Book Review | Zen Beyond Mindfulness

My third book in the 2022 challenge is Zen Beyond Mindfulness: Using Buddhist and Modern Psychology for Transformational Practice by Jules Shuzen Harris. The book satisfies Category 4 of the challenge, a book on psychology or personal development. Harris is both a practicing psychotherapist and a Buddhist teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. Full disclosure: I am also a Zen practitioner, albeit in a different tradition.

The book

This is not the first book I have encountered combining ideas from Zen and psychology. However, it might be one of the first I've encountered that doesn't equate the two. I've seen a lot of books and articles that suggest modern psychology can replace Zen practice, or vice versa. Harris, by contrast, takes concepts from both areas and shows how they can complement each other.

The main psychological framework that Harris uses is called the Identity System, or I-System, from a larger model by Stanley Block. There are parallels between the I-System and what Buddhists call the skandhas, or aggregates of tendencies and experiences. Both models argue that these collections of tendencies and experiences are what each person perceives to be the self. Both models also argue that these collections have no permanent reality.

Harris recommends combining regular Zen meditation practice with a technique used within the I-System that is a version of mind mapping. In case you're unfamiliar with mind mapping, the idea is to put a key word or phrase in the center of a page and then just write down whatever comes up for you in association with that. This blog post from MindMeister offers a more in-depth explanation of mind maps, along with some examples.

Harris recommends creating mind maps around questions surrounding your identity, such as, "What am I attached to?", "How do I defend my happiness?", etc. But it's not just a one-and-done affair. After you create your map, you do a relaxation exercise and then recreate the map, but instead of focusing on your feelings about the content, you focus on the sound of your pen on the paper and any sensations you might feel in your body. Your answers might be the same as before, but approaching the issue from a different angle might change your perspective on it in some way.

What I liked

I liked that Harris took the time to dispel a lot of misconceptions that people outside the Zen community have about the practice. For example, a lot of people use "Zen" interchangeably with words like "calm" or "content." This is a complete misunderstanding of what Zen practice is. As Harris points out:

I cannot stress enough that we do not practice Zen in order to be happier more often. If that is your goal, I suggest exercise or getting a pet.

Zen Beyond Mindfulness, page 67

What is the goal, then? I'm so glad you asked:

The goal of Zen is nothing less than completely dismantling the delusions the self creates to feel unique, special, and separate from the rest of the world.

Zen Beyond Mindfulness, page 152

When you put it that way, Zen practice seems a lot scarier, which explains why people tend to be more familiar with some diluted marketing perception of it than the real thing. I like that Harris didn't try to sugarcoat things. I'm also glad to say that I've had similar experiences in the Zen tradition where I practice.

While I'll confess I didn't have time to do the exercises shown in the book, I'm intrigued enough to make a note to incorporate them into my practice. Self-inquiry is hard, which is why a lot of people don't do it. It's nice to have a systematic way of doing it that aligns with Zen ideas of being present with whatever you're experiencing.

Another thing I really liked about this book is that Harris is very scrupulous about citing his sources, both ancient and modern. All too often in books about spirituality or self-help, authors act like they've invented everything they're describing, when most times they're repackaging things Buddhists and Hindus have known for millennia.

What I didn't like

I didn't love the structure of the book. There's a lot of introductory material in the opening chapters, which means it takes a while to get to the meat of the book. I feel like Harris could have woven the introductory material into the more practice-heavy chapters.

Overall verdict

I almost feel like the way Harris addresses misconceptions about Zen is worth the price of admission by itself, but of course, that's not the point. This book is great for its intended audience, but that audience might be quite small.

However, the book might be part of a trend in Buddhist circles. When Buddhism first took hold in the West in the 20th century, many Western practitioners wanted to strip away the more ritualistic and devotional elements of Buddhism, branding them as superstition. The idea was to get to the core of what was helpful about Buddhism, but now we've seen that such an approach can lead to a practice stripped of its ethical context and only useful to the extent it makes practitioners feel better about themselves. If that's what you want to practice, go ahead, but it's not Buddhism, and I fear that's all too often the perception people have of Buddhism.

That said, I don't want to make it sound like I'm the expert on Buddhist practice, as I'm definitely not. But Western society seems to be coming back to an understanding of the value of ritual, which is a step in the right direction for me.

What's next?

I mentioned last week that I'd be adding a twist to the challenge for the month of February. Since I've started the month with a Black author, and it's Black History Month, all the books I read for the challenge this month will be by Black authors.

This was also inspired by an Instagram challenge, so maybe I'm just really susceptible to Bookstagram suggestions at this point. But seriously, it seems like a fun way to encourage people to read more books by Black authors.

