Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

List Price: $16.00 Details

Save: $7.01 (44%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Saturday, August 19

Or fastest delivery Thursday, August 10. Order within 17 hrs 15 mins

Sign in to update your location

Only 8 left in stock (more on the way)

$$8.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Saturday, August 19 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25

Or fastest delivery Monday, August 14

Sign in to update your location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by GreatDealsCentral

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$10.24
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Bridge_Media

Added

Not added

$10.58
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Burlington MA- Used Book Superstore -new books too

Added

Not added

$16.00
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Lives Matter

Flip to back Flip to front

See all 3 images

Follow the Authors

Seung Sahn

Stephen Mitchell

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback – February 18, 1994

by Zen Master Seung Sahn (Author), Stephen Mitchell (Compiler)

4.3 462 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$8.54

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$8.99

$7.98

$2.82

Kindle
$8.54 Read with Our Free App
Paperback
$8.99

56 Used from $2.82 23 New from $7.98

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$8.99","priceAmount":8.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UsjqUSZ%2BXICmVwZ%2FypaZiTxmJqBfPW36L2GbQnWMQ0ownnd3BShYbrrDFMEe5%2FXJwLubHXBXGIpEOYYuaaLNKfxb5JzDK5oXgMMahqj4jjMBnr%2BLjA4Wv7szMDDfOX5O18FfqfabEew%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.24","priceAmount":7.24,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"24","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UsjqUSZ%2BXICmVwZ%2FypaZiTxmJqBfPW36FwvaQCHpQfs6OqAx8TjyfmtPfagad6zghNPGhX6ovqjZNFJngkCRh0kw5RxG7MQshCHRJVZ560qKu7J6r7HgznrQMK9JgPeoOMaOi1WzPPzxLP0Zi%2BIirILuDBLG6%2FvJI16UPXYUQh8bId15uBFVRd2zsIMB%2FhJe","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

“Somebody comes into the Zen center with a lighted cigarette, walks up to the Buddha statue, blows smoke in its face, and drops ashes on its lap. You are standing there. What can you do?” This is a problem that Zen Master Seung Sahn is fond of posing to his American students who attend his Zen centers. Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is a delightful, irreverent, and often hilariously funny living record of the dialogue between Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn and his American students. Consisting of dialogues, stories, formal Zen interviews, Dharma speeches, and letters using the Zen Master’s actual words in spontaneous, living interaction with his students, this book is a fresh presentation of the Zen teaching method of “instant dialogue” between Master and student which, through the use of astonishment and paradox, leads to an understanding of ultimate reality.

Print length

232 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Grove Press
Publication date

February 18, 1994
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0802130526
ISBN-13

978-0802130525
See all details

Frequently bought together

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn

$8.99

Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19

Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Only Don't Know: Selected Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn

$27.95

Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19

Only 14 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

The Compass of Zen (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

$35.00

Get it as soon as Tuesday, Aug 15

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Lowest Pricein this set of products
Malaclypse the Younger
126
Paperback
$7.88
Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
Most purchasedin this set of products
Marcus Aurelius
18,147
Paperback
in Greek & Roman Philosophy
$7.99
Get it as soon as Wednesday, Aug 16
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Highest ratedin this set of products
Wolf Erlbruch
483
Hardcover
$15.50
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
This item:
Zen Master Seung Sahn
462
Paperback
$8.99
Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
Seung Sahn
60
Paperback
$27.95
Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 14 left in stock (more on the way).
Zen Master Seung Sahn
177
Paperback
$35.00
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Aug 15
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Zen Master Seung Sahn
56
Paperback
$21.95
Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 10 left in stock (more on the way).
Kusan Sunim
44
Paperback
$17.99
Get it as soon as Wednesday, Aug 16
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Amanda Palmer
2,465
Hardcover
$18.89
Seung Sahn
14
Paperback
$19.95
Get it as soon as Wednesday, Aug 16
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Lao Tzu
1,233
Paperback
$11.69
Get it as soon as Saturday, Aug 19
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Consisting of dialogues, stories, formal Zen interviews, Dharma speeches, and letters using the Zen Master's actual words in spontaneous, living interaction with his students, Dropping Ashes onthe Buddha is a fresh presentation of the Zen teaching method of 'instant dialogue' between Master and student that, through the use of astonishment and paradox, leads to an understanding of ultimate reality.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press; Reissue edition (February 18, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802130526
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802130525
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #132,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #107 in Zen Spirituality

Customer Reviews:
4.3 462 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Seung Sahn
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Stephen Mitchell
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, The Second Book of the Tao, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Way of Forgiveness, and the forthcoming The First Christmas. He is also the coauthor of three of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is, A Thousand Names for Joy, and A Mind at Home with Itself. You can read extensive excerpts from all his books on his website, stephenmitchellbooks.com.
See more on the author's page

Products related to this item
Sponsored

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Alan Watts

3,034

Paperback

$11.39
Feedback

Kenneth Wenger

Does AI fascinate you or scare you? Is artificial intelligence taking over the world or just the latest fad? Read this AI survival guide and decide.

