Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3927092
EAN num: 9780767906517
ISBN number: 0767906519
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 160
Printing Date: March 06, 2001
Publishing house: Broadway
Release Date: March 06, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 614956
Studio: Broadway
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Product Description:
“We say, to shine one corner of the world–that is enough. Not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.”
Shunryu Suzuki’s extraordinary gift for bringing to life traditional Zen teaching in ordinary language is known to countless readers of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. But what was it like to practice Zen with Suzuki Roshi? How did he actually teach? To Shine One Corner of the World illuminates these questions by presenting quintessential stories and moments with this profound teacher. Here are encounters, told in the words of his students, which have remained vivid after thirty years. In reading these simple, eloquent accounts, you can join Suzuki Roshi on the path, in the meditation hall, in lectures, and in private interviews and meet his fresh, piercing, often humorous mind. These often paradoxical moments do not translate into easy prescriptions for happiness or spiritual advancement, and yet they changed lives. Considered carefully, they point to the light that shines from each of us.
Amazon.com Review:
Shunryu Suzuki said: 'Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It works perfectly, but it doesn't tell time.' These are the kind of wise quips that David Chadwick offers in To Shine One Corner of the World. Suzuki's biographer, Chadwick has never stopped looking for information about this always-entertaining and enlightening Zen master. In this collection of short remarks, Chadwick has continued the ancient tradition of recording a teacher's memorable quotes-- ones that are cute or puzzling the very first time you hear them but that grow in profundity with time. With the publication of Suzuki's shining words here, his wisdom can illuminate many, many corners of the world. --Brian Bruya
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Rated by buyers 
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I keep on buying this book. It looks like I can't keep it. Each and every copy seems to find its way into other hands and perhaps minds. I enjoy the aliveness of these interactions, the awareness, being in the moment, beyond conditioning.
Be aware. Zazen. The living Zen of Suzuki Roshi!
Rated by buyers -
To Shine One Corner of the World - Moments with Shunryu Suzuki
Stories of a Zen Master Told by His Students
Edited by David Chadwick, 2001
Broadway Books
New York
"We say, to shine one corner of the world -- just one corner. If you shine one corner, then people around you will feel better."
Shunryu Suzuki
It has been said that when the student is ready, the master appears. To Shine One Corner of the World brings Suzuki Roshi to us through the gift of his students' recollections as beautifully as if we suddenly turned the corner and he stood before us. The editor of this delightful book, David Chadwick, studied and was ordained by Suzuki Roshi 30 years ago. The sucess of this small book lies in Chadwick's ability to allow the essence of Suzuki Roshi to shine through each page without extraneous editorializing. The words are those of Suzuki Roshi's students. The humor, the complexity, the mischievous nature of this Zen master is evident from very first page to last.
Chadwick opens with a simple introduction of Suzuki Roshi's journey to the west coast of the United States from his native Japan and his mission to bring Zen Buddhism to the west. The introduction also includes a wonderful, straight forward explanation of the precepts of Zen Buddhism and Suzuki Roshi's teaching method, primarily silence. This leads us to a greater understanding of how, thirty years after his death, his students still recall his words. Chadwick presents these brief moments in time for us to interpret as the lessons appear for us.
Suzuki Roshi may not have spoken large quantities of words, but the words that he did speak were not limited to intensely serious profundity. From the student who received jelly beans after lamenting his snack habit to the student who was told "You get a gold star" when he sought the master's approval to putting a napkin on his head in a New York restaurant, we are shown that the master believed in levity as a powerful teaching tool. And yet, Chadwick also gives us a glance of the complexity of the master as Suzuki Roshi tells a group of students "When I say don't move, it doesn't mean you can't move."
To Shine One Corner of the World offers 122 moments experienced by students present during Suzuki Roshi's lifetime. Each vignette appears on an individual page leaving generous space for your own hand written thoughts as you contemplate the light of the master's words. The contributors to the book are listed in the back of the book so that there is no distraction from your experience of Suzuki Roshi within the pages. This small book shines with peace as the Suzuki Roshi's impish smile looks out from underneath shade trees in a photograph set within the lovely graphic design of a lotus blossom. David Chadwick has given us a jewel to be read again and again throughout all the days of our lives.
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Kathryn Lanier lives in Colorado with her nine year old twins. She is a freelance writer, editor, and review columnist educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the College of Charleston. She is an internationally published author and works world wide with clients from four continents! She can be contacted for services and workshop information through Innerchange Magazine online.
Rated by buyers -
It has a directness and brevity that seem to cut through in a way that longer works do not. I will say that having read other books by Suzuki Roshi, I found extra meaning in some of the shorter quotes that may not be there for all readers.
I was concerned that the book's brevity would detract, but I've come to feel that this is it's real strength. If you are like me, you get more books on subjects like this than you can ever read. This one was so short and pleasant that I did read it. And finish it. And re-read it. Good for a quick dip into it's pages or to read cover to cover.
Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers 
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This book's contents is approximately 123 pages long, on each page there is anywhere between 2 to 6 sentences. Very short, yet often insightful, tidbits of wisdom on each page. The way I would recommend reading this book, is to not read it all at once. Rather, pick the book up for those times of great doubts, select any page-and read. It's simplicity is it's best quality. Sometimes we can become so lost down the philosophical or intellectual road, that we need a book like this to say: the tree is a tree. But no, there is more to the book then that.
For anyone interested in further reading into Zen, I would recommend The Compass of Zen by Zen Master Seung Sahn. Seung Sahn delves right into the 3 schools, Hinayana, Mahayana, and Zen (the two latter being the same mostly). The reason why I mention Seung Sahn is because I have a lot of admiration for his teaching style-no one compares. But, that said, Shunryu Suzuki's books, especially Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind-are at the very least-insightful.
The following is an example of the sort of page you may come across in this book:
A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored,"Why is there so much suffering?"
Suzuki Roshi replied,"No reason."
Enjoy this book:)
Rated by buyers -
Yet another stunning book from David Chadwick. Though it resembles a classic koan collection, Chadwick deftly skirts the hazard of presenting a collection of "profound stories". Chadwick's own considerable personality is not in evidence, the tone of the book is always sweetly understated, and the reader is not obligated to grapple with worshipful pretensions to piety. What fun.....
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