To that end, my next book will be Beloved by Toni Morrison. Yes, I'm a little embarrassed that I've gotten this far in life without reading it already. This book satisfies Category 10 of the challenge, a book that received a national literary award; namely, the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

Interlude - what makes an author Romanian?

I'm taking a little extra time to finish my current book, but since I've promised something every Wednesday, I thought I'd talk about how I'm defining a Romanian author for this challenge.

The two authors I've read so far, Liviu Rebreanu and Matei Călinescu, are unquestionably Romanian. They spoke and wrote in Romanian and identified as culturally Romanian. At this point you might think, well, duh, that's what being Romanian is. But it's not always that simple.

On Transylvania

In my write-up of Forest of the Hanged, I mentioned that Transylvania was part of Austria-Hungary at the start of World War I and only became Romanian territory after the war. But both before and after the war, both Romanians and Hungarians have been there. That's still true today.

The reverse is also true: in Hungarian towns close to the Romanian border, there are large numbers of Romanian speakers. We can find similar stories in many towns near national borders around the world, especially when those borders have changed somewhat recently.

Transylvania particularly interests me because it's where my wife was born and raised. In fact, when people ask her where she's from, she answers with Transylvania, not Romania. I've mentioned before that she's a native Romanian speaker, but she's also a native Hungarian speaker. She has both Romanian and Hungarian ancestry, among other things. Her whole life, people have asked her if she feels more Romanian or Hungarian. And her whole life, she's refused to take sides, so to speak (she's also a Gemini, so that could be a factor).

I say all that to illustrate that there are people in Romania who share that cultural identity with other identities. And while my wife identifies right down the middle, that's not true for everybody in that situation.

Some of my wife's friends from her hometown identify more strongly with their Hungarian heritage and consider Romanian a second language. So are they just Hungarians who happen to live in Romania? Not exactly. Even if they primarily feel Hungarian, they don't have the same experience of Hungarian-ness as someone who grew up in Hungary. They're still existing in Romanian culture to some extent.

Let's take one of my wife's favorite contemporary authors, György Dragomán, as an example. That's clearly a Hungarian name, and he writes in the Hungarian language, but he was born in Transylvania and lived there until he was a teenager. And although he now lives in Budapest and has done so for decades, a lot of his work takes place in Transylvania. He probably identifies as culturally Hungarian, but it's not like he can erase his lived experience of Romania. So for this challenge, I think it's fair to consider him a Romanian author. Is this foreshadowing for a future book for the challenge? Maybe.

On Moldova

To be clear, I'm referring to the Republic of Moldova, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union (Doesn't ring a bell? Ask your parents). But before World War II, most of that land was—wait for it—Romanian territory. Not to mention there's a region in present-day Romania known as Moldavia in English, but as Moldova in Romanian. Hence, the need to clarify the place I'm referencing.

Excluding the disputed Transnistria region, most Moldovans speak Romanian. Or at least something very close to it. Close enough that I've seen the same English translator's name on books both by Romanian and Moldovan authors, anyway. But there is an ongoing debate whether there's an independent language called Moldovan or it's just Romanian in a different hat.

The same debate happens regarding cultural identity. The consensus among Romanian speakers seems to be that they aren't culturally identical with their Romanian neighbors, but neither are they entirely separate. I don't have the personal angle on this that I do with Hungarian speakers in Transylvania, but my conclusion is similar: if they're writing in Romanian, that's enough for me to consider them Romanian authors.

Summary

Basically, an author needs to have one foot in Romanian-ness to be considered a Romanian author for this challenge. For most authors, that will either come from speaking the language or from spending time in Romania.

Of course, there are those who disagree with my criteria. This book review offers a thoughtful counterpoint where the reviewer takes issue with the inclusion of an author who left Romania and wrote in English in a scholarly discussion of Romanian literature. And in that context, I can see where the reviewer is coming from. For scholarly work it makes sense to be more precise. But since an important part of my book challenge is to expose myself to different perspectives, I'm keeping my more expansive criteria in place.

What's next?

My write-up of Zen Beyond Mindfulness will be up next week. I'll also announce the next book in the challenge, plus a twist I'm adding for this month. Stay tuned!

Do you identify with more than one culture or know someone who does? How does that affect your experiences of those cultures? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Book Review | The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter

For the second book in my 2022 book challenge, I chose The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter by Matei Călinescu, originally published in 1969. This was right in the middle of Romania's Communist government, and since Călinescu left Romania a few years later, this novel has gained a cult following. Another distinguishing factor is that it's Călinescu's only novel, as he worked mostly as a literary critic and occasionally as a poet, both in Romania and later at Indiana University in the US.

