In Memoriam

It came to my attention last month that the American Zen master Charlotte Joko Beck died June 15, 2011 at age 94.  I only know of her through  her rather odd books such as, Everyday Zen.  For anyone who has read classical Zen literature Charlotte Joko Beck's Zen seems more like Western self-help psychology repackaged under the name, ‘Zen’.  There is nothing Buddhist or Zen in her books—that's my opinion.

Almost all of what she has written is somewhat like doing a movie about Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), without including Jim, the slave.  (Checking out the Internet Movie Data base [IMDb], in 1955 there was a made for TV movie, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that didn’t have a ‘Jim’ in it!  I can’t find Jim listed in the cast.) 

I believe that the beginner shouldn't read pop Buddhist teachers like Charlotte Joko Beck until they have studied classical Zen which came out of China before and during the Sung period.  There is plenty of such material available for the needs of a beginner in bookstores and online.  After a year or two of reading classical Zen—yeah, okay—take a look at Beck's books.  There is absolutely no connection between, say the Zen of Huang-po and the Zen of Charlotte Joko Beck.  One is helping you paddle to the other shore of nirvana; the other (Beck's) is helping you cope, for example with "with a difficult person" which she says is nirvana but is actually samsara. 

 

Comments

[Imperishable Night]

"I believe that the beginner shouldn't read pop Buddhist teachers like Charlotte Joko Beck until they have studied classical Zen which came out of China before and during the Sung period."

This must be repeated over and over again. And I will never stop repeating it to whomever will ask me anything about Buddhism. This has saved from poisoning my already poisoned mind too much by reading books published by Mara Press.

[Bob Morris]

Zennist covered this ground and more in the January 19, 2010 blog "The canon of self-help Buddhism"

[minx]

Strange that you wrote this article. I am reminiscent of a day my Master told me;

"Why is it Enma Dai-O (King Yama) can drag the spirit of a nun, whom deceived a single sentient being with adharma, straight down to hell and remain blind to a warrior, whom having violently slained his enemies with the single minded sword of Dao, at death, enters the heaven of Tushita?"

In spiritual despair I wept that entire night, because the answer to this morally disturbing riddle, eluded my logical mind that was filled with such little wisdom of the noble ones.

[Imperishable Night]

Azanshi changed character overnight. Suddenly he's all kind and nice to everyone. He can't even bring himself to utter a single word of unkindness to a drunkard who just puked all over the floor. Gives a free cup of water without charging a jiao, for the hang-over. What a remarkable change!

[Azanshi]

KGrey wrote;

"Awakening that does not include undeniably understanding the impossibility and irrelevance to self/others is just a lovely story."

Buddy if you do not like the author, why are you reappearing here, puking all over the place with your inverted views on Buddhism? (Yeah I ve read your page. Its on kindergarten level).

Are you offering this opinion based on your own awesome enlightenment? Or do you merely flap that gob of yours as a childish reaction to his excellent article about this person that has poisoned the Zen community for decades with her lightless garbage?

If you read the sutras there are many clues where her type really went. I leave it to you to "educate" yourself before you keep womiting more of that ignorance all over yourself.