Are you a beginner looking to find out
what is Zen
or maybe you've got a bit of knowledge 
about Zen
and you just want to deepen this knowledge, 
either way
continue watching and find out how this
book can help you
I've included timestamps below so that you can get to
exactly the part of the video you wish 
to watch
the first one is for the review
section which just gives my opinion
if this book is worth reading and what
benefits you'll gain from it
and the second time stamp is the summary which
is all the main concepts of this book
let's start with the review of this book,
I would definitely recommend reading
this book as it's gives you all the
essential knowledge you need of Zen in a
very simple manner and also focusing
more on the practical aspects of Zen so
that you can start practicing after
reading only a few pages of the book
and even though my summary can give you all
the core concepts of this book
there are many more beautiful examples which
you'll miss out on and some of these
examples might help you get a better
understanding as everyone is different
and different examples resonate with
different people,
okay so now let's move on to the summary 
of this book
Zen mind beginner's mind 
consists of a collection
of notes taken by students during Shunryu Suzuki's lectures
and the essence of this book is found in this quote from
the Zen master
"the practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind the innocence of first inquiry, what am I?
Is needed throughout the Zen practice, the mind of
a beginner is empty
free from habits of the expert, ready to
accept, to doubt and open to all possibilities
it is the mind which sees things as they are, which step-by-step and in a flash
can realize original nature of everything"
this shows the essence of the book which is simplicity and being open
this book is then split into three 
different aspects
which can help one reach this
beginner's mind
firstly right practice,
the practice of Zen
involves sitting in a seated position
and meditating which they call Zazen
here we are going to look at key aspects 
of your posture
so the most important thing is to 
keep back straight
then you can try and fold
your legs into lotus position
this involves having the right foot on the
left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh
if you can't do this because
you're not flexible enough
you can also do half Lotus or just cross legs works well
and then we make sure that our ears and
our shoulders are in a line
by relaxing the shoulders back
 and down
hands are in your lap with the left hand
on top of the right hand
so that the middle fingers touch 
one another
and then the thumbs are brought to 
touch
together to form an oval inside their
hand this is known as the cosmic mudra
hands are holed up against the body in
the lap with the thumbs at the level of
the navel with the arms just slightly
away from the body
once your posture is correct then you 
focus on your breathing
Here, he says to focus on the breath
as if it was a door opening and closing you
just watch it open and close
without trying to close or open the door
yourself
my favorite example to use is imagining
your breaths as waves in the ocean
and the inhales are the waves crashing
and the exhales are the waves drawing back
and you're just watching it like you're
doing when you're at the sea
without trying to control it
and while you're watching your breath 
you will notice
that your thoughts keep coming and
distracting you from your focus
the point here is just to watch your
thoughts as they come
and you don't need to restrict them or 
try to control them
just watch them form and let them pass
and then return back to your breathing
finally, he talks about bowing nine times
at the end of each practice and this is
done to remove the ego
and surrender oneself to the universe
next, let's look at having the right 
attitude when practicing zazen
firstly, focus is on
being present in each and every moment
during your zazen practice, here, he gives
the example of how fire completely burns
up wood leaving no memories of the past
and nothing else added such as emotions or pride to one's practice
and you start by focusing on just being present
during your practice
and then you try and bring it into your whole life
secondly, Acceptance... this
involves accepting each moment as it is
and seeing all feelings and disturbances
without any judgment
just as weeds grow and flowers die this
is all the cycle of life and as the
weeds die they will then become
fertilizer for new flowers to grow
and thus the cycle continues
next, do not add anything to your practice 
such as pride,
desire or goals as these hinder your
progress to reaching your true nature
and finally Naturalness... this is like a
seed following its path to become a tree
they do not think they just be exactly
what they are
and finally we will look at having the right understanding here there are eight core principles from the book
and these are all gems of wisdom
which one can use to help improve their practice
the first one is that the true
purpose of Zen is to see things as they really are
next is that we exist not for the sake
of something else we exist for the sake of ourselves
focus on experience not philosophy
Zen is about returning to 
your original nature through Zazen and
not about understanding or 
learning philosophy
and this is part of the reason why there's not much philosophy in this book
do not focus too much
on your teachings or what
your teacher says Zazen is all about you
the teacher gives you the understanding
but only you can find your true nature
and next he recommends that practice
should be done daily and consistently to
achieve good results
and that the practice should be done
according to the individual little by little
so that you don't fizzle out
 if you try to do too much too quickly
next practicing emptiness this is about hearing all information as if it's the first time you've heard it
and do not add your own preconceived 
ideas towards it
you just listen completely openly 
and then afterwards you can decide
whether this information is useful or not
and finally, true Buddhism
 is that Buddha's in everyone, everything
and every action,
 so this makes all actions and things equally important
so in summary the main concepts of the book are
first, right posture
secondly, right attitude
and thirdly, right understanding
thanks for watching
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would like to see more
check out my book summary playlist
