An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

An introductory book on Zen by D. T. Suzuki, the Japanese scholar who did most to bring Zen to Western readers. First published in 1934, it later appeared with a foreword by Carl Jung. Suzuki argues that Zen is neither a philosophy nor a religion in the usual sense, but a way of seeing directly into one's own nature without relying on scriptures or logic. He asks whether Zen is nihilistic and answers that its negations point to a higher affirmation. He calls Zen illogical in the sense that it breaks the hold of ordinary reasoning, and illustrates this with dialogues and sayings of the Chinese masters. The heart of the book is satori, a sudden awakening that gives a new viewpoint on life, followed by chapters on the kōan as a method for reaching it and on daily life in the Zen meditation hall. Later scholars have criticised Suzuki for presenting Zen as a pure experience detached from its history and institutions, and for linking it to Japanese nationalism.

It is short and clear and was the first book on Zen for generations of Western readers, so it explains both Zen itself and how the West came to imagine it.