Shunryu Suzuki

Edward Espe Brown

Zen Center San Francisco

Practising the true spirit of Zen. Not Always So is based on Shunryu Suzuki's lectures and is framed in his own inimitable, allusive, paradoxical style, rich with unexpected and off–centre insights. Suzuki knew he was dying at the time of the lectures, which gives his thoughts an urgency and focus even sharper than in the earlier book. In Not Always So Suzuki once again voices Zen in everyday language with the vigour, sensitivity, and buoyancy of a true friend. Here is support and nourishment. Here is a mother and father lending a hand, but letting you find your own way. Here is guidance which empowers your freedom (or way–seeking mind), rather than pinning you down to directions and techniques. Here is teaching which encourages you to touch and know your true heart and to express yourself fully, teaching which is not teaching from outside, but a voice arising in your own being.

Practicing the True Spirit of Zen

Not Always So

Danny S. Parker

Zen Teachings of Edward Espe Brown

Most Important Point

Gathers recipes for yeasted and unyeasted breads, pastries, sourdough breads, pancakes, scones, bagels, biscuits, muffins, flavored butters, cookies, cakes, and tarts

The Tassajara Bread Book

Gives simple & thorough directions for making breads & pastries, complemented by illustrations that show each step in mixing, kneading, & baking. This edition retains many of the favorite recipes of the first edition, along with about twenty new recipes, including croissants, Italian sourdough bread, & desserts. The book retains its basic structure, with sections on yeasted breads, pastries, unyeasted breads, sourdough breads & pancakes, muffins & quick breads, & desserts.

Practicing the True Spirit of Zen Not Always So is based on Shunryu Suzuki's lectures and is framed in his own inimitable allusive, paradoxical style, rich with unexpected and off–centre insights. Suzuki knew he was dying at the time of the lectures, which gives his thoughts an urgency and focus even sharper than in the earlier book. In Not Always So Suzuki Roshi once again voices Zen in everyday language with the vigour, sensitivity, and buoyancy of a true friend. Here is support and nourishment. Here is a mother and father lending a hand, but letting you find your own way. Here is guidance which empowers your freedom (or way–seeking mind), rather than pinning you down to directions and techniques. Here is teaching which encourages you to touch and know your true heart and to express yourself fully, teaching which is not teaching from outside, but a voice arising in your own being.

The Zen priest explores his years of discovery in the kitchen and combines spirituality with the skills of a master chef to offer recipes and techniques for dishes both simple and elegant.

Recipes and Reflections

Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings

The Tassajara Recipe Book

The author introduces a 100 or so vegetarian recipes with charming stories and poems about where they came from, suggestions for how and when to serve them, and precise instructions for making them perfectly.

Favorites of the Guest Season

Discover How to Cook—with Your Senses, Your Hands, and Your Heart "Making your love manifest, transforming your spirit, good heart, and able hands into food is a great undertaking,” writes renowned chef and Zen priest Edward Espe Brown, “one that will nourish you in the doing, in the offering, and in the eating.” With No Recipe: Cooking as Spiritual Practice, Brown beautifully blends expert cooking advice with thoughtful reflections on meaning, joy, and life itself. Reading Brown’s witty and engaging collection of essays is like learning to cook—and meditate—with your own personal chef and Zen teacher. Drawing from a lifetime of experience, he invites us into his home and kitchen to explore how cooking and eating can be paths to awakening. Baking, cutting, chopping, and tasting are not seen as rigid techniques, but as opportunities to find joy and satisfaction in the present moment. “Forget the rules and forget what you’ve been told,” teaches Brown. “Discover for yourself by tasting, testing, experimenting, and experiencing.” From soil to seed and preparation to plate, No Recipe brings us a collection of timeless teachings on awakening in the sacred space of the kitchen.

Cooking as Spiritual Practice

No Recipe

From master baker, cook, and Zen priest Edward Espe Brown comes a collection of timeless essays on Zen, food, and life itself. Brown was among the Westerners ordained as priest by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi before his passing in 1971. Suzuki hoped that Zen might be transformed into a vibrant new form in the West--and in The Most Important Point, Brown fulfills his teacher’s wish with 60 essays that are distinctly American yet preserve the roots of traditional Japanese Zen. ?Drawing from his time in the kitchen and on the cushion, Brown explores a range of topics, from basic sitting practice to making the “perfect” biscuit and much more. “In the words of my teacher,” reflects Brown, “the most important point is to find out what is the most important point.” Flavored with wise insights and irreverent humor, The Most Important Point brings together a treasury of teachings to inspire your own discovery.

Edward Espe Brown

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