30

Paperback

$18.06
Feedback

Thich Nhat Hanh

100

Kindle Edition

$9.99
Feedback

Thich Nhat Hanh

157

Kindle Edition

$12.99
Feedback

Patrick King

1,043

Paperback

$13.27
Feedback

Patrick King

26

Paperback

$15.24
Feedback

Nick Trenton

8,180

Paperback

$12.85
Feedback

Thich Nhat Hanh

669

Paperback

$14.95
Feedback

Thich Nhat Hanh

102

Paperback

$19.95
Feedback

Samadhi Sands

30

Hardcover

$21.99

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

462 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

WeAreAllOne

OMG!

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2023

Verified Purchase

I've leaned more about myself from just the story of Chapter 6: A Child Asks About Death than any other Zen books. May I call this as a enlightenment?? ☺️💕
Thank you Stephen, I love all your books!!❤️

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jim Martin

I DON'T KNOW !!!

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

Very interesting read indeed... I found the intermittent cursing to be quite humorous. It's without a doubt - an entertaining, and mind boggling adventure. It makes you feel as if you're right in the classroom, getting smacked with Seung Sahn's stick.

I'd be lying if I said I was able to figure out the various kong-ans, but I'm sure I'm not the only one (I wish there were answers to these riddles, BUT that's probably asking for way too much). However, I did notice that even though I didn't understand the kong-ans that certain things did make more sense as the chapters went on... So, by the end of the book, you have a slightly better understanding than you did at the beginning. This book definitely needs to be reread. Some stories are just plain funny, some are puzzling, and some have a story to tell. *It seems that every other page someone is getting hit hard, hahaha... It's a good thing that hitting is a sign of affection from student to teacher. I've never read a book even close to something like this - it makes you wonder how amazing this man was in person. I subsequently purchased another book from Soen-sa, "Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake". I want to see how this one fares as well.

I'm hesitant to take a stab at this BUT, if I had to write something that I learned through these pages:

Naturally scriptures, holy reading and their corresponding history are very important (so is growing up and learning all the necessary skills we need to survive in this crazy world). Additionally vital is at some point in our life, we have to stop thinking we know everything. Human beings today are at a point where we just think our way through life. We think we have an explanation for everything --- I think, I think, I think.... We forget our true nature of just feeling or experiencing `things as it is'. Instead of simply experiencing something right in front of our eyes --- we sit, stare, try to break it down and explain it all... With all of this going on, we fail to realize that this precious moment is fleeing from us... What should we do? We must drop everything - `put it all down' and realize these things staring us in the face, every second of every day. We have to lose our overactive mind, and just see with our eyes what is in front of us - appreciate it for what it is, and experience it for all it has to offer...

I can honestly say that after reading this book: what I thought I knew - I DON'T KNOW...

55 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mark Sillman

His first and best - a unique book

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Echoing many other reviewers: this book is great. It's funny, it's. serious. It's the voice of a Korean Zen master who has just arrived in the US (written in 1977), just-learned English, who coins his own idioms to get things across. It does not at all read like a "spiritual" book, or like any other Zen book. It's as though the mind and spirit of Huck Finn were fused with a riddling chessmaster and used to present Zen.

When I first read this -in 1979 - it was like: I've never seen anything remotely like this. I had read 2 or 3 Zen books previously - they seemed interesting but "normal" - whereas this was anything but normal. Only decades later -helped by Seung Sahn's later "Compass of Zen" and some about the Chinese and Korean antecedents - do I see how this fits.

You can read this for the ideas, or the stories, or for the history (as a record of the arrival of a new religion from a very foreign shore). And for practise: his colorful:English expressions (only go straight-don't know) are like "seeds" for meditation, aids to "cut off all thinking". So I found this useful as a meditation guide even though it does not give anything like formal instruction (the group's web site does, though).

This is maybe more useful as a "second" book on eastern spirituality - after a "first" more conventional one. It also some tolerance for certain types of questions: when you see objects are they outside your mind or inside? (But these are meditation seeds, not philosophical treatises.). That's how I came to it - and found it fresh and compelling and unexpected.

22 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amy L Reese

In this world, but not of it.

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

Comprised of over a hundred personal letters, lectures, stories and anecdotes, this book is arranged in small chunks that make it easy to set aside, and then come back to later, or devour all at once.

'Dropping Ashes on the Buddha' gives an excellent description of Zen teaching, and the mindsets that come with different levels of understanding within the framework of Zen. It engages in active puzzle solving, using both ancient parables, humor and dharma speeches to convey how to use this puzzling to cut off thinking, and achieve a quieting of the mind. I give it five stars, because it gently explains, in plain English, some very subtle points of experience and understanding that have taken hundreds of masters many years to articulate. It is an enjoyable reading experience, despite the circular and repetitive nature of Zen teaching. I have read this book over and over, at different points in my life, and I have learned many things from it.

