The Way of Zen

Too much philosophical jargon and arcane history.. If this is a rigorous history , then it should be marketed as such... The summary says it is a good introduction..It may be a terrific scholarly piece of work but it wasn't for me.

I loved the book. I was a little disappointed with the actual chapters on Zen, hoping that Alan would make more explicit comparisons to the earlier material. But all in all it was very informative and has left me with the desire to learn more.

I usually prefer to download lectures by Alan watts rather than read his books, some of
which seemed to just ramble along. I am not really good at critiques, but I really enjoyed
this book. Easy to read. Some concepts are so foreign to my common sense way of
thinking that it sort of turns my thinking inside-out. The idea makes sense. I cannot find
fault with it. But regrettably, my mind snaps back to its usual way of thinking.
For example: We tend to think of our self as an independent being inside of a separate
world. But actually there exists no separate being or outside world. The two are opposite
ends of a spectrum and reality exists only between the two ends. Sort of seems to be the
main point. That who you think you are is a mental construction, sort of a caricature of
itself. your true self is the entire world. One of my favorite sayings is "everywhere is the
center." Everywhere is everything. you are everything. I am everything and so is my
computer. Our minds create symbols to stand for parts of the world and then we start to
think that the world is made of parts. It seems that liberation comes from dying to your
sense of self. from ceasing trying to grasp at life as though it were something "other" that
could be grasped.
I can remember some magical times in my life when instead of me acting in the world, I
let the world take me by the hand and everything just clicked. I find these things
fascinating, but for some reason impossible to share.
There are some Zen stories which I can't seem to make any sense of, and I dunno, maybe
the point is to watch your mind try to make sense of it. I really am running off at the
mouth now. Oh well. Have you ever been in pain and then stopped to think, am I really
feeling constant pain IN THIS MOMENT? And no, you weren't in this particular
moment. It was an idea that you were carrying along perhaps from one moment of pain to
another. in Zen liberation also means liberation from the idea that there exists some
constant unchanging self that some how is carried from one moment to the next to affect
or be affected by the world. There really is no cause and effect. One just follows the other
like spring following winter. And the burning log does not BECOME the ashes, because
like the previous example there is no "stuff" which was the wood and then is the ashes.
First there is wood and then there are ashes.
I guess zen is a method to get you to stop dreaming and wake up.

This book was the selection for my meditation group. Those who were serious students of Buddhism enjoyed it but most of us put it aside after a couple of weeks. It is not for the casual reader looking for inspiration or personal insight but would be an excellent text for a comparative religion class.

Very dry, boring, and above all, hard to follow. i don't think this book is good for anyone who's starting out or has an interest in Zen. It jumps all over the place, puts quotes and footnotes everywhere, and is not really written in an easy way to follow. I contemplated giving up after 80 or so pages because I could never really understand what I read, but I decided to press on hoping it would be more clear and concise as it progressed. It did not happen.

Very disappointing after seeing all the hype around this book.

I was really interested in hearing more from Alan Watts and his view on life. But once i got the CD's I found out that Alan Watts was only in for brief segments, and that the CD was actually narrated by another gentlemen. I've been searching for a long time for pieces of Alan Watts segments that he has in his life and I thought that "the way of zen" was an audio collection of his work, however, it only offers very small recordings here and there. I really do wish that there are CD's with his teachings and views on life where i can hear him speak, not someone narrating his voice and words.

Six decades ago, The Way of Zen enabled Alan Watts' explanations to enter a pivotal position in the West. Perched alongside the Beats, he expanded his appeal to the burgeoning counterculture, even if the latter had not taken on the hippie term yet among some of its seekers. This 1957 book combines Watts' intellectual explorations and popularizing quests. It's far more sophisticated in its tone and expectations for readers than a lot of what followed capitalizing on the interest in the Eastern teachings. Watts can be pithy and he can be elegant. He has a knack for elevating the mind of the audience while staying in touch with just how far his listeners or readers can follow him up the path.

I've heard some in the know have since downgraded Watts herein for his lack of understanding of actual Zen practice. Still, whatever caveats that grading may carry, I find this a helpful survey. I found it when I needed a take on the Tao that went deeper than a summation or a shrug to its enigma.

