---
product_id: 769686344
title: "The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment"
price: "$7566"
currency: NZD
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 6
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/769686344-the-three-pillars-of-zen-teaching-practice-and-enlightenment
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment

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## Description

desertcart.co.jp: The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment : Kapleau, Roshi P.: Foreign Language Books

Review: アメリカでの数少ないフィリップ禅師が、04年5月6日に亡くなったそうです。仏門に入る前は、本国で裁判の書記を務めており、第二次世界大戦後に東京裁判で来日。その後、戦争そのものに疑問を感じた彼は、以後13年間に渡り日本で禅の修業に励みました。 この本では、禅ビギナーのためにその基本（呼吸、姿勢、集中）を中心に解説しています。曹洞宗と臨済宗の複合型の禅です。 特に禅に興味のある方、メンタル面やフィジカル面を高めたい方にとって読むに十分値する書です。
Review: The editor, an American Zen Buddhist teacher, presents a collection of personal experiences, letters, and lecture transcriptions to show the reality of Zen practice. This is different from many other books on Zen, which instead focus on the philosophical side of Zen rather than its praxis. There are three main features of Zen practice -- zazen (meditation), teisho (formal commentary on Buddhist teachings) and dokusan (personal meeting with the master (roshi)). Zazen is at the heart of Zen practice though, as it is through meditation that one is expected to focus the mind and break through illusions. Zazen is often coupled with koans, in particular koans centering around the concept of "Mu" (nothingness). Through zazen and koan practice, the individual aims to eliminate the primary illusion -- the illusion of duality -- and come to realize the oneness of all beings and time. Interestingly for me, there is not one stage of enlightenment. Rather, enlightenment is a process, such that individuals can be "more" enlightened than others. I found the stories of individuals attaining enlightenment to be simultaneously an interesting and skepticism-inducing section of the book. Several of the stories come from Americans who seem interested, in addition to Zen, in various other forms of "woo": yoga, Jungian psychology, birth trauma, etc. This makes me skeptical of the veracity and depth of their "enlightenment", a skepticism that is only heightened by the backdoor conceit that individuals have different levels of enlightenment. The book is well-written and an interesting introduction to Zen Buddhist practice, especially how it was understood by Americans in the early-1960s.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Amazon Bestseller | #148,582 in Foreign Language Books ( See Top 100 in Foreign Language Books ) #354 in Religious Philosophy #824 in Buddhism (Foreign Language Books) #2,445 in Personal Transformation Self-Help |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (834) |
| Dimensions  | 5.17 x 1.04 x 7.99 inches |
| ISBN-10  | 0385260938 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0385260930 |
| Language  | English |
| Paperback  | 480 pages |
| Publication date  | February 27, 1989 |
| Publisher  | Vintage; Updated,Anniversary edition (February 27, 1989) |

## Images

![The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71BYQZQK0LL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by 閑***閑 on December 28, 2004*

アメリカでの数少ないフィリップ禅師が、04年5月6日に亡くなったそうです。仏門に入る前は、本国で裁判の書記を務めており、第二次世界大戦後に東京裁判で来日。その後、戦争そのものに疑問を感じた彼は、以後13年間に渡り日本で禅の修業に励みました。 この本では、禅ビギナーのためにその基本（呼吸、姿勢、集中）を中心に解説しています。曹洞宗と臨済宗の複合型の禅です。 特に禅に興味のある方、メンタル面やフィジカル面を高めたい方にとって読むに十分値する書です。

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by C***S on September 21, 2025*

The editor, an American Zen Buddhist teacher, presents a collection of personal experiences, letters, and lecture transcriptions to show the reality of Zen practice. This is different from many other books on Zen, which instead focus on the philosophical side of Zen rather than its praxis. There are three main features of Zen practice -- zazen (meditation), teisho (formal commentary on Buddhist teachings) and dokusan (personal meeting with the master (roshi)). Zazen is at the heart of Zen practice though, as it is through meditation that one is expected to focus the mind and break through illusions. Zazen is often coupled with koans, in particular koans centering around the concept of "Mu" (nothingness). Through zazen and koan practice, the individual aims to eliminate the primary illusion -- the illusion of duality -- and come to realize the oneness of all beings and time. Interestingly for me, there is not one stage of enlightenment. Rather, enlightenment is a process, such that individuals can be "more" enlightened than others. I found the stories of individuals attaining enlightenment to be simultaneously an interesting and skepticism-inducing section of the book. Several of the stories come from Americans who seem interested, in addition to Zen, in various other forms of "woo": yoga, Jungian psychology, birth trauma, etc. This makes me skeptical of the veracity and depth of their "enlightenment", a skepticism that is only heightened by the backdoor conceit that individuals have different levels of enlightenment. The book is well-written and an interesting introduction to Zen Buddhist practice, especially how it was understood by Americans in the early-1960s.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by S***N on February 23, 2025*

Eines der besten Bücher über Buddhismus die ich je gelesen habe. Faszinierende Einblicke in die Praxis von Zen.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment
- Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: 50th Anniversary Edition
- The Way of Zen

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-16*