I would recommend this book to beginners interested in Zen, and to people who have followed the path for a very long time. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in what Zen has to offer insofar as peace and the prospect of letting go are concerned.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul S. Fratianni

Most Entertaining Book on Buddhism

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2007

Verified Purchase

This the most entertaining book on Buddhism I have every read. I found myself laughing quite a bit and breezed through the entire books with little effort.

This book does not espouse the conventional methods on obtain enlightenment instead takes a uniquely different approach. I highly recommend anyone interested in the subject to read this book, especially if previous attempts were stifled by weighty material.

Whatever the case I'm positive most people can get something from this book especially since it is couched in such an amusing way.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Greg Arruda

Great!

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2022

It's good, with many toeholds that

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Still reading it. I had heard through a podcast interview that this is one of the more accessible books on buddhism. It's good, with many toeholds that, if read carefully, can be picked out. I'm getting the feeling like this is one that will have to be read a few times to really allow the material to sink in. It's a good book and I'm very happy with my purchase.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Bernie Gourley

Lessons on ko-an and dharma combat from a Korean Zen teacher

Reviewed in India on July 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book’s one-hundred brief chapters mostly consist of interactions between the Korean Zen Buddhist teacher, Seung Sahn, and students of his. However, there are also some old Zen stories, and a few odds and ends: such as the transcript of a completely unproductive “dialogue” between Seung Sahn and a Hindu yogi. Some of the student-teacher interactions are epistolary, but others are face-to-face “dharma combat” or Q&A sessions (which also, ultimately, became dharma combat -- given Seung Sahn’s teaching methods.) Dharma combat is a dialogue that resembles Socratic dialogue except that the goal isn’t to use logic and sound reasoning to persuade another, but rather to demonstrate a lack of attachment and proclivity to overintellectualize. It involves a lot of seemingly nonsensical answers and occasional shouting and slapping / hitting. It sounds unproductive, but the objective is to break established cognitive modes and to induce epiphany, rather than to build a rational argument.

It’s a thought provoking and informative book, if a bit repetitive. Most of the conversation revolves around less than a dozen ko-an [kong-an in Korean,] which are questions or statements that’re intended to provoke a kind of realization rather than to produce a straightforward / rational answer. It’s not a problem that there’s repetition, as these aren’t straightforward ways of thinking, and oftentimes it takes many varied looks at a ko-an to grasp what’s being conveyed. That said, I felt this book could’ve used some editing to streamline the dialogue a bit to make it feel a bit less punitively redundant.

If you’re interested in ko-an and dharma combat, this is a great book to look into. However, if you’re familiar with many of the popular ko-an and Zen stories, it may feel a bit redundant.

One person found this helpful

Kasey

The Art of Zen and thinking outside of ourselves

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

I decided to order this book after hearing it recommended on Tim Ferris' podcast by one of his guests. I have always been interested in Zen and how we can control or at least bring our minds into a place of content.

This is a very easy to read book with short passages and has a sense of humour as it doesnt take itself too seriously. A great introduction to Zen but also something for the advanced Zen masters out there to read. Full of little nuggets of enlightenment.

9 people found this helpful

IDGS

which is kind of nice in a era of being spoonfed what to think ...

Reviewed in Canada on December 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was an interesting read, but you definitely have to 'work' for the lessons in it, which is kind of nice in a era of being spoonfed what to think and what to feel. I am not (or was not) familiar with zen practice or anything of the like, but was recommended this book in Tim Ferris' Tools of Titans. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone seeking to better themselves.

2 people found this helpful

Lena

Anders als andere Bücher

Reviewed in Germany on November 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

Normalerweise liebe ich Bücher, die auf den Punkt kommen und aussagekräftig sind. Dieses Buch hat mich jedoch erst frustriert, weil es absolut keine direkten Aussagen gibt, sondern (wie es vielleicht im Buddhismus auch ist) Denkanstöße um nicht zu denken. Aber empfehlenswert wenn man mal was anderes ausprobieren möchte als Ratgeber etc.

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

Michael Rhodes

Next - paradigm

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

Hilarious, gripping, hugely entertaining. A true glimpse into the mind of one of history's most eminent Zen teachers. If everyone on the planet read this book, and meditated for just fifteen minutes per day, there'd probably be world peace in less than a decade. This book, along with The Compass of Zen are the most enlightened books I've ever read. Eckhart Tolle's 'The Power of Now' comes a close second to these, in my opinion, followed by Scott Peck's 'The Road Less Travelled'.

3 people found this helpful

See more reviews

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $8.99$8.99 FREE delivery: Saturday, Aug 19 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Payment Secure transaction Ships from Amazon.com Sold by Amazon.com Returns Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Buy used: $7.24

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Authors

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn Paperback – February 18, 1994

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the authors

Seung Sahn

Stephen Mitchell

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$8.99

FREE delivery: Saturday, Aug 19 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Buy used:

$7.24