It's necessary to begin there as this Tao as taught enriched, as the dharma passed from India to China, the latter land's reception of the teachings of the Buddha. Watts' interpretations might be compared to another book addressing the same readership in this same year, Holmes Welch's Taoism and the Parting of the Way. Welch applies the Tao as topical to counter Cold War American malaise. Watts prefers to consider the eco-critical aspects, which of course would blossom in his later work as the counterculture took up this theme in earnest. The Way of Zen anticipated these themes, all the same.

The prose can get tricky as concepts challenge easy rendering. "For if nirvana is the state in which the
attempt to grasp reality has wholly ceased, through the realization of its impossibility, it will obviously be absurd to think of nirvana itself as something to be grasped or attained." (78) However, the pithy has its place. Seng-ts'an (d. 606) is quoted from the start of his Zen treatise: "If you work on your mind with your mind,/ How can you avoid an immense confusion?" (105) It's a question meditation advocates before and since have had to deal with, within themselves or from many others.

Hui-neng (637-713) sympathizes. "To concentrate on the mind and to contemplate it until it is still
is a disease and not dhyana. To restrain the body by sitting up for a long time–of what benefit is this towards the Dharma?" (110) Zen tries to step aside from the usual dichotomies that tie us down in knots, mentally or spiritually, physically and psychically. Watts reasons that good and evil need each other; right and wrong in Zen as in the Tao depend on symbiosis. But this pattern is liberating, not confining. To succeed is always to fail–in the sense that the more one succeeds in anything, the greater is the need to go on succeeding. To eat is to survive to be hungry." (134) What a great phrase.

Like a thermostat, Watts considers the mind's "genius" in part lies in its ability to criticize its own processes. Its feedback system tells us by its effects themselves what we need to correct in the system. (154) He uses the term "cybernetics of the mind" here, to get at this self-correcting action.

Later, Watts shows how koans work in Rinzai training to break down this binary, dual insistence. He gives none away, but he explains well how the long discipline of an adept results in the freedom from action going against the spontaneity of creation. The book goes on to look at Zen in the arts. I found the preceding parts more engaging, but the whole study is worth pondering by any inquirer today.

The content was wonderful, but I just wish Alan Watts had narrated it himself. The narrator, Sean Runnette, has absolutely no idea how to pronounce the non-English words (e.g., from Chinese, Indian languages) which abound in this book. Listening to him gingerly pick his way through words like "Tathagata" multiple times grows old fast. He tiptoes shakily around even simple works like "Dharma". You would think he would have asked somebody how the words should be pronounced before recording, but apparently he decided to go in unprepared and just wing it.

Alan Wilson Watts (1915-1973) was a British-born philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as a populariser of Eastern philosophy. He and his then-wife left England for America in 1938 on the eve of WWII, and he became an Episcopal priest---but he left the priesthood in 1950 and moved to California, where he became a cult figure in the Beat movement of the 1950s and later. He wrote many popular books, such as Nature, Man and Woman,This Is It,Psychotherapy East & West,Beyond Theology,The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are,Does It Matter?,Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown,Tao: The Watercourse Way, and his autobiography, In My Own Way.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1957 book, "There are many excellent books about Zen... But as yet not one---not even Professor Suzuki---has given us a comprehensive account of the subject which includes its historical background and its relation to Chinese and Indian ways of thought... My own The Spirit of Zen is a popularization of Suzuki's earlier works, and besides being very unscholarly it is in many respects out of date and misleading, whatever merits it may have in the way of lucidity and simplicity... In default, then, of a fundamental, orderly, and comprehensive account of the subject, it is no wonder that Western impressions of Zen are somewhat confused... The problem, then, is to write such a book---and this I have tried to do since no one who understands the subject better than I seems willing or able to do so." (Pg. xi-xii)

He points out, "There are some serious difficulties in the way of giving an historically accurate account of Indian Buddhism, as of the whole philosophical tradition from which it arose... The first, and most serious, is the problem of interpreting the Sanskrit and Pali texts in which ancient Indian literature is preserved... The discovery of proper European equivalents for philosophical terms has been hindered by the fact that early lexicographers were all too ready to find correspondences with Western theological terms, since one of the primary objects of their studies was to assist the missionaries." (Pg. 30-31)

