| Title | : | Nothing Special |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0062511173 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780062511171 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 278 |
| Publication | : | First published September 3, 1993 |
The best-selling author of 'Everyday Zen' shows how to awaken to daily life and discover the ideal in the everyday, finding riches in our feelings, relationships, and work. 'Nothing Special' offers the rare and delightful experience of learning in the authentic Buddhist tradition with a wonderfully contemporary Western master.
Nothing Special Reviews
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The very things that put us into a foul mood are like empty rowboats.
The late Charlotte Joko Beck tells us, in this book, that once we see in our meditation that some of our worst agravations are caused by unintentional hurts, we'll drop them.
Because once we see through meditation that we are at heart centerless - without a fixed self - such, then is everyone else.
Empty rowboats.
You know, our needs-driven lives are in fact endlessly reiterative vicious circles.
Will the circle be unbroken?
Charlotte Joko Beck infers that if it IS, we will condemn ourselves to lives of unceasing drudgery.
So how do we BREAK the circle that PREVENTS US FROM SEEING REAL LIFE?
It’s not easy, says Ms Beck.
For only slowly can we hope to wear out our If-Only’s.
Whuzzat?
You know the routine - if ONLY I had a new car... If ONLY I had that book... If ONLY I had the Perfect Soulmate! THEN my life’d be complete!
Except, it never is. Cause we never really possess anything that lasts.
We keep running after what Baudelaire called Paradis Artificielles. And so we run ourselves ragged.
Why do we knock our heads AGAINST A WALL?
Just see The Miracle of Simple Life AS IT IS.
There IS an answer, and YOU can find it through meditation!
Just takes lotsa time, work, and Elbow Grease, but -
May the Circle soon be BROKEN
By and by, Lord,
By and by.
There’s a Better Home awaiting
WHERE I AM, Lord,
Where I AM.
This may sound strange to more conservative ears, but this is precisely what Jesus taught, that the Kingdom is At Hand - not necessarily after our death - but that the Kingdom is beginning to appear even now:
In our Heart of Hearts:
Where it COUNTS. -
Abandon all hope all ye who enter here?
I did not love this book, which gave me a very distinct pleasure as I reached the end. I read a few of the other reviews and I agree with them all broadly, except that most of them enjoyed the book while I didn't, .
The volume is divided into eight sections each with a thematic sounding title, each section is divided into chapters with their own title. Each chapter seemed to be a talk mixed with some discussion with the author's students, each of whom is referred to as 'student'. I am not sure if these were transcripts of actual talks with real interactions with students or if it was pure authorial invention. Mostly I felt the chapter and section titles had little to do with the following text, but I did like two chapters: 'From Drama to No Drama' and 'Simple Mind'. The author writes very nicely about joy as well, indeed even her own experiences of joy - so it is not all push-ups in the mud followed by cold showers.
Although I did not enjoy it much, I found the book very interesting because of it's content and tone.
This book has something of the drill sergeant about it, with a regular stress on the difficulty of practise - indeed the book begins with a complaint that there are too many students at the Zen centre and that most of them are not working seriously enough, her other leitmotiv is that Enlightenment is effectively an egoistic goal and not for the serious practitioner of Zen, and in any case so rare an occurrence so as not to be taken seriously. The result, I felt, was a desire to pursue a difficult path purely for the sake of pursuing a difficult path, a kind of puritan ultra marathon with no prizes, and ending in the grave offering only the grim satisfaction of being among the toughest of the tough. This toughness is a kind of brutal realism, a shedding of illusions - self flagellation is not required - you can't help other, indeed you can barely help yourself even with years of sitting practice bursting your illusions, the world is how it is, this is the way things are. None of which I have any great disagreement with.
But still I found the emphasis on difficulty fascinating, after all Buddhism was famously 'the middle way', not the extreme way, and Enlightenment, while not easy, was an attainable goal, it was the desired end, the only way of escaping the miserable cycle of death and rebirth. Here it is just another egotistical goal, another enemy. This side-lining of Enlightenment is already present in
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice, I believe Shunryu Suzuki's wife suggested that was because he himself had not achieved Enlightenment .
Curiously in this book enlightened Zen masters are still held up to the students, typically for displaying stoicism in the face of death, but they are not held up as role models as such because Enlightenment is presented as both impractical to attain and undesirable but as icons showing perfect behaviours that the student can admire but never emulate.