The book

As the title implies, the book recounts the life and opinions, mostly the latter, of a man named Zacharias Lichter. The title is a nod to the classic novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. A quick Amazon search reveals that many authors have paid similar homages in their titles, including The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe. I'm kind of intrigued by that one, actually.

Lichter is apparently a grotesque-looking man who spends most of his time alternately begging and pontificating in Bucharest's public parks. The novel is written from the point of view of a self-appointed biographer of Lichter's, but this person is never named, nor do they share any particular opinions of their own. We also occasionally see Lichter interact with a few friends, a few interested passers-by, and a doctor that he tries to avoid at all costs.

What I liked

Lichter has a lot of interesting things to say. I made heavy use of the highlight feature in this book, possibly more so than in any other book I've read. For example, he sums up the dilemma of living authentically:

For is there anything more pathetic than to live in a world of truth and have an alienated world reject you as alien; to live in the sphere of the serious and have a ludicrous world laugh at you because it finds you ludicrous?

The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter, page 10

Also, you could argue that he predicted the modern wellness industry:

Thousands and tens of thousands of illnesses, one more complicated than the other, have been invented and along with them, equally complicated means of combatting them.

The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter, page 114

Lichter talks a lot about living honestly and mindfully. I can see why the introduction, by his compatriot Norman Manea, put a lot of attention on the quotes. This book is eminently quotable. By the way, if you read in the Kindle app on iPad and highlight a section, it will even make an Instagram-ready quote image for you. No doubt that Zacharias Lichter would disapprove.

What I didn't like

Calling this book a novel is a stretch. It's really more of a collection of anecdotes interspersed with the occasional poem, and as such, doesn't go anywhere. Characters dip in and out for no particular reason, and the anecdotes don't build on each other. I don't need Dan Brown levels of plot intrigue, but I need more than what I got here.

Also, nobody likes being talked at all the time, not even by an alleged genius. And some of his rants didn't make any sense, like when he spends a whole chapter talking about how terrible writing is. Reading this "novel" is basically committing to being talked at for 150 pages. It was more tiring than Forest of the Hanged, despite the latter being more than twice as long.

Overall verdict

You've probably guessed by now that this book wasn't my cup of tea. I'm willing to concede that the fault may be on my end. Again, referring to Manea's introduction, he talks about how the book perfectly captures the political environment of Romania in the late 1960s. And since Manea was there, he knows what he's talking about. But I fear that much of the novel might be lost on anyone who wasn't there, myself included.

Manea and others have also called this a subversive novel, and I have to admit that I don't see what Călinescu is trying to subvert. I've also read reports that Călinescu wrote this book as a joke, thinking nobody would actually publish it. That explanation makes the most sense to me. Two stars on Goodreads.

What's next?

My next book will be the first in the challenge by a non-Romanian author, Zen Beyond Mindfulness by Jules Shuzen Harris. Harris is Black, so he meets my criteria for non-Romanian authors in this challenge. This book satisfies Category 4, a book on psychology or personal development.

How do you feel about novels with no plot? Can you shed light on the political situation in Romania in the late 1960s? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Book Review | Forest of the Hanged

Content warning: violence, death, xenophobia

If you randomly stumbled on this post, you should probably read the overview of my 2022 book challenge first. The rest of this post assumes you're familiar with the content of that post. Also, the progress tracking page is now live!

As mentioned last week, I have kicked off my book challenge with Forest of the Hanged by Romanian novelist Liviu Rebreanu, originally published in 1922. This satisfies Category 9 of the challenge, a novel of Rebreanu's that wasn't assigned in school. In my case, that's any of them. While Rebreanu's work is widely read in Romania, I could only find two novels of his that have ever been translated into English, and of those two, one has long been out of print.

Not gonna lie, I went into this book with some trepidation. War novels aren't my favorite genre to begin with, and I worried that with the time and cultural differences, I might have trouble connecting with the material. I also feared this would be a retread of some of the war novels I was assigned in high school (looking at you, A Farewell To Arms) and didn't enjoy.

What did I fear? Pages upon pages of how miserable the fighting conditions were, punctuated by implications or even outright statements that war is what makes someone a Real Man. I try to use gender-inclusive language as much as possible, but I stand behind my choice to put this one on the men, especially of that time.

So, would Forest of the Hanged continue in this vein, or would it do something different? First, it's important to know a few details about Rebreanu's time and place.

Some historical context

Liviu Rebreanu was born and raised in Transylvania, a region in present-day Romania. At the start of World War I, Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Transylvania only became part of Romania after the war, although Romanian people have lived in the region for centuries.