He observes, "The absence of any record of a Dhyana School in Indian Buddhist literature, or of Bodhidharma in connection with it, is perhaps due to the fact that there was never any Dhyana or Zen school even in China until some two hundred years after Bodhidharma's time. On the other hand, there would have been an almost universal practice of dhyana... or sitting meditation---among Buddhist monks... Zen became a distinct school only as it promulgated a view of dhyana which differed sharply from the generally accepted practice." (Pg. 85) He adds, "Nowhere in their teachings have I been able to find any instruction in or recommendation of the type of za-zen which is today the principal occupation of Zen monks. On the contrary, the practice is discussed time after time in the apparently negative fashion of the two quotations just cited." (Pg. 110)

He states, "If Zen is regarded as having the same function as a religion in the West, we shall naturally want to find some logical connection between its central experience and the improvement of human relations. But this is putting the cart before the horse. The point is rather than some such experience of way of life as this is the object of improved human relations. In the culture of the Far East the problems of human relations are the sphere of Confucianism rather than Zen... Zen has consistently fostered Confucianism and was the main source of the introduction of its principles into Japan. It saw their importance for creating the type of cultural matrix in which Zen could flourish without coming into conflict with social order, because the Confucian ethic is admittedly human and relative, not divine and absolute." (Pg. 148)

He admits, "Since the formal details of the koan discipline are one of the few actual secrets remaining in the Buddhist world, it is difficult to appraise it fairly if one has not undergone the training. On the other hand, if one has undergone it one is obliged not to talk about it---save in vague generalities. The Rinzai School has always forbidden publication of formally acceptable answers to the various koan because the whole point of the discipline is to discover them for oneself, by intuition. To know the answers without having so discovered them would be like studying the map without taking the journey." (Pg. 159-160)

This is, in many ways, one of Watts' best and most satisfying books; lucidly written, scholarly without being pedantic, and illuminating.

Alan Wilson Watts (1915-1973) was a British-born philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as a populariser of Eastern philosophy. He and his then-wife left England for America in 1938 on the eve of WWII, and he became an Episcopal priest---but he left the priesthood in 1950 and moved to California, where he became a cult figure in the Beat movement of the 1950s and later. He wrote many popular books, such as Nature, Man and Woman,This Is It,Psychotherapy East & West,Beyond Theology,The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are,Does It Matter?,Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown,Tao: The Watercourse Way, and his autobiography, In My Own Way.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1957 book, "There are many excellent books about Zen... But as yet not one---not even Professor Suzuki---has given us a comprehensive account of the subject which includes its historical background and its relation to Chinese and Indian ways of thought... My own The Spirit of Zen is a popularization of Suzuki's earlier works, and besides being very unscholarly it is in many respects out of date and misleading, whatever merits it may have in the way of lucidity and simplicity... In default, then, of a fundamental, orderly, and comprehensive account of the subject, it is no wonder that Western impressions of Zen are somewhat confused... The problem, then, is to write such a book---and this I have tried to do since no one who understands the subject better than I seems willing or able to do so." (Pg. xi-xii)

He points out, "There are some serious difficulties in the way of giving an historically accurate account of Indian Buddhism, as of the whole philosophical tradition from which it arose... The first, and most serious, is the problem of interpreting the Sanskrit and Pali texts in which ancient Indian literature is preserved... The discovery of proper European equivalents for philosophical terms has been hindered by the fact that early lexicographers were all too ready to find correspondences with Western theological terms, since one of the primary objects of their studies was to assist the missionaries." (Pg. 30-31)

He observes, "The absence of any record of a Dhyana School in Indian Buddhist literature, or of Bodhidharma in connection with it, is perhaps due to the fact that there was never any Dhyana or Zen school even in China until some two hundred years after Bodhidharma's time. On the other hand, there would have been an almost universal practice of dhyana... or sitting meditation---among Buddhist monks... Zen became a distinct school only as it promulgated a view of dhyana which differed sharply from the generally accepted practice." (Pg. 85) He adds, "Nowhere in their teachings have I been able to find any instruction in or recommendation of the type of za-zen which is today the principal occupation of Zen monks. On the contrary, the practice is discussed time after time in the apparently negative fashion of the two quotations just cited." (Pg. 110)

