Zen for Christians: A Beginner's Guide

by Kim Boykin

Book Overview

"Trustworthy and delightful guide Kim Boykin will demystify and deepen your understanding of both the traditions she practices. Animated and illuminative Zen for Christians beckons toward a practicing and practical faith at the intersection of two great traditions. A gem " -- James W. Fowler , author, Stages of Faith In Zen for Christians, author Kim Boykin--who has personally experienced the gifts of Buddhism in her own Christian faith and has taught...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787963763
• ISBN13: 9780787963767
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

Zen for Christians is a fantastic book for those wishing to learn more on the basics of zen meditation. This is a step by step guide to getting the most out of your meditation. I would recommend this book to any christian who is hesitant about the merger of another religion. It really is simply a christians guide to better meditation and not a guide to merge any religions.

Concise

I'm glad these sorts of work are becoming more and more popular in the literary world, because we have them coming from both the Christian and Buddhist community. Kim Bokyin is a teacher of contemplative prayer (a subject Merton always wrote extensively about) to both Christians and non Christians. This books' more like a beginners guide for people who don't have any idea what Zen Buddhism is actually about. Like a nice lure giving the fish just enough that, with any luck, they will come begging for more. She's a very concise instructor in here, pouring over the fundamentals with a sort of ease and conviction. She explains meditation, koan work, non duality, The Four Noble Truths here; and what's more, Christians don't need to feel they need to give up Christianity to practice Zen. It may be true on a deeper level that in order to truly devote yourself, this might be so. But you can enhance your current religious traditions and spiritual practice with zazen (Zen meditation) at any time. Even contemplating scripture as though they are koans, is a beneficial practice. Christianity has a lot to benefit from Zen, allowing people to place aside desires for achievements (I dare say even heaven) and simply realize your life as this moment. There is no "goal." Only this. This was an excellent book, and for those with interest in further reading on the matter I recommend Ruben Habito's book "Living Zen, Loving God." He has studied Zen and Christianity for decades, and provides further illuminating insights for Christians on reconciling Zen with Christianity. Anyway, get this book. It's an invaluable tool on the spiritual path.

Practice!

I have read ABOUT Zen for the past 10 or 15 years. This is the first book that has motivated me to actually practice! What an outstanding tool to help Christians like myself fearlessly begin to delve into zazen. The writer approaches the subject from a very human point of view. She is "one of us," battling with fickleness and human nature. And yet, with simple language, practical examples and personal experiences, she helps us to smell the aroma of the spiritual feast that awaits us in Zen practice. While this book probably won't add much to the knowledge or practice of those who are Buddhists or are already practicing Zen regularly, it will be very helpful for Christians who may have an interest in meditation. This book is Hands-On and How-To for those who want to do more than just know ABOUT Zen.

Living Life Fully, Moment by Moment

Zen for Christians contains practical meditation instructions, interspersed with personal stories as well as more theological chapters. Boykin does a great job addressing theological questions about doing Zen practice without compromising one's Christian faith. Her explanation of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths is one of the clearest I've ever read. She takes complex philosophical concepts and makes them very easy to understand, but without "watering them down." Zen for Christians is a welcome addition to the growing number of books on interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism.

Really Zen, Really for Christians

~This is a simple, direct, and trustworthy introduction to Zen thought and practice. It's really Zen -- not watered-down relaxation exercises -- and it's really for Christians, for serious, fully committed Christians. There is nothing vague or wishy-washy about Boykin, either as a Zen practitioner or as a Christian.Her meditation instructions are wonderful, and she spends plenty of time talking about the physical enterprise of meditation -- the mechanics of how to sit, where to sit, how long to sit, and so forth -- something I think many teachers neglect, forgetting maybe just how large that looms to a beginner. She corrects the most damaging misconceptions about meditation -- that it's a matter of trying not to have thoughts, for example, or that it's always a peaceful and calming occupation -- but she never lets the reader forget that meditation is a practice, not an idea: the only way to find out what meditation has offer is to meditate. She presents the theory of Zen -- if it can be said to have such a thing -- just as clearly. "In Zen," writes Boykin, "the Buddha's teachings are not understood to be divine revelations or doctrines to be believed. Rather, they are understood to be observations about human experience -- observations made by a human being, the Buddha, that can be made by any human being." She goes on to summarize the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, as clearly as I've ever seen them summarized. This part of the book alone would be worth the price of admission When she considers parallels and analogs between Zen and Christianity, she does so without simplifying or compromising either. There's no nonsense about Zen "really" being Christianity or Christianity "really" being Zen. But there's a fascinating discussion of the Zen paradox that we are both already, and not yet, enlightened, in the light of the Christian question of justification by faith or by works; and a very sensitive exploration of what Zen and Christianity mean by "selflessness." I came to this book with a great deal of skepticism. Mix-and-match approaches to religious traditions sometimes amount to keeping whatever is agreeable and discarding whatever is challenging -- reincarnation without karma, Christ without the crucifixion, Buddha-Nature without emptiness -- and it's all too possible, by carefully picking out every piece that reinforces your ego and leaving out every piece that subverts it, to construct an exact replica of your original confusion.So I was delighted to find nothing of the kind in "Zen for Christians." Boykin is a serious Christian and a serious Zen practitioner, and she's written a serious -- though also wonderfully readable -- book about both. You couldn't find a better introduction to Buddhism; and really, though it was no part of her project, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better introduction to Christianity, either.