Why read When You Greet Me I Bow?

Book cover of When You Greet Me I Bow: Notes and Reflections from a Life in Zen

Book description

From beloved Zen teacher Norman Fischer, a collection of essays spanning a life of inquiry into Zen practice, relationship, social engagement, and spiritual creativity.

"Looking backwards at a life lived, walking forward into more life to live built on all that, trying not to be too much influenced by what's…

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Why read it?

1 author picked When You Greet Me I Bow as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

David W. Stowe

Author

Western Buddhism has had more than its share of fine explicators, from Stephen Batchelor to Sharon Salzberg, but this volume ranks with the most informative of them. It collects the best writings published over recent decades by the very wise Jewish-American Zen priest Norman Fischer.

For me, these far-ranging articles make better sense of Zen than anything I've ever read. In humorous, down-to-earth prose, these essays unpack some of the thorniest issues raised by Zen, that bundle of paradoxes.

Using personal examples drawn from his long activity in and around various Buddhist centers, Fischer makes Zen sound both approachable and…

From David's 3 favorite reads in 2023.