He states, "If Zen is regarded as having the same function as a religion in the West, we shall naturally want to find some logical connection between its central experience and the improvement of human relations. But this is putting the cart before the horse. The point is rather than some such experience of way of life as this is the object of improved human relations. In the culture of the Far East the problems of human relations are the sphere of Confucianism rather than Zen... Zen has consistently fostered Confucianism and was the main source of the introduction of its principles into Japan. It saw their importance for creating the type of cultural matrix in which Zen could flourish without coming into conflict with social order, because the Confucian ethic is admittedly human and relative, not divine and absolute." (Pg. 148)

He admits, "Since the formal details of the koan discipline are one of the few actual secrets remaining in the Buddhist world, it is difficult to appraise it fairly if one has not undergone the training. On the other hand, if one has undergone it one is obliged not to talk about it---save in vague generalities. The Rinzai School has always forbidden publication of formally acceptable answers to the various koan because the whole point of the discipline is to discover them for oneself, by intuition. To know the answers without having so discovered them would be like studying the map without taking the journey." (Pg. 159-160)

This is, in many ways, one of Watts' best and most satisfying books; lucidly written, scholarly without being pedantic, and illuminating.

This is an excellent, classic really, work about Zen Buddhism. Before I read this I only had inklings of what Zen was about but Alan Watts here does an amazing job of situating Zen in its proper historical context. So in here you learn not just about Zen but about Taoism and the various schools of Buddhism as well. Watts does a great job of quoting reliable sources to back up his points. Here is just one quote from Lao-tzu’s great successor Chuang-tzu that I thought was particularly interesting:

“Things are produced around us, but no one knows whence. They issue forth, but no one sees the portal. Men one and all value that part of knowledge which is known. They do not know how to avail themselves of the Unknown in order to reach knowledge. Is this not misguided?”

Watt’s main point is that Zen is a practice, not a set of doctrines, an ideology or a religion as we in the West would think of it with our Judeo-Christian ideational background. It is a practice rooted in the metaphysics of the East which is both alien but makes sense once you consider the historical context in which it was formed. Watt’s does a great job of explaining these views to a Western audience. The word “Zen” has become cliché in much of Western usage today which makes this book all the more important to reawakening the mind to the essential insights of Zen that could inform really anyone of any background.

Zen allows the mind to rest without anxiety over itself and over concepts. Once the mind is free from these constraints, it can truly be itself in a unique way. Watts states that Zen isn’t opposed to reflective thinking but is opposed to a “blocking” that can occur in thought that separates one thought organically from other thoughts and from actions. The Zen life is supposed to be like a continuous stream where thoughts and actions flow forth smoothly. It focuses the mind on what is real rather than what is unreal; more about life galloping forth rather than on being stuck with artificial conceptual difficulties. This is an important message for one who one such as myself, who can trip himself up over his own thoughts at times.

Lastly, I want to add that Watts isn’t presenting Zen in a Western psychobabble, pop-self-help way at all which is relieving to say the least. The discussion is easily accessible but doesn’t lack in rigor in the slightest. I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge and thinking. I’d give this more stars if I could.

I have never read anything else that transports me mentally and emotionally like this book.

It is a meditation of the highest order.
If you are ready to hear it, this is the answer.
This was my first book on Zen and after reading dozens of books more on the subject,
nothing compares to this one. It is so beautifully written. I find that those times
when I am stressed out, depressed, anxious or upset will melt away into peacefulness
and tranquility if I pick up this book and read a few random chapters.

It is like a deep great relaxing massage for the mind. I usually write some examples
of what is contained in a book in my reviews but I can't and won't try to describe
what lies inside this work. If you have ever meditated and felt what happens in
a deep peaceful state of awareness you will receive and appreciate the words of peace and
bliss this book contains.

How can anyone read this and not become a Zen Buddhist?
Anyway, if someone reads this book and doesn't like it they aren't ready to hear it.
Simple as that. The best book on Zen ever written.

The author traces the development of Zen through the first four chapters. The reader can thereby gain a perspective about how the practice of Zen is so much influenced by Taoism; how the underlying philosophy can be traced back to the Upanishads; how Mahayana Buddhism derived from the original Buddhism and how it was assimilated in the Far East by the Chinese and Japanese.

