Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

By: Shunryu Suzuki

Narrated by: Peter Coyote

Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

So begins this most beloved of all American Zen works. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it's all about. In the years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics of Zen in a way that is remarkably clear and resonates with the joy of insight.

Read by Emmy-award winning narrator Peter Coyote, this audio will be listened to time and time again as an inspiration to practice.

©2020 Shunryu Suzuki (P)2006 Phoenix Books, Inc.

DO NOT MISS

In my research of Buddhism, I have read/ listened to many books.
I consider this book among the best. I have ordered the physical book,
I have listened to several books by Shunryu Suzuki and this will not be the last one.
The narrator, mr. Peter Coyote, did an excellent job.
My thanks to all involved, JK.
Continued:
I have since my previous review, listed to the audio version again with the written version.
Audible skips some sections that are present in the book.
It was good to listen again, it is now 1/29/2024.
I still HIGHLY recommend listening, and or reading the book, JK.

Profound insights perfectly read

This has become my “go to” book. After more than six months of listening to it almost daily, I’ve begun to sit Zen.

very good

very simple and straightforward. but very good and powerful. i wasn’t sure if it was worth paying for such a short audiobook but it definitely is because it is such a powerful book

Send chills through me!

Send chills through me listening to Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. I read this Buddhist classic over 30 plus years ago but listening is a very different wonderful experience. Peter Coyote did a fabulous reading. In other Buddhist narrations, you get the idea the reader is just in it for the paycheck and they don't bother to understand the material or look up pronunciations. In Coyote's case, you really get a sense that not only does he know the material and the proper pronunciations but that he is also a serious Buddhist practitioner. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is as fresh as the day I first read it. Full of incredible power in its sheer simplicity. I just regret having never met Suzuki Roshi.

Coyote’s voice is magic!

This is an incredible listen and book made even better by the narrator, Peter Coyote.

*NOT* Unabridged

I very much enjoyed the content here, and I think Peter Coyote does a great job reading it, but it’s important to point out that this audiobook is significantly abridged.
Specifically the following sections are missing:
— Preface (by Huston Smith)
— Introduction (by Richard Baker)
The following twelve chapters are missing from the body of the book:
— Mind Waves
— No Dualism
— Constancy
— Communications
— Negative and Positive
— The Quality of Being
— Naturalness
— Readiness, Mindfulness
— Attachment, Nonattachment
— Calmness
— Experience, Not Philosophy
— Beyond Consciousness
(Also, each chapter begins with a small epigraph, I.e. a quote from the body of the chapter. These are not included.)