I felt, but I did not count them to make sure, that there were more references to Jesus Christ than to the Buddha and Zen teachers in this book . Ok, this is a book written by an American woman who is teaching other people in the USA and I guess the gospels are for them a more familiar set of references than Buddhist sutras, I wondered how much the author and her students were attracted to Zen because it offered a tougher form of practice than the Christianity they had grown up with. And that gave me a sense of two towers high across the landscape of the USA, in one the prosperity churches and fans of the Law of Attraction, facing them their polar opposites, the adherents of ferociously realistic Zen schools. I suppose I see in this that the emotional needs of individuals are the most important factor in the development of any religious practice, and the community around the author wants and desires something rigorous and demanding, whether they have found it or created it I don't know. -
This book really changed my view of why I'm meditating and where I'm going with it. I have a completely different visual analogy now, one in which I'm peeling away layers and layers of mental junk I've built over the years. And then nothing special happens. You just peel away as much of it as you can, and the rest takes care of itself. In other words, I'm not trying to achieve any particular outcome, other than the peeling away. There is nothing special at the end of this path, and there is no end in this path. What will happen will unfold on its own naturally. This is a difficult fact to face sometimes but the sooner you face it the better and Joko Beck's book really helps you understand this. The message is universal and simple. I'm Turkish and yet I doubt the book is less accessible to me or anyone from my culture as it is to any American. That shows how successful the author was.
I've been meditating on and off, completely on my own (no teacher, no Zen center, etc.), with very strong resistance. I do not have a broad exposure to Eastern philosophy or Buddhism (I don't consider myself a Buddhist). While reading this book, I've broken through a good deal of that resistance because of this "better" understanding of what meditation is about. After a few years, I've finally been able to meditate daily again; and this shows again how successful the author was. As a result of my increased insight, I'm compelled to meditate and thus, the resistance has been naturally weakened; it's not a struggle anymore. I wish all of our actions were backed up by this kind of compelling insight.
One caveat: I'm not sure if certain paradoxes or contradictions in Zen were explained as deeply as they could have been, and I'm not sure if they ever could be... But this also leaves room for you to do your own thinking. And a small note: This is not a how-to (e.g., you sit like this, you breathe like this, etc.) book. -
Charlotte Joko Beck’s books always feel like a breath of fresh air. Just as in “Everyday Zen” (
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), “Nothing Special” is a collection of her lectures, often followed by some questions from her students. Those lectures are not really for beginners, but they are perfect for students who have been practicing for a certain time, who have seen their practice mature and who are trying to intergrate it into every aspect of their daily lives. This is not an easy balancing act, and Beck gives strong perspective, great motivation and encouragement, as well as plenty of food for thought.
Her style is referred to as “blunt clarity”, and it is one of the things I like most about her. When a student asks a silly question, she just says “I’m not going to answer that. Go practice, you’ll figure it out.” And that’s not rude: that’s the right answer. Zen is something you do, not something you parrot from a teacher. There is also no point in sugar-coating how tough it can be, but we have to find good reasons to keep doing it, and reading what Beck has to say about it helps. Well, it helps me, for what that’s worth!
Here are a few quotes: if you like what you read here, you’ll enjoy the rest of the book!
“Whatever choice we make, the outcome will provide us with a lesson. If we are attentive and aware, we will learn what we need to do next. In this sense, there is no wrong decision.”
“Sitting is like our daily life: what comes up as we sit will be the thinking tat we want to cling to, our chief feature. If we like to evade life, we’ll find some way to evade our sitting. If we like to worry, we’ll worry. If we like to fantasize, we’ll fantasize. Whatever we do in our sitting is like a microcosm of the rest of our lives. Our sitting shows us what we’re doing with our lives and our lives show us what we do when we sit.”
“Every unhappy person I’ve ever seen has been caught in a belief system that holds out some promise, a promise that has not been kept. Persons who have practiced well for some time are different only in the fact that they recognize this mechanism that generates unhappiness and are learning to maintain awareness of it – which is very different from trying to change or fix it.”
“Life is not a safe space. It never was, and it never will be.”
“Anything that annoys or upsets us (which, if we’re honest, includes almost everything) becomes grist for the mill of practice. Working with everything leads to a practice that is alive in every second of our lives.” -
wow, fantastic. Life changing for me.
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Plain, simple and tough. Very good.
I guess maybe part of the usefulness of reading Zen books (as opposed to say, sitting) is to reinforce your commitment to practice and for me, this was a pretty good book for that. No artificial flavours or preservatives, no mystical bullshit, no made-up words, no exhortations for loving-kindness and compassion, no pseudoscientific justifications or the grating "scientists are starting to discover X; Buddhists have known this for thousands of years", just the same messages presented over and over again from slightly different angles, jarring me out of my self-conscious, self-centered loop (maybe if I practice long enough, I'll stop being so anxious). (*)
Books tend to go in one ear out the other, and I'm always anxious (hah!) about not having gotten anything out of them, so...
