Why read Zen and Japanese Culture?

Book cover of Zen and Japanese Culture

Book description

Zen and Japanese Culture is a classic that has influenced generations of readers and played a major role in shaping conceptions of Zen's influence on Japanese traditional arts. In simple and poetic language, Daisetz Suzuki describes Zen and its historical evolution. He connects Zen to the philosophy of the samurai,…

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Asian history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Zen and Japanese Culture as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rande Brown

Author

Zen and Japanese Culture, the twentieth century's leading work on Zen Buddhism, completely changed my life when I read it at sixteen. This classic text, a profoundly simple introduction to Japanese art and philosophy, held the key to my young compulsion toward the transcendent aesthetic perfection of Japan and began to prepare me for understanding the world of the Geisha. It awakened the need within me to move to Japan to study Zen Buddhism in an authentic Zen Temple. Which I did.

From Rande's list on The best books about what the West can learn from the East.