In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities but in the expert's there are few. So
begins this most beloved of all American Zen books. Seldom has such a small handful of words
provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line of Shunryu Suzuki's classic. In a
single stroke the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting
so close to Zen as to completely miss what it's all about. An instant teaching on the first
page. And that's just the beginning.In the thirty years since its original publication Zen
Mind Beginner's Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics much beloved much
re-read and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the
basics from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality in a
way that is not only remarkably clear but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the
first to the last page. It's a book to comeback to time and time again as an inspiration to
practice.
