The Truth of This Life
Zen Teachings on Loving the World as It Is
Zen loves a good story, especially one without a beginning or an end. Zen also likes stories that end before they begin. Zen likes commitment, wants you to work very diligently, with absolute focus, but not to try too hard. Zen wants you to be yourself so that you can be free of yourself.
Zen wants happiness for you.
A gifted teacher from the Bay Area’s early Zen scene in the 1970s, Katherine Thanas founded the Monterey Bay Zen Center after studying under Suzuki Roshi at the San Francisco Zen Center. Uniquely, she was working towards her MFA in painting before deciding to devote her life to Zen. This small book collects several of her dharma talks from the monastery, lovingly edited and refined by two of her students, Natalie Goldberg and Bill Anelli. In her preface, Goldberg writes that it was clear to her that these teachings had to
meet the public. Why? Because they expressed something essential. I call it Old Zen, given straight from the hip—not well-being but the ground of being—before Buddhism had been decades in this country and adjusted to suit American society.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
