101 Zen Stories

De: Paul Beck

Narrado por: Freda Cooper

Written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Muju. Well-known koans in the collection include "A Cup of Tea", "The Sound of One Hand", "No Water", "No Moon", and "Everything Is Best". Includes the soundtrack The Mysterious Sound of Wind in the Bamboo - a 43 minute collection of Zen-inspired Japanese music by The Matsu Take Ensemble.

©2012 Trout Lake Media (P)2013 Trout Lake Media

Could have done without flutes

Stories are good.

The mix is inconsistent so the flutes are annoying and distracting, would have preferred not to have them.

Lovely Tales

Lovely Zen tales read with a lovely voice. The music, though, is even more lovely than the tales! It is played with each story, then there is a long segment of uninterrupted music at the end of the 101 tales. What a beautiful ending it was! I plan to use this uninterrupted music for meditation...or whenever I need to soothe my soul...

Namaste... Jade Dragon

Narration and some context would be helpful

Some of these stories were really great and I could meditate on them and take some lessons from them. Other lessons didn't seem to make any sense, had no context, and left me more confused than anything. I am not a Zen master or disciple so maybe if the story was above my head having a bit of background or narration of the story would have been helpful.

I enjoyed the narration. She was pleasant and told the stories well. I also loved the music.

Overall, worth listening to but not definitely could have been better.

Zen Koans

Love this narrator, wish she'd done more. Music is a little loud sometimes, but I still love it.

way too much music

Some of the stories are good Zen stories. Many of them are not good stories and nearly pointless to have included. The music is far too frequently used; before and after every single story which makes listening tedious as the stories are sometimes 30 seconds in length.

Too much flute

Really Long part of the book is the flute music - nice however when expecting stories...

dont recommend for sleep

Music is very loud between the stories...maybe twice as loud as the reading. Would be great if there was a more quiet version.

Tiny stories, gigantic morals!

Such an inspirational collection of short stories and zen axioms, beautifully arranged. Gave me a sense of world mystery and enlightenment!

Does it need the flute every time?

The stories in this book are great and they’re read very well but every single story has a very loud piercing flute melody before and after. The audio levels between the story and the flute aren’t regulated well so the flute is always too loud and a bit obnoxious

Immeasurably re-playable!

I have had this audio version of the wonderful work Zen Flesh, Zen Bones for several years now, and I find myself drawn back to play it over again many times a year, particularly when I’m feeling drawn off the Path in my own life. It brings clarity and thoughtfulness back to the forefront of my mind.

I feel compelled in part to leave this review due to the number of lower star reviews that speak of the dissatisfaction of the music or the narrator, and this have struck me as quite ironic given the subject matter. . .

I will say in all honesty that I originally wasn’t a big fan of the narration - at first - however, I think it works well, and at times when I read the stories in text form, I hear it as Freda’s voice and it can be quite comforting. I have always been enamored by the musical interludes, as I’ve always felt that the Matsu Take Ensemble’s “The Mysterious Sound in the Bamboo” adds so much character to this audio version that I would find it a bit hollow if it didn’t have it. I also find myself listening to that album often as well. In any case, I hope that many people find this audiobook as, if I may use the term, enlightening -😉- as I have, and may the light of love and peace find a place in their hearts.