The protagonist, Apostol Bologa (partially inspired by Rebreanu's brother Emil), is an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. As is often the case in war stories, the protagonist and other characters consider the question of duty to one's country. But this book goes one step further by forcing Apostol to ask himself, what is your country? And what do you do when it's changing hands underneath you in real time?

A word on spoilers

For most books, I'm going to try to avoid major spoilers. But for this one, I'm not, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Rebreanu himself basically drops a massive spoiler in the dedication:

In remembrance of my brother Emil, who was hanged by the Hungarians on the Romanian front in the year 1917. -L. R.

Forest of the Hanged, page 5

Clearly, spoiler alerts weren't a thing in Rebreanu's time. Also, the book is called Forest of the Hanged. It's safe to assume a lot of hanging goes on in this book. Which it does. You were warned at the top of the post.

Complaining about spoilers in this book is a bit like complaining about spoilers for Hamilton. The intended audience is likely to be familiar with the broad strokes of the plot, including its ending. Since Rebreanu didn't have hip-hop at his disposal, how can he keep the story interesting when we know the outcome from the first page?

The book

I should probably start with a brief description of the book's premise. Apostol Bologa, a Romanian living in Transylvania, joins the Austro-Hungarian Army when World War I breaks out, as Transylvania is Austro-Hungarian territory at that time. Initially he performs well and receives multiple awards for bravery on the Italian and Russian fronts. But things change when Apostol's unit is moved to the Romanian front and he is asked to fight against his own people.

Potential hot take alert: I'd say that Forest of the Hanged is a character study disguised as a war novel. In a character study, the character's journey is more important than the events of the plot. And I'm a sucker for a well-executed character study. In fact, if time permits, I'd like to do a deep dive on this novel and its protagonist in a future post, but for now I want to keep this to more of a standard review.

What I liked

I was as surprised as anyone when this book hooked me basically from the first page. Rebreanu can set a mood, y'all. And he does just that in the book's opening scene. Check out these opening sentences:

Under the ashen autumn sky, which resembled a giant bell of smoked glass, the brand-new gallows reared its head defiantly on the outskirts of the village and stretched its arm with the halter towards the dark plain, dotted here and there with copper-leaved trees. Superintended by a short, dark-skinned corporal and assisted by a peasant with a hairy, red face, two old soldiers were busy digging a grave."

Forest of the Hanged, page 7

These sentences paint a picture, and a grim one. But the book isn't relentless doom and gloom. Rebreanu is equally effective at showing characters finding moments of peace and happiness.

Rebreanu is also a keen observer of human behavior. He makes the interesting choice (doubly interesting when you remember the protagonist is inspired by his brother) not to make Apostol particularly likeable when we first meet him. When I described his initial behavior to my wife, she said, "In Romanian, we say that person kicks down and licks up." And we've all known people like that, haven't we?

Another thing I liked is how Rebreanu avoids some of the tropes found in war novels. Anytime a character says anything remotely resembling "war makes you a Real Man," he's immediately rebuked by the other characters in the scene. For instance, when Apostol says to a superior officer:

The war snatched me from [...] the University, where I had almost lost touch with real life, but [...] now I realize that war is the real generator of energy.

Forest of the Hanged, page 13

The superior officer replies:

Really? I had always thought that war was a destroyer of energy!

Forest of the Hanged, page 13

Later when Apostol is going on and on about how proud he is for doing his duty, which involved sitting on a court-martial that condemned a man to death, his fellow officers basically react like, dude, what's wrong with you? I like the implication that even amidst the horrors of war, it's important not to lose touch with your humanity.

What I didn't like

One concern I had about reading a novel this old was that the language would be too archaic and florid. Having the ebook really helped with the first issue, because I could just highlight a word and my Kindle would look it up for me. Also, the book has pretty good footnotes, which explain a lot of potentially unfamiliar terms.

That said, there are times the language gets rather florid, especially by today's standards, and they occasionally drag down the pace of the story. While I don't expect David Mamet-esque dialogue where practically everyone talks over each other, the multiple instances of characters monologuing about in this book eventually got a bit tiresome. I understand that pacing expectations were different back then, so I didn't get too mad at it, but every once in a while I was like, OK, we get it. Let's move on.

Overall verdict

The beginning and ending sections of Forest of the Hanged are strong enough that I'm mostly willing to overlook a bit of a sagging middle. The characters are convincing and compelling, even when they make terrible choices. If I had to give it a star rating (which I did on Goodreads), I'd give it a solid 4 stars out of 5. Rebreanu has set the bar pretty high for this challenge.

What's next?

The next book, The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter, is also by a Romanian author, Matei Călinescu. This satisfies Category 11, a book that contains a person’s name in the title.

