Life Between the Tigers

Book excerpt: Legendary Yankees catcher (and accidental Zen master) Yogi Berra once asked, "How can you think and hit at the same time?" The answer is you can't. And you can't enjoy a full, satisfying life while obsessing over the past or future. You can't savor existence by living inside your head - by thinking instead of doing. This is one of the main themes of Zen Buddhism. Zen teaches us to focus on the here and now - to live in a reality that's meant to be fully experienced. Zen is seeing into your true nature. It's is about liberation from our racing minds - from limited perspectives about ourselves, our relationships, our emotions and reactions. For many Zen Buddhists, contemplating koans is a vital part of this path to liberation. Life Between the Tigers is a new collection, adapted for the modern Western reader, of Buddhist parables and Zen koans (paradoxes that challenge our perspective on life and reality). In their original forms, many koans are set in times and places that are "alien" to most Westerners. They refer to traditions, customs, locations, and histories that can confuse (and even deter) new students of Buddhism. In Life Between the Tigers, these classic stories have been edited into everyday English, so the average reader can better understand and enjoy them. Whatever your spiritual leanings, Life Between the Tigers will challenge you to see something you previously could not or would not see, provoking insights both profound and prosaic. "You know the sound of two hands, clapping. What is the sound of one hand?" asks one koan. Linear, logical thinking will get you nowhere with a riddle like that. So prepare to let go of your logical mind and see reality for what it is - a place where our words for things are not the things themselves and where human concepts limit our ability to understand the world around us.