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

Yes, you will find some repetition in this book- it builds it's way with more and more insight with each letter. The reason WHY Seung Sahn tends to repeat some of the same teachings over and over is because they are the most crucial in understanding your true self. And if people who have heard it before are still at your feet, it's not your fault for telling them "I already told you this." Broken records are good, that way it not only "sinks it's way in', but it has a way of beginning to cut through your "normal" processes of thinking. Then you can say "Aha!" But not to worry, the repetition is not severe. Where he does repeat himself, he almost always adds some new "twist", a tiny bit more insight, a little glimpse-into the truth to which it points.

He speaks often of "before thinking mind", "only like this", "same or different", "only don't know"-read this book and you will feel a few steps closer to seeing everything "just like this". Then, no more opposites, outside becomes inside and BOOM!-clear like space. But all of this said, this book will not do much for you if you are not practicing, other than formulate more ideas in your "on top of your neck" mind, and not the mind which should be stored in your tantien-through practice. So Zen Master Seung Sahn is a prolific teacher of the Dharma, the 78th Zen Patriarch in lineage to Bodhidharma himself, and a Zen master who needs no credentials once you hear him teach! So enjoy this book, you deserve to find out...

As far as Zen books go, it's good teaching with very little obscure dharma language. His talent was talking about Zen in a way non-scholarly Americans could understand and apply to their own lives. It's a lively collection of letters from a wide spectrum of students: from the sincere to the smart-aleck to the earnest and to the clueless. The teacher meets them all on their level, sometimes with very long letters including stories and koans.

Due to his concentrated, concise teaching style, the reader may find the letters repetitive. (When asked why he says the same thing over and over again, he has replied, "Did you hear it?") Some of the student letters may wear out their welcome, but they belong with the responses. Bear with it: there is good teaching throughout.