My overall impression is that Zen differs from other forms of Buddhism mainly in regard to its practice, and also in its emphatic discouragement of metaphysical speculation. Given the human situation - as described by the mythology of the Upanishads - of being alienated in a state of ignorance and impermanence, how does one proceed? As is evident from the spirit of Zen, one cannot proceed by ignoring the journey and strictly focusing on a goal of liberation. That only results in grasping, in egocentric actions that result in further delusion. Likewise, extensive metaphysical speculation only results in being uselessly caught up in the net of duality in space and time. Rather than such self-consious and goal-setting ego pursuits, Zen has promoted ancient Chinese teachings derived from Taoism, which is a way of liberation based on observations of Nature. It has to do with going with the flow, or a letting go of the mind, with an attentive non-grasping view of the world. It has practical implications for all those activities of regular life and is not solely confined to meditation. Intuition is involved here, divination rather than calculation, which brings the subject closer to the object.

An interesting approach to this idea of "letting go" is found in the chapter "Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing" concerning the human ability of self-reflection. The author uses the analogy of a machine having a feedback system, in which the machine as an example can be regulated for temperature. To arrive at a steady state, a series of adjustments need to be made. But in the efficient use of the machine, there is always a limit to the amount of adjustments before complexity causes a "jittery state". Likewise, in human actions excessive self-reflection can result in a kind of paralysis - a going back and forth and not knowing how to proceed - as in the case of human anxiety. To escape anxiety, there has to be a point of letting go. The essential idea is not to eliminate reflection but not to get blocked, not to reflect about reflecting, which means freeing oneself of the excessive demands of the ego, the "identification of the mind with its own image of itself". But how does one do that? How does one become unblocked? A realization of a paradox appears to be the key here. "The simplest cure is to feel free to block, so that one does not block at blocking."

So, what is a southern Christian man doing with a book about a Buddhist belief system? Well, I needed some perspective. The Christian teaching that is most familiar to me is that which says, "Do your best. Work hard. Don't quit trying." Only, I took this to the extreme. With new ideas coming into my head at a rapid pace I struggled to write them down and struggled even more to put them into action. I know I should be developing my ideas to be published, drawing the picture I have in my head, or even becoming a more proficient cyclist, but when I don't have the time, I get frustrated. The result? A car spinning its tires. "Why haven't I written that yet? Why haven't I learned to paint? Why haven't I competed in a bike race?!" All of these things are goals that I wanted to complete last week not next year. I knew Zen was a way I could learn to be more passive in my thought processes so I read it.

Zen does not look at life as something to be built like a house or attained like a graduate degree, but rather it looks at life as a flower that grows from a tiny seed. This was what I needed to hear. Instead of running and pursuing things now, I let them happen through my daily practices of writing, sketching, and cycling. Growth, inspiration, and achievement happen over time. I also wanted to read this book with my Christian glasses on. I am now interested in Biblical teachings on growth as it relates to the teachings of Zen.

Explaining Zen to a Western monotheistic and Christian audience is no easy task but Alan Watts did one hell of a job! I've read and re-read this masterpeice of a book many times! Don't be fooled by commercial ripoff titles such as "The Zen Of Career Advancement" or "Get Rich Through Meditation". Zen is not about self-improvement and there is nothing to be gained by reading this book. I speak only for my own experiences but studying Zen Buddhism is really a journey of self exploration. Finding yourself through Zen Buddhist Practices is really understanding yourself before you were disciplined, educated, scolded and civilized. You don't need to join a monastery. Mahayana Buddhism is really about becoming enlightened while living in the real world. If you're interested in starting such a journey or are just curious about Zen there is no better place to start than "The Way Of Zen".

Along with Suzuki's work, this book was virtually required reading for a whole generation. It is inimitable Alan Watts material. The good thing about Alan was his ability to debunk the posturing which often passes for spirituality. He made the important point that trying to justify oneself - through Zen, is un-zenlike and therefore, technically stupid.

