The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom

by Dean Sluyter

Overview

The Ten Commandments tell us how to behave, but they don't say much about the inner awareness from which outer behavior springs. Do the right thing, of course— but better yet, find your inner light and doing the right thing becomes as natural as breathing. THE ZEN COMMANDMENTS offers ten powerful nudges toward that light.

Drawing on sources from Zen stories and the Bible to jazz and rock 'n' roll, from American movies to Tibetan meditative techniques, Dean Sluyter steers clear of dogma and emphasizes what works— a sort of spiritual street smarts. He shows that the state of boundless freedom and happiness isn't something distant or exotic, but is right here, while you're stuck in traffic or taking out the trash. And revisiting the Ten Commandments, he shows how on a deeper level they offer some surprising enlightenment wisdom of their own.

“The book is extremely well written and joyously entertaining.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“With sparkling clarity and wit, Sluyter's ten suggestions lay out the practical essentials of the path. My suggestion is: listen to this guy.”
—Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within
 
“Dean Sluyter clearly presents simple but profound ways to live one's life consciously and skillfully. He teaches that the source of universal truth not only rests in the heart of every one of us, but is the essence of what ultimately brings us true happiness and freedom. This is a wonderful book with rich wisdom and deep insight.”
—Rabbi David Cooper, author of God Is a Verb
 
“No matter what your religion (or lack of it), this book shows how to live the kind of life people ache for. It turns out to be pretty simple.”
—Jane Cavolina, co-author of Growing Up Catholic

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585420841
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/19/2001
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	650,674
Product dimensions:	5.46(w) x 8.21(h) x 0.59(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dean Sluyter has taught literature and led meditation workshops for more than twenty years. He currently teaches at a private school in New Jersey.

Table of Contents

What It's All About
1. Rest in Openness
2. Act with Kindness
3. Notice the Moment
4. Recognize Teachers
5. Keep It Simple
6. Be Devoted
7. No Appointment, No Disappointment
8. Bless Everyone
9. Connect the Dots
10. Be a Mensch and Enjoy the JokeAppendix: Attention! At Ease!
Selected Bibliography
 

What People are Saying About This

Rabi David Cooper

Dean Sluyter clearly presents simple but profound ways to live one's life consciously and skillfully. He teaches that the source of universal truth not only rests in the heart of every one of us, but is the essence of what ultimately brings us true happiness and freedom. This is a wonderful book with rich wisdom and deep insight.(Rabbi David Cooper, author of God Is a Verb)

Jane Cavolina

No matter what your religion (or lack of it), this book shows how to live the kind of life people ache for. It turns out to be pretty simple.(Jane Cavolina, co-author of Growing Up Catholic)

Lama Surya Das

With sparkling clarity and wit, Sluyter's ten suggestions lay out the practical essentials of the path. My suggestion is: listen to this guy.(Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within)

From the Publisher

Praise for THE ZEN COMMANDMENTS:
 
“The book is extremely well written and joyously entertaining.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“With sparkling clarity and wit, Sluyter's ten suggestions lay out the practical essentials of the path. My suggestion is: listen to this guy.”
—Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within
 
“Dean Sluyter clearly presents simple but profound ways to live one's life consciously and skillfully. He teaches that the source of universal truth not only rests in the heart of every one of us, but is the essence of what ultimately brings us true happiness and freedom. This is a wonderful book with rich wisdom and deep insight.”
—Rabbi David Cooper, author of God Is a Verb
 
“No matter what your religion (or lack of it), this book shows how to live the kind of life people ache for. It turns out to be pretty simple.”
—Jane Cavolina, co-author of Growing Up Catholic
 
Praise for CINEMA NIRVANA:
 
“Equal parts inspiring, quirky, fascinating, and fun … CINEMA NIRVANA will make you look at film and faith in a new light.”
– DALLAS MORNING NEWS

 “Sluyter is the movie guru I have longed for. He mines deep spiritual wisdom from classic films with tremendous humor and grace. Virtually every page contains jaw-dropping insights and laugh-out-loud surprises.”
–Lama John Makransky, Prof. of Buddhism and Comparative Theology, Boston College

“Dean Sluyter has one of the freshest voices in spiritual writing today. From the common ore of pop culture he extracts the gleaming diamonds of dharma-wisdom. Take this jolly ride with him and you'll never see movies — or your own life — in the same way again.”
–Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

