You Have to Say Something

""You are Buddha, so learn to behave as a Buddha. Go beyond your self-centered ideas, your likes and dislikes."" So begins a section in the essay, ""Bodhi Mind,"" by the influential American Zen master Katagiri. Though these instructions sound easy, these collected essays are not for the beginner. The anthology's no-nonsense style and approach hit the reader like a slap with a stick from a Zen meditation teacher correcting one's posture in Zen meditation. While erudite and informed, these essays lack any humor and warmth that might entice the novice to sample the delights of Zen even further. The lessons stare up at you like figures from a spreadsheet, demanding a reader's uncritical acceptance. The essays read like the thoughts of a Zen bureaucrat rather than a lover of this rich and profound path to self-knowledge. (Sept.)