Zen: Simply Sitting: A Zen Monk's Commentary on the Fukanzazengi Universal Guide on the Correct Practice of Zazen

It’s nothing specialIt’s the normal conditionIt’s zazen.This is a marvelous book. A commentary on the Fukanzazengi by Master Dogen. I found it enriching and humorous. Spoken from the point of view of a long time practitioner, Philippe Coupey writes with the confidence of an authentic practitioner and disciple. Pointing out the pitfalls of getting in the way of genuine practice. His personal stories and stories of the patriarchs are to be revisited again and again. It will inspire, it will reveal our agendas, and it will help us along the Way.

Excellent read. Perfect delivery from seller.

We heartily welcome the publication of these commentaries on Master Dogen's Fukanzazengi by Rei Ryu Philippe Coupey. The publication of this book in English should contribute to bringing the valuable teachings of the excellent Japanese Soto Zen master Taisen Deshimaru and his living, contemporary disciples in the West, to the wider attention of Zen practitioners in the U.S. The relative paucity of English-language works from within this particular Zen lineage on the American book market has been one of the factors in the undeserved low profile that this important 20th-century Zen teacher from the Kodo Sawaki lineage has suffered on the American Zen scene. We are hopeful that Rei Ryu's lucid, refined, and mature commentaries--undoubtedly the precious harvest of his several decades of continuous and loving dedication to his master's message and broader Zen mission in the West--will touch the hearts of readers on this side of the Atlantic, sparking here the Way-seeking mind and an interest in and commitment to true Soto Zen practice.Dogen's basic guide to zazen practice, his Fukanzazengi, was one of the first of his writings, produced soon after his arrival back in Japan from China in the 13th century with the essence of Soto Zen practice, and the work was aimed at promoting zazen widely across society, and not limited solely to some monastic minority. In this book, which is richly supplemented with a useful glossary of terms, Coupey takes Dogen's text virtually sentence by sentence and then provides very apropos and memorable commentaries and background that not only vivify and enrich the points of the original text, but also properly orient us Western newcomers to zazen and nourish us helpfully in its practice. The reader--and more relevantly, the earnest practitioner following the guidance communicated in this potent guidebook--will taste the deep and unmistakable flavor of the genuine Zen practice promoted some eight centuries ago by Dogen Zenji in Japan, and more recently and so dynamically by Master Taisen Deshimaru in the latter decades of the 20th century in Western Europe, who left there a rich and expansive legacy of Soto Zen practice and dedicated elder practitioners, of whom Coupey is certainly among the primary ones. This contemporary teacher is uniquely able to bridge the language barriers and bring Master Deshimaru's rich teaching and wisdom readily to an English-speaking readership, thus furthering Dogen Zenji's original intent to promote zazen practice universally among laypersons and monastics alike.

Practical and instructive for the Soto practitioner. Not dry or academic. The content gives plenty of moments for pause and reflection. Worth reading several times as each occasion a different aspect of the teaching hits home.

Coinvolgente esegesi del testo fondamentale di Dogen e dello Zen Soto, il Fukanzazengi. Chiaro e di ispirazione, lo consiglio vivamente a tutti i cercatori sul sentiero dello zen

Do NOT read this if you want some new age waffle to make you feel good - this is direct, austere and authentic zazen as it should be. A clear exploration of Dogen's original ideas from someone who lives it.