of months ago, I went on a meditation/mindfulness/Buddhism reading bonanza. I tore through quite a few books on the subject and feel like I got a lot out of them. This book came highly recommended as a good beginner's primer on the subject, and I mostly agree. There's plenty of good information here, and I found myself underlining and marking pages to return to regularly.

For some reason, though, this book took me forever to finish. I would pick it up, read a chapter, put it ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Price rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It presents a broad range of topics and discusses them from a Buddhist/Zen perspective.
However, I do not agree with the author that Buddhism is not a "belief system". It is, but couched in different terms, riddles, and obfuscation. It does not share the extensive dogma of the Judaeo-Christian model but does proffer a belief system regarding life and the cosmos.
While reading the book, I began to reflect upon the Seinfeld episodes that promoted the idea of se ...more

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Oct 20, 2017 Mattheus Guttenberg rated it really liked it

Shelves: zen, liberation, buddhism

Enjoyable and introspective. Hagen discusses the spirit of Buddhism from a Zen perspective: the illusion of ego, the breaking of subject-object dualism, the nature of sudden enlightenment, the art of manifesting wisdom in the world, and more. Many of his comments reflected perspectives/attitudes I had already discovered in myself through reading the primary sources (Yuanwu, Huangpo, Huineng, etc.) - but he delivers them in a holistic and polished manner, inspiring the reader to practice Zen more ...more

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Nov 15, 2018 Kyle rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddhism

There are some fine insights, interesting lore and personal stories, and candid explications here. Unfortunately there is also a lot of tiresome repetition that is doggedly on the nose, and somewhat homely prose that frequently seems to lose track of itself. The really good bits, and there are many, throw the breezy bromides into starker relief, and make me wish the author had taken more care to emulate some of the laconism so reverently featured in so many tales about zen monks. I would still r ...more

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Oct 25, 2018 Ellen Rennels rated it liked it

And this book was not what I thought it was either. It is interesting and worthwhile but sometimes hard to follow. Of course, that is part of his overall point (I think) - that Buddhism isn't linear and isn't something you actually get a handle on. At least I think that is his point. The writing is lovely, the flow is mostly circular, kinda like a whirlpool. Keep going round and round, touching on similar points from a slightly different depth.

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Jan 31, 2019 Francisco Lozano rated it it was amazing

Great book, it definitely clears a lot of doubts regarding Buddhism and it makes you understand a lot and yet at the same time it can make you understand even less. Zen is complicated yet at the same time so easy.

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May 10, 2017 Mamta Mittal rated it it was ok

Couldn't understand half of it.. Particularly after reading conversation with God -1 , I feel it's boring in comparison. It seems to carry the same message but isn't presented well. I am quiet disappointed .

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Sep 26, 2017 Daniel Pasternak rated it it was amazing

I'm no Buddhist but this was the best book I've read all year. There are so many thoughts and viewpoints explored in this book anyone would be able to walk away with something. My view on life has been changed forever after reading, i can see now lol!

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May 09, 2017 Mark Edwards rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A truly inspiring and enlightening book. Boiling down the concepts of Buddhism to their most basic and fundamental.

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Sep 18, 2018 Michael Bird rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

Great book. Very clear, incisive and accessible. Really good on difficult ideas like non self and emptiness

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Jun 26, 2018 Rob rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, religious, education, audiobooks, self-help, read-2018

more self help than history, but good insights into zen practice and awareness.

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Jul 07, 2019 Allan Quinn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Good book
Wanted to read a bit more on Buddhism and this book delivered. It explained some of the themes of Buddhism in a clear way and made me think.

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Dec 29, 2018 Michael G rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, spirituality

Here we find what Steve Hagen refers to. Nothing in particular.

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Nov 11, 2012 Louis rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Those interested in Buddhism, philosophy, & religions.

I picked up this book for a couple of reasons. General interest in "what is Buddhism", a few times my behavior has elicited a question from a friend if I was studying the subject because of a comment or action on my part. (e.g. not being upset at someone because I felt, how can it hurt me if I choose not to have an ego about it…)

I have to laugh that this book tried to explain Buddhism and being “fully awake and aware of reality” without being able to state how one does it, or what it I picked up this book for a couple of reasons. General interest in "what is Buddhism", a few times my behavior has elicited a question from a friend if I was studying the subject because of a comment or action on my part. (e.g. not being upset at someone because I felt, how can it hurt me if I choose not to have an ego about it…)

I have to laugh that this book tried to explain Buddhism and being “fully awake and aware of reality” without being able to state how one does it, or what it really is like for the one reaching that point… so how do I explain the book itself? I have a bit of the same issue as the author.