This is Călinescu's only novel, as he worked mostly as a literary critic. He also ended up leaving Romania a few years after it was published. The reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are polarized, to say the least. So it could also go under Category 2, a controversial novel, but I'm leaving it here for now. I'm curious to see which side of the fence I end up on.

Have you read Forest of the Hanged? Have you been surprised by a book outside your reading comfort zone? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

My 2022 book challenge

Many of us want to read more books, right? But we don't always do it. For some people, setting a challenge with specific guidelines and deadlines can be helpful. This is the story of how I decided to follow a Romanian Bookstagram (Instagram accounts focused on books) challenge.

The challenge

I owe it all to my wife, who happens to be Romanian and an avid Bookstagrammer herself. She came across a challenge from a Romanian teacher with the hashtag #literaturaromanapepaine, which translates to "Romanian literature on bread," and the idea refers to Romanian literature as a widely-available form of nourishment, just like bread. The challenge involves reading books in 25 different categories over the course of 2022. The categories are:

1. Novel published in 2022
2. Controversial novel
3. Contemporary poetry
4. Psychology/personal development
5. Lesser-known book of popular author
6. Novel written by a woman published before 1940
7. Novel chosen for its cover
8. Fictionalized memoir (roman à clef if you're fancy)
9. Novel by Liviu Rebreanu that wasn't assigned in school
10. Book that received a national literary award
11. Book that contains a person's name in the title
12. Contemporary novel where action takes place in Communist times
13. Psychological novel
14. Book published 1920-1940 by non-canonic author
15. Short story collection
16. Popular novel published after 2010
17. Anthology of poems
18. Love story that was not studied in school
19. Novel with more than one point of view
20. Man protagonist
21. Woman protagonist
22. Subjective (where you get a character's thoughts and feelings) novel published 1950-1990
23. Objective (where you don't get a character's thoughts and feelings) novel published 1900-1950
24. Scientific book
25. Contemporary novel where action takes place in a rural area

While most of the categories are self-explanatory, I have provided links to explain terminology that might be unclear. Feel free to ask for further clarification in the comments.

The first obstacle is: I don't read Romanian. So while my wife can read books for every category in their original language, I can't.

The second obstacle: the amount of Romanian literature that's been translated into English is, shall we say, limited, especially prior to 1989. And of the work that has been translated, a fair amount is out of print or otherwise difficult to find.

All that said, I think I can honor the spirit of this challenge while adapting the mechanics of it to my situation. It's also a great opportunity to learn more about the country my wife grew up in.

The rules

While it might not be feasible for me to find Romanian authors for every category, I think I can make this into a fun challenge with a few tweaks. Here are the rules I've set for myself.

• At least 10 books must be by Romanian authors. The person who posted the challenge clearly wants to promote Romanian literature, and I want to respect that. While 25 categories might be out of reach for me, 10 should be doable.
• For the remaining books, the author cannot be a white person whose first language is English. I'd like to carry the theme of expanding my literary horizons throughout the entire challenge, and there's no shortage of books by white American authors aimed at white American audiences. I'm not saying anything's wrong with being white or American (I happen to be both!), but I am saying I think it's worth the effort to look for different perspectives.
• One book, one category. While it's likely that some books will fit multiple categories, I believe one goal of this challenge is to read more books overall. So no double dipping.
• No books that I've read to completion. Books that I started previously but didn't finish are fine.
• One person cannot be a primary author of more than two books. For example, if I read two novels by one author, it's OK if one short story in a larger collection is by that author, but not all of them. Anything in between will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

What's next?

Now that I've laid out the categories and the rules, the only thing left is to start reading some books! I'm not going to commit to doing the categories in any particular order, but I will set up a page shortly where you can track my progress.

I'm also going to post updates here every Wednesday. Yes, we have more than 25 weeks left in the year. But some books will take more than a week for me to get through. And I have ideas about related material that I can post. So stay tuned every Wednesday for updates!

All that said, what is going to be the first book? Category 9 is "a novel by Liviu Rebreanu that wasn't assigned in school." Since I didn't go to school in Romania, none of his novels were assigned to me, so any that I can find will work. And it looks like only one novel of his is both available in English and currently in print, so it looks like I'll be reading that one.

The novel in question is Forest of the Hanged, which tells the story of a soldier whose job is to deal with deserters during World War I. Admittedly we're starting on a bit of a downer. But disturbing source material can lead to great art. So I'll see you next week with my summary and hopefully to announce the second book for the challenge.

Is there a particular category in the list that excites you? Are you doing a book challenge of your own this year? Post your feedback in the comments!