Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: A Book Summary

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is a classic text on Zen Buddhism, written by the late Shunryu Suzuki, who popularised Zen Buddhism in the United States.

Like Confucius’s Analects, this book is not actually written by Shunryu Suzuki himself, but a transcription of Suzuki’s talks by one of his students, Marian Derby.

For the record, while I am “officially” a Buddhist (at least as stated in my Identification Card), I have never practiced Buddhism nor read any Buddhist texts in my life. So, this is really my first foray into anything remotely spiritual or religious.

With that said, here’s my summary of the book.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

Shunryu Suzuki begins the book by stating the essence of Zen Buddhism — “Shoshin (初心)” or “beginner’s mind”.

He says:

“The practice of Zen mind is beginner’s mind. The innocence of the first inquiry — what am I? — is needed through Zen practice. The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to…