Nothing Holy about It

My book review of Nothing Holy about It (Shambhala Publications) by Tim Burkett, guiding teacher of the Minnesota Zen Center, is now published in Levan Humanities Review, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2017.

Review Excerpt

In one instance, Burkett relates a dream he had about Suzuki [his teacher and founder of the San Franciso Zen Center] rolling, acrobat-like, into the dojo, passing two gigantic and surreal “Zen guys” sitting “like great mountains and taking up the whole zendo” (220). Suzuki, a tiny man brimming with joy and full of ease, tumbles around these stoic figures, smiling, beckoning Tim to join him, to experience the true happiness of life.

This dream, like all stories in the book, contains a potent message: living Zen means living authentically, joyously, being exactly who you are rather than striving to be something you are not.