The Empty Mirror Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery
, by van de Wetering, JanwillemNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780312207748 | 0312207743
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 4/15/1999
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