The Empty Mirror Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery

by van de Wetering, Janwillem

• ISBN13: 9780312207748
• ISBN10: 0312207743
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-15
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

A small and admiral memoir that records the experiences of a young Dutch student who spent a year and a half as a novice monk in a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery. Janwillem van de Weteringis also the author of a well-known series of offbeat mystery novels. A native of Holland, he now lives in Maine. This brief memoir, seen by many as a contemporary classic, records the experiences of a young Dutch studentlater a widely celebrated mystery writerwho spent a year and a half as a novice monk in a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery. As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, author ofCutting Through Spiritual Materialism, has written,The Empty Mirror"should be very encouraging for other Western seekers." It is the first book in a trilogy that continues withA Glimpse of NothingnessandAfterzen. "This small and memorable memoir records the experiences of a young Dutch student who spent a year and a half as a novice monk in a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery . . . What makes this account extraordinary is that the book contains none of the convert's irritating certitude."Time "A vivid, humorous, and slightly disillusioning account of a Dutchman's frustrating struggle toward enlightenment in a Japanese Zen monastery. Insightful, funny."Carl Rogers "What emerges is a work of nonfiction, told through the ingenuous persona of van de Wetering, that is as enjoyable to read as a well-crafted novel."East West Journal "What is accessible is the day-to-day description of life, of the monks themselves, and of the others [whom the author] met, of the jokes they played and the food they ate, of the moments of satori, the explosive moment of an understanding surpassing understanding."Los Angeles Times

Author Biography

Janwillem van de Wetering has lived with his wife on the Maine Coast for twenty years, but before that he lived literally all over the world --Holland, South Africa, London, Japan, South America. He is the author of a successful mystery series.

Table of Contents

The gate of the monastery, a chicken, and a vendor of noodles	3	(10)
Meditating hurts	13	(13)
Life is suffering	26	(9)
Caught between the tigers	35	(7)
A large glass of soya sauce and a dangerous snake	42	(6)
A thirsty fish	48	(7)
A difference of rank and a pigeon's egg	55	(6)
The first sesshin and the whale's penis	61	(8)
A little black magic	69	(8)
Rohatsu, week of weeks	77	(11)
The eightfold path and a jump into the swamp	88	(10)
A shameless day and satori in the willow quarter	98	(6)
Devils are no good, you know that, don't you?	104	(7)
If you don't hold out your hand a Zen master will be murdered	111	(9)
A court lady discourteously treated	120	(6)
Attempted manslaughter and doing some shopping	126	(10)
Is a cloud a member of the sky?	136	(5)
Whatever ends begins	141