Useful distinctions: (a) preferences vs demands (b) goals vs obsessions with outcomes (c) things vs attachments to things. Useful practices: labeling your thoughts.
This book seems to be a collection of talks, of which I particularly liked:
- The Talk Nobody Wants to Hear - gives you an idea for the tone of this book.
- Cocoon of Pain pointing out strategies people have for avoiding unpleasantness (one of which is "If we can 'bliss out', if we can be a mindless 'buddha', we don't have to assume any responsibility for the world's unpleasantness".)
- Melting Ice Cubes (needs to turn into an animated cartoon)
- The Six Stages of Practice (not a how-to, just a catalogue of people's tendencies as they practice): [i] awareness of self, desire to control [ii] breaking emotions in physical and mental components [iii] more experiential living [iv] 80-90% experiential living [vi] (theoretical, likely non-existent) buddahood
Fun quotes:
- A guilt trip is a very self-centered activity
- Attachment concerns not what we have, but our opinions about what we have
- That's the problem with "positive thinking" and affirmations: we can't keep them up forever. Such efforts are never the path to freedom. In truth, we already are free
- Feelings are simply thoughts plus bodily sensations
(*) One slightly annoying bit is when she drags out the "oh, what a terrible thing it would be if somebody invented a pill that would let people live forever"... seems like should that come to pass, it would just be another thing that just is. -
Best book on Zen I have ever read (and I've read maybe a hundred). Clear, direct, accessible, and profound.
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This was my first investigation into Zen and I found it to be nothing like I expected--which was better than I could have imagined. I fall for fluff and promises of nirvana and enlightenment like anyone else, but I always come back to people like Charlotte Joko Beck and Brad Warner who have the guts to tell it like it is. Rather than feel disappointed that Zen made no promises, I felt relieved. Nine years later I'm still poking around the issues, drifting in and out of fantasies, but this dedicatory quote from Warner's Hardcore Zen sums up my current intentions: "I have no time for lies or fantasy and neither should you. Enjoy or die." John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten from Rotten.
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A tedious read for me and most likely why it took 8 months to complete. With each new chapter, I was expecting something new and I felt like it was the same information over and over in different words: upset is optional, sitting is hard work and not for everyone, nothing is real except this moment, no matter how long you sit you likely never reach enlightenment and there's probably more that I just couldn't absorb because I felt like I was reading the same chapter over and over again.
In addition, the conversational bits with the students got old really quickly. It felt trite and condescending. -
I do not carve time to meditate in the Zen tradition of sesshin but I read this book to explore the practice of Zen and its canons.
It did awaken some considerations about my own approach to life and they were a useful addition. I found the Dorothy chapter resonated with something I read in Jon Kabat Zin's book and that is, we are on a constant search for our "path" when in fact, our path is in everything we do on a daily basis. From the mundane tasks to our deepest connections with those around us. I absolutely savored this book. -
I think it's one of the best books I've read so far. She is very kind yet so confronting...no matter how personal you take it at first, you keep on reading the book because you know she's speaking the truth. I can honestly say I didn't had much discipline to keep up with my practice.. maybe because I practiced for the wrong reasons. She made that all clear for me.
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Spiritual truth teller.
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At first I thought the title, Nothing Special, sounded "mean". It was kind of a depressing thought~ as most of us have a need to feel set aside form others and be unique (special) in some way, or else we feel worthless as humans. We seem to have a desire to feel separate. But after delving into the book, I realized that what Joko talks about is pure life itself and our connection to it, without all the nasty complicated emotions we like to center our thoughts around, which separate us from enjoying life. Simply setting our egos and this "self-centered" need for drama aside, what's left is just pure living~ appreciation for all life with constant wonder and joy.
This is not a self help book (and I don't recomend them). It doesn't try to convince us that we need to do this or that program, that there is some miracle cure that will make us into better people. It simply shows us that what we've been relentlessly seeking our entire lives is already here~ NOW, in this moment.
A wonderful introduction to Zen! -
This book was nothing short of a revelation to me, distilling complex practices into clear, functional ideas. I appreciate Joko’s firm but compassionate approach, as it avoids the somewhat saccharine view of mindfulness that’s currently en vogue all-the-while framing Zen in a slightly less harsh light than is often found in traditional teachings. Ultimately, Nothing Special is a necessary guide to stripping away the mental and emotional constructs that cause us so much misunderstanding, anger, and fear and keep us from taking in the wonder of it all.
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Charlotte Joko Beck is just amazing: down-to-earth, accessible, and wise. I have loved both her books, and both I've read very very slowly, savoring and pondering. When I finally finished this one, I would have been happy to turn back to page 1 and start all over again. There's so much wisdom in her writing, always so much new to learn.
