The Way to Zen

New York: Pantheon, 1957.

First American Edition, second printing (five months after the first). Original black cloth with two Chinese characters in gilt to front, title lettering to spine, binding tight and square, contemporary owner inscription to first free endpaper with 1958 date. With the unclipped dust-jacket (showing publisher's price of $4.95 at front flap) Pages lightly toned with a small stain at the head of fly-leaf. Jacket slighty stained and nicked but nothing missing. A VG+ copy. Important work on Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy by the British philosopher and religious scholar Alan Watts. It played a major role in introducing Buddhism to a young, Western audience. The work is divided into two sections, the first deals with the background and historical development of Zen Buddhism, while the second focuses on its principles and practices. Watts traces the origin of Zen Buddhism to a synthesis of Chinese Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism and introduces the reader to a variety of Eastern philosophical concepts such as Wuwei, Middle Way and Anatman.