However, when it comes to practical details, this text is a trifle misleading. Somewhere in its pages, Alan categorically stated that T'ang dynasty Zen monks did not practice Za-zen, as found in Zen temples today - declaring it to be an adjunct of the Sung Confucian education system, incorporated into Japanese temple life. Though the resources at Watts' disposal were somewhat limited - when this text was first written, at least two extant translations (e.g.@Huang Po's 'Discourses' and Hui Hai's 'Treatise on Sudden Awakening') made it clear that - for Zen monks of the Tang dynasty, Za-zen was a regular part of their spiritual life. What we do find stated, in such sources, is a reminder not to take still immobility as the right state or end of the practice. Whether training in the Rinzai or the Soto tradition, few Westerners practicing Zen today will doubt that Za-zen is an essential part of the practice. If you want a readable, general introduction to Far-eastern thought - this is a good place to begin. It is best, perhaps, for its discussion of Zen in the context of Far-eastern art. In other respects, observations like those touched on above, will now make this work seem redundant.

The prolific Alan Watts explains the origin, growth, development, and philosophy of Buddhism in a readable and interesting way. He explains and describes how the scripts of the Pali Cannon are put into practice and the rational behind it, and other concepts, such at the eight paths i.e.,
One of the major authorities on the subject, he can write for the curious layman, student, and academic at once. Watts has an extensive background in the different forms of Buddhism and this is for anyone with an interest in the philosophy of Hinduism, Taoism, Mahayana, Therevada & Zen Buddhism and other branches. Many books in this field are dry and esoteric, but not "The Way of Zen." It was written some time ago, but is relevant today as it was when it was published.

There are several excellent (informative) reviews of The Way of Zen, and I won't try to duplicate them here. In my review I will briefly summarize the book, and say something about Watts' remarkable erudition.

PART I: BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

Chapter 1: The Way of Tao. I am well-versed in philosophical Taoism so there is little new in this chapter for me, but the chapter is a fine introduction to the topic.

Chapter 2: The Origins of Buddhism. This is my least favorite chapter, not because it is inferior in any way, but because the topic does not really interest me. At least not now. The chapter is notable in that it is here that Watts first mentions cybernetics (p. 48), with an example that illuminates both the Buddhist principle (avidya) and the cybernetic principle (illusion of control). There is more cybernetics to come.

Chapter 3: Mahayana Buddhism. This is better, mainly because in this chapter Watts extends my understanding of Taoism (e.g., ziran) and Zen (e.g., tathata). Interesting.

Chapter 4: The Rise and Development of Zen. All four of the history chapters are excellent, but this is the one that has the most to offer me, in terms of my interests and background. It is a very personal history, based on the stories of the Zen founders (e.g., Hui-neng), which I enjoyed greatly. It is also helpful to see how the various "flavors" of Zen developed, which seems to be a common characteristic of the great spiritual traditions.

PART II: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

Chapter 1: "Empty and Marvelous" Here Watts takes up a basic principle of both Taoism and Zen: the power of empty space. Ames and Hall, translators of the Daodejing, address this basic principle by means of the "wu-forms" (wuwei, wushi, etc.) In Zen, this principle manifests itself as "suchness" - forget the words, just "point." This chapter did much to enhance my understanding of this crucially important principle.

Chapter 2: "Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing" This is the chapter that quite literally "blew me away" In this chapter Watts demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of cybernetic principles, and interprets the practice of zazen in terms of these principles. Watts describes how the practice of "sitting quietly, doing nothing" helps dissolve the dualities of the Western mind (and, apparently, the Eastern mind as well!). Based on other books I have read by Alan Watts, I expected a sophisticated treatment of Zen (and I am not disappointed), but I was totally surprised to see an equally sophisticated treatment of cybernetic principles, and how they apply to Zen practice. In this regard, The Way of Zen anticipates Douglas Flemons' excellent book, Completing Distinctions, by almost forty years. In my copy of The Way of Zen, on the last page of this chapter, is written the note "An astonishing chapter." Wow.

Chapter 3: Za-zen and the Koan. Following Chapter 2, which is electric, this chapter is a bit of a let down. However, it is well written, as with the others, and I did appreciate a better understanding of these two Zen practices, and the role they play in Zen teaching.

Chapter 4: Zen in the Arts. Another great chapter. As a consequence of reading this chapter, I now understand the purpose and practice of Zen poetry. And as a consequence of this new understanding, I am writing my own Haikus ... almost one every day. Sweet!

