THE EYE AWARE: Zen Lessons for Christians

Witkam, the abbot at Mary's Refuge Abbey in the Netherlands, has been conducting Zen sessions there for more than 20 years. In this brief text, which defies genre, he alternates among instructing Zazen neophytes, exploring affinities between Christianity and Zen meditation, and sharing fragments of insight from his own meditative community. While he refers infrequently to contemporary and historical Christian mystics, he does not explicitly connect his mysticism to theirs. In fact, he mostly elides postbiblical Christian history, extolling a mysticism that blends biblical text and Eastern thought. Focusing on Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and the Gospel of John, he interprets passages about wisdom, the body, breath, judgment and the self. In most cases, he draws intriguing—if not always compelling—comparisons between the message of the biblical writer and those embraced by Zen practitioners. The best elements of this book are Witkam's explanation of meditation, its reliance on correct posture and breathing, and the mystical death that leads to illumination. Most problematic is his failure to address the tension between Eastern monism and Christian belief in the distinction between creator and created. And despite its brevity, the book is repetitious. Regardless, Witkam's approach to the Bible, Zazen and mystical experience is sincere and appealing and serves as a refreshing antidote to the. (July)