#262 / Crooked Cucumber

Pictured is Shunryu Suzuki, a Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, and who founded the San Francisco Zen Center.

A book about Suzuki's life and Zen teachings, called Crooked Cucumber, is an affecting biography, and a kind of easy introduction to the practice and teachings of Zen Buddhism.

The book is also an interesting history of the San Francisco Zen Center and its outpost retreat, the Tassajara Training Center in Big Sur.

I recommend it.