To be fair, the author does a pretty good job and I’m not as talented as he is, so please don’t judge my review too harshly.

This is the first book I’ve ever read on this subject. The author does (from my naïve viewpoint) a pretty good job on trying to describe what can’t be described in a step by step process. He spends most of the book telling us what it isn’t. It’s not a feeling of ecstasy or just hitting “the point” and disappearing into the astral plane. ;-)

He does list many examples of past student’s questions and the somewhat cryptic answers given by their teachers. Much of this is an attempt to start knocking your mind to see and think differently.

I did understand some of his simpler explanations as in his description that everything is in flux, in actuality all is flux, and nothing is concrete. At every moment you change. Your thoughts changes, your feelings, the blood in your body has moved along, atoms move about in you, cells are dying and new being born, and so on. So you are not the person you were a year, day, minute, even a second ago. (This applies to us and everything around us.)

All this is set to prime you to see things differently. There is a lot of description on dropping all pre-conceptions and seeing reality for what it is. This is not easy as in just zoning out, humming and thinking “oh look, the birds are one with the trees and the tree reaches down into the ground to drink water… Ohmmm…” I get the sense that it’s more a case of, “you’ll know it when you get there.”

My only frustration with the book was midway through when I felt I was reading for the umpteenth time that reality just is, we have no control, we can affect no change, etc… Please note, this was my impression, I may have been missing the whole point. I wondered could a society fully “Buddhist” get to the moon or eradicate a disease like Polio.

The message seemed so focused on observing reality for what it is and coming to the realization that one is just part of the every changing flux with no ability to “force a change” that it just gave my Western-sculpted brain a headache.

I do think after finishing the book that I was confusing observation and “true understanding” with an implied inability to still participate in the world and change it. This is the one subject I’d love to talk with the author about if I ever meet him. I’ll spring for the coffee…

I see the author wasn’t allowed to teach until over 20 years of study. I’m sure he’d read my brief review and smile at my kindergarten level description.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It does do a good job (I think) to get one’s toe wet in the subject if it interests you. But with any discussion on a subject/concept this large, one book can never sum it up. It’s just a first step in a longer journey.
...more

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Apr 26, 2009 Eric added it · review of another edition

Shelves: zen

I'm surprised I didn't jot this down, but in one of the chapters Steve Hagen makes a distinction between Belief and Knowledge.

If I remember correctly, there are two insights packed into this distinction.

First that Science is about Belief, which maybe something materialists like me may not be comfortable with at first glance... but actually kind of makes sense. It just so happens that Science has a very good way of controlling belief so that we're not just believing any old thing, bu ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 Andy Hickmott rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddhism

This is one of those popular books on Buddhism which seeks to come at its subject from an original angle, presumably so that wisdom that has survived millennia can be commercially viable. In this case, the angle is revealed by the ambiguous title: easily misinterpreted as meaning 'Buddhism is not what you think [it is]', but properly explained in the book as meaning 'Buddhism is not [about] what you think' (but actually about letting go of thought). Yes, it's a clever smart-ass title, but a very ...more

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About Steve Hagen

Steve Hagen

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Stephen Tokan "Steve" Hagen, Rōshi, (born 1945) is the founder and head teacher of the Dharma Field Zen Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Dharma heir of Dainin Katagiri-roshi.

He is a published author of several books on Buddhism. Among them, "Buddhism Plain & Simple" is one of the top five bestselling Buddhism books in the United States.

He has been a student of Bu ...more

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“See confusion as confusion. Acknowledge suffering as suffering. Feel pain and sorrow and divisiveness. Experience anger or fear or shock for what they are. But you don't have to think of them as evil - as intrinsically bad, as needing to be destroyed or driven from our midst. On the contrary, they need to be absorbed, healed, made whole. (15)” — 14 likes

“What makes human life--which is inseparable from this moment--so precious is its fleeting nature. And not that it doesn't last but that it never returns again.” — 14 likes

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