First a disclosure: I’m a friend of the author’s. But I will give you an honest report, as is appropriate for a book about a way of sincerity. This is a book about Tim Burkett’s life on the path of Zen Buddhism as it illuminates the path for others to learn from. The book mixes copious and wonderful stories from his experiences with his famous teacher, Suzuki Roshi, from Tim’s own life as a Zen student and teacher, and from the Buddhist and allied traditions to create a well-woven narrative that is simultaneously teaching, autobiography, and remembrance of another.

I’m not a Zen adherent so there are aspects of the book that I didn’t resonate with. But nonetheless I felt myself elated to be reading it. Mainly it was because as I read the first few chapters I felt like I was reading a book unlike any I had read before. In fact, it wasn’t that the book was so unique—in it’s themes, say—but that reading it didn’t feel like reading a book at all. It felt like a direct encounter with a person. The book is the testament of someone who has digested a way of life so thoroughly that there feels like little Zen teaching in it that isn’t carried in Tim’s own voice and personality. You sense—though it’s embarrassing to even say it outright—an achievement of a life. And it was immensely refreshing and heartening to bear witness to it.

It’s also an achievement of an editor. The three themes are woven beautifully together so that the multiple purposes of the book are in harmony with each other pretty near completely.

These are the pleasures that readers will derive. In addition, it is a very penetrating presentation of the Zen way, particularly in a contemporary American context. I think both Zen students and those unfamiliar with Zen will learn a great deal from this book.

This book reads with the intimacy of memoir, its voice clear, forthright, and wise—easy to trust. Burkett seamlessly intertwines his teachers’ lives and teachings with his own experiences developing a lifelong meditation practice and becoming a teacher himself. In so doing, he provides a kind of emotional path, or map, which allows me to identify my own spiritual longing, and find out what to do about it. A wonderful read, an enduring impact.

Nothing Holy about It, is a wonderful book. It is well written, with humor and compassion. Tim Burkett makes meditation sound doable and accessible to all who are interested. Learning the Zen of Being Just who you are is a concept touching us all, Tim gives us steps to do so.

Funny, tender, wise, interesting, and so helpful! This is a book that you can read from front to back, but you don’t have to. Short chapters stand on their own like little short stories or dharma talks, so you can pick it up when you just have a minute and want to feel rejuvinated. When I first picked up this book, it opened to a piece of wisdom that was uncannily poignant and shifted my day. This is one that I will keep accessible and read many times over.

 May 10, 2015 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book falls into the genre of what I call “Zen Upper Rooms”‘, named for the Upper Room devotion-a-day booklets distributed at many Christian churches … short chapters that work well for one-a-day reading. What distnguishes this one are the poignant reminiscences of the author about his teacher, the American Zen pioneer Shunryu Suzuki, and life in one of the earliest U.S. Zen communities in San Francisco during the late 1960s. Could have been just a random collection of anecdotes and stories, but well-organized, warmly written, and inspiring. Will stand up very well to periodic re-reads over time, as the best of books in this genre tend to do.