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Zen and Japanese Culture by Daisetz T. Suzuki
Suzuki may be the greatest scholar of Zen the world has seen, and this is a
tremendous discussion of many of its facets, dealing well with all sorts of
awkward problems. There is lots on the samurai-Zen links, and while I could
have lived with several fewer 'Zen master untrained with sword defeats master
swordsman who does not grasp Zen' stories, it's the best and most thorough
examination of this strange link as I've ever seen. He's also very good on
haiku, unpacking the multiple echoes and overtones of individual lines or
even words in a revelatory manner. It's hard to resist skipping the odd section
that seems to reiterate the same ideas yet again, but I don't imagine there are
many better books to help one understand Zen and what it means to the Japanese.
buy it
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