The Way of Zen is a must read, although I am sure, like any great book, every reader will meet the book in a different place, in a different way. After reading Watts' Way of Zen, I recommend reading Philip Kapleau's Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment. It corrects some minor errors in Watts' book, and is a sensible next step in one's exploration of Zen.

Zen is one of those things that defies description but which people want to describe anyway. Alan Watts is such a brilliant writer/teacher that he actually succeeds. In addition to an excellent discussion of the eastern theological traditions which gave rise to Zen Buddhism, he discusses Zen concepts in such a way that they make sense. But don't make sense, if you know what I mean.
I am not a believer in reading about Zen, but this is one book that I recommend to anyone who is interested in Zen practice. Using prose that sets a new standard for elegance and simplicity, Watts will lead you down a lovely pathway, explaining just enough as you go along to help you appreciate what you are exploring. The book also makes a great reference, if you want to have just one title in your library about Zen.

In my own opinion, this is undoubtedly the best book on Zen I have ever read. Alan Watts was a man who stood on the outside of all Eastern traditions which gave him the clarity to peer into the essence of their doctrines. Like any of his public lectures, he has a knack in all of his books to articulate at a very deep level the core essence of Oriental wisdom. Any of his books I would recommend, but "The Way of Zen" is a masterpiece for anyone sincere in an authentic understanding of Zen.

From the get go, the book was amazing. The first two chapters that talked a lot about differences in Western vs. Eastern thought and language structures were big eye openers. There were a number of profound moments reading the book, such as when he noted contemplating what happens to us after death is like wondering what happens to your fist when you open you hand or what happens to your lap when you stand up. The writing style of the book is highly approachable, I myself a graduate engineering student found it very readible, Watts doesn't try to blow the reader away with his academic prowess but rather keeps it simple and direct, like zen itself.

Alan Watts has always had the most amazing ability to speak the unspeakable, and in The Way of Zen you will feel the true essence of Zen as long as you don't get hung up on the words.To get the point, one must read without "reading" because Zen itself can never be put into words. But as you are taken through Zen's conception, birth, growth, and finally into the arts - you will notice that: "this ain't just literature." I have adored Alan's style of writing for over 25 years now, and I must say that this is one his best books, and surely the best ever writen on the subject ( with the one possible exception of D.T. Susuki's writings.) However, I have always found Watts to be more enjoyable, because he understands the western mind and the complications we will inevitably encounter while trying to understand something so completely Chinese as Zen. As you read, you will notice an intimacy develope between author and reader, master and student, or master and master. This book is not only for the serious student of Zen, but for anyone who enjoys eastern thought and "mysticism."

Watts is a scholar, first and foremost, and a brilliant writer. In this book, you'll learn where Zen came from. It has its origins in India, where Buddhism was created, and then became as fresh as a gust of wind on its way through China and Chinese Taoism. Zen reached its full fruition after it arrived in Japan.
The book is separated into two sections. The first tells the history of Zen. The second describes the practice of Zen. But all the while, Watts opens your mind and you get the real FEEL of Zen. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I can tell you that Watts' way of writing works: It will change the way you look at the world. This book is very much worth reading.

I think the principal virtues of this text are simplicity, directness and clarity. Watts seems to have considerable intellectual understanding of Zen, and equally importantly, intuition about its inner content. He writes about Zen in a somewhat Zen-like way; not with a series of enigmas and paradoxes, but with a simple and direct narrative that covers the essential history and practice of Zen, illustrated with numerous relevant and potent quotes, and conveyed throughout with an intuitive immediacy that is refreshing and indeed uplifting. It's a good book.

Please don't be fooled by the enthusiastic reviews based on the book that... I understand that the publisher has a lot of information to present in condensing a book to an audio form, however the narration is so rapid fire and fast paced it is almost impossible to simply sit and enjoy the recording. Although academically excellent, the author's insights are lost as the narrator jumps from topic to topic, speaking as quickly as he can and bombarding the listener with concept after concept. (This seems so odd and out of place for a work on Zen). It is like trying to drink from a cup while someone is tipping the other end. It would seem fair that to get the most out of this tape, you would have to listen to it again and again, but I found this experience to be unbearable. Buy the book. Avoid the audio tape.