Abstract

Zen may seem difficult, abstract, a kind of spiritual riddle to those not initiated, and very distant from the daily experience of oneself. On the contrary, it perfectly fits to the way of thinking of the troubled modern people as it encloses the possibility of a radical change of our way of looking at the reality in order to transform it into something easier, freer, and gentle.
Zen is a religion with no God that must be lived and not explained. If something can be told in words, it means is false, since its philosophy aspires to help us to abandon intellectualism and the dualistic distinctions between good and bad, high or low, past or future, and so on, which are the sources of dissatisfaction and pain, and, therefore, to let us to live fully and plenty the present moment.
The author, a writer and Zen priest, uses 13 Zen principles synthesized into sentences to extricate the worldview of the religion and to impart knowledge and wisdom for enriching the here and now, the present moment, of everyone’s life. In that sense, the book represents a truly innovation regarding an introduction to Zen, and a life guidance without the need of performing the strict disciplines and rules for the zazen or meditation without movement.
The book is divided into 5 chapters, each of which includes different sections headed by phrases that constitute some of the most valuable principles of the Zen.

Author’s Information

Monk and writer. Head priest of Fukujuji Temple of the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism. He is a visiting professor at Hanazono University and Niigata Pharmaceutical University. He received the Akutagawa Prize for Flowers of the Chuin, and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for Mountain of Light.