“Entertaining and thoughtful in turn, Cinema Nirvana compels you to watch the movies in the way a buddha might see them.”
–Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs

“If you spliced together DNA from Quentin Tarantino and the Dalai Lama, you'd get Dean Sluyter and he'd write this amazing book.”
–Michael Gelb, author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

“From its opening title straight on to its finale, Cinema Nirvana is original, amusing, and on the ball. It will help you stay awake at the movies and dream more in real life.”
–Kate Wheeler, author of Not Where I Started From

“Dean Sluyter's Cinema Nirvana is flat-out brilliant. I have lived with these classic movies and these core teachings my whole adult life, yet I constantly felt blown away by the freshness and richness of the dharmic connections Dean perceives in every scene.”
–Lewis Richmond, author of Work as a Spiritual Practice

Editorial Reviews

Praise for THE ZEN COMMANDMENTS:
 
“The book is extremely well written and joyously entertaining.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“With sparkling clarity and wit, Sluyter's ten suggestions lay out the practical essentials of the path. My suggestion is: listen to this guy.”
—Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within
 
“Dean Sluyter clearly presents simple but profound ways to live one's life consciously and skillfully. He teaches that the source of universal truth not only rests in the heart of every one of us, but is the essence of what ultimately brings us true happiness and freedom. This is a wonderful book with rich wisdom and deep insight.”
—Rabbi David Cooper, author of God Is a Verb
 
“No matter what your religion (or lack of it), this book shows how to live the kind of life people ache for. It turns out to be pretty simple.”
—Jane Cavolina, co-author of Growing Up Catholic
 
Praise for CINEMA NIRVANA:
 
“Equal parts inspiring, quirky, fascinating, and fun … CINEMA NIRVANA will make you look at film and faith in a new light.”
– DALLAS MORNING NEWS

 “Sluyter is the movie guru I have longed for. He mines deep spiritual wisdom from classic films with tremendous humor and grace. Virtually every page contains jaw-dropping insights and laugh-out-loud surprises.”
–Lama John Makransky, Prof. of Buddhism and Comparative Theology, Boston College

“Dean Sluyter has one of the freshest voices in spiritual writing today. From the common ore of pop culture he extracts the gleaming diamonds of dharma-wisdom. Take this jolly ride with him and you'll never see movies — or your own life — in the same way again.”
–Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

“Entertaining and thoughtful in turn, Cinema Nirvana compels you to watch the movies in the way a buddha might see them.”
–Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs

“If you spliced together DNA from Quentin Tarantino and the Dalai Lama, you'd get Dean Sluyter and he'd write this amazing book.”
–Michael Gelb, author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

“From its opening title straight on to its finale, Cinema Nirvana is original, amusing, and on the ball. It will help you stay awake at the movies and dream more in real life.”
–Kate Wheeler, author of Not Where I Started From

“Dean Sluyter's Cinema Nirvana is flat-out brilliant. I have lived with these classic movies and these core teachings my whole adult life, yet I constantly felt blown away by the freshness and richness of the dharmic connections Dean perceives in every scene.”
–Lewis Richmond, author of Work as a Spiritual Practice

From the Publisher

Meditation teacher Sluyter (Why the Chicken Crossed the Road and Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings) draws 10 life "suggestions" from the world's religions, scriptures, philosophers, literature and popular culture (in his words, "any tradition that promotes compassionate outer behavior and enlightened inner awareness"). Sluyter's suggestions involve acting with kindness, noticing the moment, keeping things simple, blessing others and remaining devoted. His sources include Jesus and the Dalai Lama, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bob Dylan, Monty Python and Ramana Maharshi, the Wizard of Oz and the Prajnaparamita Sutra. The strength of this eclecticism is that the book is extremely well written and joyously entertaining; its weakness is that in finding the commonalties among so many different perspectives, Sluyter omits much of the background that makes those perspectives uniquely true. This approach may be downright jarring to someone who regards a particular belief system seriously. Sluyter's point--that we often make life too complex when we really need to just relax and be--is a simple one, as are pithy maxims such as "No Appointment, No Disappointment." For those who find simplicity hard to attain, his chapters also include exercises in meditation. The book enthusiastically suggests that readers experiment and adhere to anything that works for them "as if your life depended on it," because, according to Sluyter, it actually does. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly