Well written and straightforward, as straightforward as the subject allows. A bit of practical advice is offered:
"Continuously examine what you're doing, what you're thinking, what you're saying. Observe what you believe, what you say. Do this over and over again, without supposing that a time will ever come when this activity will stop. Let logic and authority drop away under their own weight. What remains is what has been right here all along: Reality, before we try to make something of it."

This is the second book of Steve Hagen I have read. Just like the first one, I am immensely grateful to have read it. I remember being stuck on a boat in Indonesia for half a day, reading his first book and having multiple 'kensho' experiences while reading and gazing up around me. The wisdom that these books provide... Thank you Steve for deepening my Buddhist and overall life knowledge. Wish you all the best.

Great book. Very clear, incisive and accessible. Really good on difficult ideas like non self and emptiness

This was thought provoking. The basic idea was to challenge the mental models we create to understand the world and show how they are often us placing ourselves at the center of things. It also talks a lot about how simply being present in whatever you are doing is more important than complicating it with thought. I found that stuff interesting.

I think the thing I disagree with most here is that the author trusts human intuition more than science, unless he can use it to prove his point. I've seen multiple Buddhist authors now give the example of nuclear power as something that science says is safe, but obviously isn't, which I don't agree with.

The book also talks a fair bit about how science is predicated on belief in the scientific method, while Buddhism is based on knowledge. That knowledge is mostly what you see when you clear your mind of preconceptions and simply see the world as it is. I really don't like this faith only in the observable and intuitive. There are a lot of things that science has adequately proven that are not observable or intuitive to non experts.

The author also tries to prove that logic can cloud the mind in a really lazy way. His main point is that if your core assumptions are wrong even perfect logic will yield false results, which I agree with. He does this by giving one absurdly simplistic example though, then acting like he's proven that logic is a broken tool.

All in all this was a really interesting read. It made me cognizant of the ways I center myself in my worldview and presume to understand more than I probably do. I definitely don't plan on converting to Zen Buddhism any time soon though.

Perhaps a slightly less metaphor-heavy alternative to Charlotte Joko Beck's books, this is probably a great introduction to zen.

Some of the examples he uses verge on the gimmicky, and feel at odds with the rest of the work. I also wasn't convinced by the latter sections which call upon rather speculatory science - yes, it's really pretty interesting, but also mostly irrelevant, I would have thought, detracting from the major themes of the book.

I really like this book; in fact, I reread it this fall.

The concepts behind Buddhism are so elegantly simple, yet I find them difficult to absorb and digest. I guess that's the challenge, right?

Hagen writes in a clear and straightforward way, illustrating major points of the religion with everyday examples to which the average Western reader can relate. I find him to be an inspiring and thought-provoking teacher, and I would recommend this book as a good place to start if you are interested in Buddhism.

Hagen writes about abstract and philosophical subjects in simple language. I found it quite an enjoyable read. Much of the book is devoted to ideas such as impermanence, oneness, and enlightenment. Compassion, on the other hand, receives relatively little attention. This markedly differs from many other Buddhist books where compassion is often a big focus (compassion itself is also more compatible to western values and Christianity, whereas emptiness and impermanence might appear counter-intuitive to people growing up with a Christian worldview).

The many short chapters in the book sometimes don't have an apparent logical link. Some chapters seem to cover the same thing except with different examples and slight variations. Perhaps the arrangement was intentional: Zen is not something that can be logically broken down into neat compartments. The reader is forced to experience the text little by little, instead of being shown a clear roadmap of where the book will lead them. I found it helpful to read only one or two chapters per day, almost like guided meditation. If read in a large portion in one setting, this book may feel a little repetitive.

While it seemed basic and simple to start, and in many ways stayed that was throughout, I found a lot of interesting concepts to ponder. This is a good book to read slowly. Zen.

An interesting introduction to Buddhist thinking.

Good book
Wanted to read a bit more on Buddhism and this book delivered. It explained some of the themes of Buddhism in a clear way and made me think.

Simple and free flowing book, Buddhism Is Not What You Think written by Steve Hagen talks about what reality is as per Zen Buddhism. The author resonates one central point in the entire book and that is, reality is about direct experience of the real time than mere feelings and thoughts, which happen to be in constant flux in conscious and subconscious level in human mind.

Through various real life examples, Hagen illustrates the point of perceiving awareness of the current instances that is taking place in the ever-changing present moment. The author tries to delve into ontological and epistemological dimensions by referring how masses or common people generally perceive reality.

In the most articulate manner, Hagen has been successful in bringing about the concept of understanding of emptiness, impermanence, and nonduality. Very deftly, he has been able to present the flaw of human mind that fabricates ‘reality’ by past thoughts or experiences in a way that we tend to accept them as actual reality, which essentially is not the case.

The book is interspersed with teachings of ancient Zen teachers, some of them are Huang Po, Shunryu Suzuku, Suzuki Rosi, Dogen Zenji, Ju-ching, Hakuin, Linji (Rinzai), Foyan, Kuei-shan, Ts’ao-shan, Nagarjuna, Kanadeva, Keinzan Jokin (the second of the great founders of Zen sect in Japan, had compiled stories of ancient Zen ancestors) to name a few.

I liked the way Hagen has spun his interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s This Will Never Come Again and transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics in different sections under the third segment of the book.

My curiosity towards Zen Buddhism compelled me to buy this book, and I find this book extremely helpful in ways of understanding the thought process of Zen Buddhists. I enjoyed it thoroughly, recommended for those who want to take a dip into the thought ocean of Zen Buddhism.

I’d also like to add some of the profound quotations that I came across while reading:

“Nothing stands on its own. Nothing has its own being. Each thing is inseparable from, and inter-identical with, all that it's not.”

“Thus perception is an objectless Awareness since, when we just see, what is truly seen involves not objects but the Whole. Nothing actually forms as an object; nothing stands apart. No matter where we look, there's just this.”

“We think there only has to be sound for there to be sound. We overlook that there must also be silence for there to be sound. And because of sound, there is silence. Were there no sound, how could there be silence?”

“What makes human life--which is inseparable from this moment--so precious is its fleeting nature. And not that it doesn't last but that it never returns again.”

“If it's Truth we're after, we'll find that we cannot start with any assumptions or concepts whatsoever. Instead, we must approach the world with bare, naked attention, seeing it without any mental bias - without concepts, beliefs, preconceptions, presumptions, or expectations.”

A handful of months ago, I went on a meditation/mindfulness/Buddhism reading bonanza. I tore through quite a few books on the subject and feel like I got a lot out of them. This book came highly recommended as a good beginner's primer on the subject, and I mostly agree. There's plenty of good information here, and I found myself underlining and marking pages to return to regularly.

For some reason, though, this book took me forever to finish. I would pick it up, read a chapter, put it down for three weeks, pick it up, read another chapter, etc. Finally, I decided I was tired of seeing it on my "currently reading" list and I stopped reading everything else and finished this in a few days.

I think the biggest critique I have of this book is that it feels highly repetitive. Most of the book is telling you the same basic information in slightly different ways over, and over, and over. I think that this subject does warrant some retread in this way, but by the end of the book I felt like there were chapters that were so similar to ones that came before it that they could have been cut down and combined with earlier parts of the book, or removed entirely, and nothing major would have been lost from the message.

Still, the writing here is mostly nice and easy to read, and I found Hagen's take on Buddhism refreshing, relatable, and practical. He recalls numerous wonderful anecdotes, koans, and parables that make his message more clear. I think that if you're a Westerner interested in introducing Buddhist teachings into your life, this is a great place to start.