Review of The Zen of Jesus Christ

[Salome Ogani]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Zen of Jesus Christ" by Carlos O. Santacruz.]

---

5 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

I never thought that Jesus and his teaching could be placed side by side with that of Buddha. In The Zen of Jesus Christ: Discerning the Kingdom of the Tao with the Dragon Eye of Zen by Carlos O. Santacruz, the author shares different things that Jesus said and then their zen equivalent. That author also goes ahead to leave a commentary on each of them.

When I first picked up this book, I was skeptical. The idea of comparing Jesus' teachings to those of Buddha seemed far-fetched, but as I read it, I was captivated by the author's unique approach. The book's structure is both simple and deep. It presents selected sayings of Jesus, each carefully paired with a corresponding Zen teaching. This side-by-side comparison reveals surprising parallels between two spiritual traditions I had always considered worlds apart. According to the author, Jesus and Buddha are riding the same horse when viewed with a third eye.
 
I loved this book's cover page. It is an image of Jesus and Buddha facing each other. I wanted to know what the book contained. According to the author,  Jesus was the first "Zen master of the West." There are new things that I learned while reading the book that I never knew that Jesus said, like the thing about every female that makes herself male (not in a transgender context). I also enjoyed the Jesus and Buddha stories that the author shared; for instance, the story of the rich man, which is equivalent to the monk who began a long pilgrimage in search of the Buddha. 

There is one thing I disliked about the book, though. I would have liked it if the author had included the Bible verses or texts from which these sayings from Jesus were taken. That way, it would have made it easy for me to reference those scriptures as I read the book. For the zen equivalent, the author sometimes shared people that the comment was from, such as Ying An, Yao Ping, Chomei, etc. Hence, looking up the sources of the zen equivalences was easy for me, but finding where Jesus said the things he said was not that easy because they were not mentioned. This negative aspect is, however, minor, and it does not affect my rating. Hence, I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend this book to anyone who likes books of wisdom and enlightenment teaching. Finally, the book was exceptionally well edited.

******
The Zen of Jesus Christ
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords

[Enkay Favour]

The concept of aligning Jesus’ teachings with Zen philosophy is intriguing and challenges traditional perspectives. It seems like a thought-provoking exploration of spiritual parallels that could offer new insights into both traditions. The idea of Jesus as a “Zen master of the West” is particularly compelling.