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The Eastern Philosophy Bookshelf

Practice before doctrine.

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Zen and Japanese Culture (Princeton Classics)

Daisetz T. Suzuki; introduction by Richard M. Jaffe

Verdict: the rich final deep dive, showing Eastern thought embodied in culture rather than left at the level of doctrine.
Original typographic jacket for Zen and Japanese Culture
Author
Daisetz T. Suzuki
Introduction
Richard M. Jaffe
Publisher
Princeton University Press, Princeton Classics (2019)
Print ASIN
0691182965
Length
About 608 pages
Kindle
Available (B07CSJ9Q3B)
Level
Moderate–advanced; deep dive

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What it explores

Suzuki studies Zen's shaping of Japanese aesthetics and life through swordsmanship, haiku, the tea ceremony, love of nature, and the samurai ethos. It is longer and richer than his Introduction.

This edition

The 2019 Princeton Classics edition is the current illustrated, in-print version and includes a scholarly introduction by Richard M. Jaffe.

Place in the reading order

Read it after basic orientation. It rewards curious general readers and arts lovers who want to see thought expressed through forms of life.

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RETURN TO THE MAP

Review the complete five-book reading order, or return to Suzuki's short Introduction.