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FOREWORD

THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS ESSAY was first published in England in 1947 under the title Zen Buddhism: A New Outline and Introduction. The present American edition has been enlarged and revised with a view to providing an up-to-date and comprehensive outline of Zen Buddhism for the increasing number of students of a subject upon which all major works have long been out of print. Since writing The Spirit of Zen (London, 1936; reprinted 1948) many valuable sources of information on the general nature of Zen have been available to me, and the present work, though brief, will in several important respects provide a corrective to the former volume.

I am indebted, as ever, to Dr. D. T. Suzuki for his translations of original material, the greater part of those quoted being his unless otherwise indicated. I am also indebted for much general information upon the subject to the late Sokei-an Sasaki, Abbot of Jofuku-in, who lived and taught for many years in New York, though I do not wish to make him responsible for any of the opinions given lest they should be in error. Some of this information I owe also to Mrs. Sasaki, who let me read many of the manuscripts of his lectures and translations, and discussed them with me, though, for the same reason, I must not make her responsible either. It is a pleasure to me, however, to have this opportunity of expressing thanks to them all.

At the end of the book will be found a bibliography and an explanation of the drawings, symbols, and Chinese characters used as chapter headings.

Alan W. Watts,

Canterbury House, Evanston, Illinois, 1948