| Rethinking the Role of Thought in Zen — A Groundbreaking Book Arrives Spring 2026 Zen Master Yueh Shan & Thinking’s Bad Rap: A Practitioner’s Guide by Rev. Seiso Paul Cooper, Ph.D. |
| ORDER NOW! Just released THINKING’S BAD RAP! (Hohm Press 2026). It’s already stirring conversation among Zen teachers, students, and practitioners alike. For decades, Zen has been mischaracterized as a war on thought. But what if that view is not only inaccurate, but spiritually harmful? In this bold and practical guide, Soto Zen priest and teacher Seiso Paul Cooper reclaims the dignity of thinking within meditation practice. Drawing on the cryptic encounter of Chinese master Yueh Shan and the radical non-dualism of Eihei Dōgen, THINKING’S BAD RAP! clears a path for practitioners to embrace shikantaza (just sitting) without battling the mind. You’ll learn: Why “no-thought” is a myth—and what Dōgen actually taught; How to sit with thoughts instead of trying to stop them; How clarity, freedom, and realization emerge when we stop making thinking the enemy. Whether you’re a longtime Zen student or new to practice, this book offers a fresh, freeing perspective on meditation, mind, and awakening. Advance review copies are now available. Booksellers and sanghas can pre-order now for Spring 2026 delivery. Let your sangha know: the countdown has begun. Seiso Paul Cooper is an ordained Soto Zen priest and transmitted teacher in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri, and currently leads the Barre Zen Meditation Center in Vermont. We hope this work supports your Dharma practice. Please contact us if you or your sangha may be interested in sharing the book or receiving an advance copy for review. The Reviews Are In For Zen Master Yueh Shan & Thinking’s Bad Rap: A Practitioner’s Guide “This is a fan letter to tell you that I really like your book “Thinking’s Bad Rap.” Your way of exploring Hishiryo, Shiryo and Fushiryō is exactly the kind of exposition that I enjoy. I got a lot out of your book, and the ideas you offered opened up new avenues in my study of Dōgen.” ~Rev. Shinshu Roberts, Author: Being-time and Meeting the Myriad Things “Zen teacher Seiso Paul Cooper has written a beautiful book — a needed corrective to the dualistic ideas that have sprung up in popular culture deriding thinking. Because everything is the Buddha Dharma, thinking can be viewed as one of the many ways of understanding our true nature, along with emotions, sensations and sense perceptions. Seiso Rōshi’s book provides a rationale for including everything that we experience in our Zen practice.” ~Melissa Myōzen Blacker, Rōshi, Guiding Teacher, Boundless Way Zen Temple I’m excited about this book, Zen Master Yueh Shan & Thinking’s Bad Rap. I spent many miserable years at war with my busy mind before I said f**k that, I’m going to do what the masters actually tell us to do. Anyway, do you know if there will be an electronic (preferably kindle) version of this book available? That’s generally how I manage to do my reading (having the Kindle assistive reader read it out loud to me while I’m doing my morning yoga.) Bows, — Domyo Burke, Zen Studies Podcast “Seiso Paul Cooper’s latest contribution, Zen Master Yueh Shan & Thinking’s Bad Rap, points to the importance of intense presence without sticking to conceptual knowing. Through his practice of psychoanalysis and his Zen understanding he brings to life the wise expression “Not knowing is most intimate.” This paradoxical wisdom applies to Zen practice and Bion’s psychoanalytic approach. Letting go of conceptual thought allows for the deepest connection.” ~Grace Schireson, Ph.D. Zen priest, and clinical psychologist. “Seiso Cooper’s new book on “thinking’s bad rap” offers a scholarly corrective to what the Rinzai master Hakuin saw as the “do-nothing” school, as well as to the “think-nothing” tendency in some teachings, which Cooper exposes as the intellectual equivalent of puritanical tendencies to eradicate physical urges: purifying mind instead of purifying body. There are even those who misinterpret Kodo Sawaki’s saying that “all the sutras and commentaries are only a footnote to zazen” as encouraging us to “read nothing.” Cooper gives us the “exclude nothing” alternative—for he gets us thinking while encouraging us to get to nonthinking—in the spirit of Dogen’s non-dualistic practice-realization, shikantaza.” ~ Richard Reishin Collins, author of No Fear Zen. “Seiso invites us to enter the vital center of the teaching, of Shikantaza; and for those who practice and study the Way, I strongly recommend them to read and study this deep and important work. Beyond the word, beyond the mind.” ~Philippe Rei Ryu Coupey, ~ Author, In the Belly of the Dragon. Paris “Seiso Paul Cooper’s long history of research, practice, teaching, and writing have culminated in a work of great lucidity and utility, Zen Master Yueh Shan and Thinking’s Bad Rap: A Practitioner’s Guide. … Seiso gives the reader and practitioner a feel for the actual experience of hishiryo and its importance as a fundamental, non-dualistic doorway into zazen on the cushion and in human life. . . . He moves between dense explanation and personal description in a way that keeps the reader anchored and deepening continuously. Ultimately, we return to experience in the moment, and he gives practical meditation advice that accords with the deepest and finest of Zen principles, helping practitioners to “simply abide in the dharma position of your uniqueness as you are.” This book is a welcome addition to the field of Zen or Buddhist discourse, bringing together views, opening views, and gracefully cultivating a view that allows for genuine experience.” ~Beth Jacobs, Ph.D. author: The Original Buddhist Psychology, A Buddhist Journal, and Luminous Loves Gray: poetry. |
Barre Zen Meditation Center Kokyoji, (Eternal Mirror Temple) 