Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity

I wasn't particularly inspired by the Zen practices essays (latter 2/3 of the book), as the practitioners are so harsh and demanding. However, this book is worth it for the first one-third or so, which gives the mind-boggling story of his youth, his being drafted to become a kamikaze pilot, and the driftless dismay of those who survived, with an incomplete education and no way to earn a living--also having lost all property and family due to the war. So that part makes this book well worth the purchase and the read.

As a relative newcomer to Zen practice I took the usual route of acquiring books to try and show me how to put in to action these things I had decided I wanted to bring in to my life.When I picked up this book I was hesitant, being that it was so small and many said it was simply the story of a monk. There were so many other stories out there about the lives of monks but this was the story written BY the monk while he still lived. So I risked it.My appreciation for his narration knows no bounds. Within the first few pages was the idea that with all people and all things, NOTHING is trash. That struck something within me and I was hooked until the finish. The language is plain and each small chapter in the book goes over a different concept, yet they all build on one another. Further worthy of another read are the sections where he discusses how enlightenment came upon him, as well as how he helped his elderly assistant go through her cancer peacefully.This isn't the kind of book that will give you ideas on how to meditate better, or how to improve your ability to have compassion for others. What it does offer is a view of life in to a world where an individual who came from a very un-compassionate period and culture eventually \came to grasp the nature of reality and that he did not exist. It is not for emulation, but understanding the process and the peace and simplicity that is attained from practice.

In this autobiography, Soko Morinaga gives us a feeling for living in the real-life daily struggles of practicing Zen. Morinaga takes us behind the abstracted mystifying experience one is left with from zen koans by telling us about his actual life. He recounts how hard it was to follow his master's instructions and fulfill the standards of _samu_, the Zen discipline of work. Morinaga starts out by proclaiming the difficulty of the task of verbalizing the inexpressible and then approaches fulfilling that task by sharing the everday details of his process. His earthy opening story dashes at pretense. As the second speaker at a conference in which the first speaker had spoken at great length, Morinaga asked the audience if anyone needed to go to the bathroom. Morinaga then explains that like going to the bathroom, enlightenment is something noone else can do for you.In one very touching scene he recounts how as a child he struggled with watching his gradfather's death. Later he tells of a woman who seems at peace with her oncoming death. The book, as the subtitle suggests, is divided into two sections: first his novice years; second his years as a Zen master.Because Morinaga gives us a real picture of Zen, this is an important, valuable, and enlightening book.

I nominate Soko Morinaga's book Novice to Master for the prize of "Best Subtitle of All Times." Not only is "an ongoing lesson in the extent of my own stupidity" a wonderfully surprising phrase to follow a title which promises to tell the story of his growth from "novice to master," but it is also a summation of one of the primary lessons of the book. As another Zen teacher liked to say, the enlightened life is not so different from the ordinary life except, perhaps, that it's more ordinary. Morinaga teaches us, and demonstrates through his own life, that the journey is not so much to ever greater heights but, rather, to a deeper rootedness in ordinary life.There are a few books that I return to over and over again when my spirit feels depleted. Anthony DeMello's Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality is one. Beginning to Pray, by Anthony Bloom, is another. When I finished Novice to Master I realized that I'd found a third -- a book that is both simple and profound, that offers clear and direct teaching from someone who really knows.Erik Walker Wikstrom, Unitarian Universalist minister and author of Teacher, Guide, Companion: Rediscovering Jesus in a Secular World; Simply Pray: A Modern Spiritual Practice to Deepen Your Life; and Serving With Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice

3.75 StarsThe title says it all - An Ongoing Lesson In The Extent of My Own StupidityFor me this book came my way at a good time. The point in meditation practice where you start to wonder if you're doing this right - where - to put it simply - you just feel like an idiot - just sitting there - just breathing - and feelin' none the wiser -The book is about the life of Soko Morinaga - and parts of his journey from novice to master.The best parts of this book are the funny stories of this Master as he was coming up - as he was learning - these stories are funny and relatable.It's a quick read, parts are funny, parts make you think and do that "nod" and most of the book makes you realize that you're not alone in feeling like an idiot sometimes - in life before, after and even during meditation.This is a very good book - not great - but enjoyable and very good.

A book I can't put down. The relationship between the author and his teacher is relatable. His present mind reports on his mind as a student with a kind and funny honesty.I'm not sure why but the Amazon envelope arrived with a large corner cut off.

This is a very pleasurable read containing some reminiscences of a Rinzai Zen Master. Interwoven autobiographical reflections, anecdotes with absorbing insights on religious life.

A lovely exposition of the heart of practice, given from a wise and practiced Master. This is a very easy read and will suit readers with no Zen reading history as well as those who have spent years in practice. At the end the author reminds us to forget everything he has said.

I actually experienced a mini enlightenment with this book, especially about death. I have also bought other copies for friends it's so good.

great

Soko Morinaga Roshi's bio. That is all one needs to know.