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Another excellent book which reinforces the importance of meditation practice, paying attention, noticing and labelling thoughts, maintaining a sense of wonder and keeping a "simple mind". Probably worth re-reading when things aren't flowing because the messages contained here would bring you back on track. I liked the author's practical advice and laid-back writing style as well.
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I didn't care for this book, despite really wanting to like it. I don't like the style/format that it was written in, which made it difficult to stay interested. I'm sorry to say, but this book was, well, nothing special.
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this is my bible - JOKO-BECK is amazing. -
Ik highlightte 252 dingen uit dit boek: 28 pagina’s in totaal. Joko Beck raakte me: met troostende, scherpe, grappige, confronterende, herkenbare zinnen. Ik las het boek en dacht: ‘Zo is het. Mijn leven nu. Het leven. Leven.’
Wat wij bestempelen als het fijne (‘’Sometimes we hit a little spot of quiet, of good feelings’’) en minder fijne (‘’Life is a series of endless disappointments’’) is volgens Joko allemaal ‘joy’.
Joy - ''Joy includes suffering, happiness, everything that is. This (…) is what our lives are about.’’
Een transformerend boek. Een aanrader voor iedereen die mediteert. En voor wie een korte samenvatting van het boek wil lezen: ik heb mijn highlights teruggebracht tot 13 pagina’s. -
Highly recommend reading on zen practice and how to work on your mindset.
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This is a surprisingly penetrating book on meditation. I read it immediately following my most intense (and most difficult) 10-day vipassana course and it was precisely what I needed to make sense of my experiences from that retreat.
Beck's writing is very accessible but she drops some not-so-subtle cues to her expectations of meditators who consider themselves "experienced": 15 to 20 years of daily practice. Her understanding of Zazen is more thorough and practical than many other Zen books I've read, noting that at some point a practitioner is "doing zazen all the time." Concepts such as 24-hour meditation and her allegory of repeatedly returning to the locked door in her attic are easy to process intellectually but won't mean much to someone who doesn't have a daily practice yet.
Given Beck's wit and character, I would find it hard to recommend someone wait until she has a serious meditation practice before reading Nothing Special, but I would perhaps recommend that the book is worth a re-read after one's first Zazen Sesshin or 10-Day Vipassana Course. -
A desert island kind of book.
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This was slow going for me, but not in a bad way. Each short section addresses some idea or question or aspect of Zen meditation or life itself, and many include questions or comments by unnamed students. I found the latter a wee bit annoying at first, but it's a nice way to demonstrate examples or resistance or confusion.
At some point this became the perfect book for me at my current location on my meditation path. It is possible my memory deceives me, but of all the Buddhist books I've read, this has been the best and most detailed guide to what meditation is and isn't for people who are not new to meditating. Yes, the life stuff is great - what Zen does for you in your life and what it doesn't; the false expectations that will undoubtedly disappoint you and the actual joy that Zen brings - but for me the detailed descriptions and analyses of what happens when you sit, what not to cling to, what not to settle into, what to accept and what to accept with a caveat, what you can expect to happen if you commit to the practice, the false lure of enlightenment, were exactly what I seem to need, years into my daily practice. I feel like I've made a step in the right direction, feeling like my zazen is a little less distracted and my connection to the world a little more tangible.
These little steps feel like great leaps forward, and I'm grateful for anything that propels me in that direction. A good, clear read as well. -
By far the most accessible book on Zen I've ever read.
Usually when I read Zen books (or as I call them, "Zooks"...wait, that almost sounds racist, I think I'm going to stop doing that), I often struggle to grasp what the author is going for and end up more confused than enlightened. Not with Joko Beck.
She wasn't raised in a monastery, but instead lived a regular life and discovered Zen and meditation in her 40s. She was then able to share much of what she learned in simple language. She's cool. I wish she was my grandma.
At times, I still couldn't grasp what she was going for, at others, I didn't agree with it. But overall she dishes out profound slices of wisdom like my grandma dishes out slices of undercooked casserole. -
I'm a fan of Joko Beck's writing, as I find it's relatable and profound at the same time. Her teachings are very much Zen, and she does at times get into the fundamentals of Zen mindset and Zen teachings. But what's really great is that she's realistic--you won't be able to fit this all into a modern lifestyle without effort, and yes, it is tough to do.
Recommended for fans of Zen meditation who aren't necessarily ready for some hardcore practice, but would like to see how to fit a little bit into their ordinary day. -
One of the best books you could find on Zen. The author makes Zen approachable to Westener practitioners. The author's approach to zen is very down-to-earth and her insights are applied to everyday life. The author really goes to the root of what Zen is all about. This a book that a zen practitioner might read several times while always finding new insights.
