D. T. Suzuki - Böcker

D. T. Suzuki’s 1950s lectures at Columbia University were foundational for the postwar Zen boom. Speaking softly in a bookcase-lined room, Suzuki, then in his eighties, introduced East Asian Buddhism to a rapt audience of the general public, scholars, and students. He offered a distinctive interpretation of Zen, weaving together his understanding of classical Buddhist texts, especially the Flower Garland Sutra, with Christian mysticism, psychology, and twentieth-century European and American philosophy. The freewheeling lectures captivated listeners drawn from the New York intelligentsia and art world—including Carolyn Brown, John Cage, Arthur Danto, Sari Dienes, Erich Fromm, Phillip Guston, Ibram Lassaw, and Dorothy Norman—and catalyzed public interest in Buddhism.Spreading Indra’s Net presents Suzuki’s 1952–1953 lectures in full, giving a vivid look at how one of the most important global Buddhist figures of the twentieth century interpreted Zen for an American audience. Drawing on archival research in Japan and the United States, editor Richard M. Jaffe provides an extensive introduction that traces Suzuki’s path to Columbia, analyzes the content of the lectures, and surveys their reception. Among the most accessible works of a major figure and a record of a crucial moment in New York history, this book displays Suzuki’s gifts as a teacher, scholar, writer, and thinker.

'The basic idea of Zen is to touch the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible.'In this widely praised introduction, Dr D.T. Suzuki presents the nature, technique and practice of Zen with exceptional clarity, wisdom and frankness. A Japanese Zen master who was also a highly respected authority on Mahayana Buddhism and who regularly taught in the USA and Europe, Suzuki was uniquely qualified to explain Zen to an international readership.Zen is described by the author as the keystone of Oriental culture. This book is essential reading for all Zen students and for everyone who wishes to understand the psychology of the Far East.