This classic work consists of various literary materials relating to living the Zen life. First published in 1934 by the noted Zen practitioner D. T. Suzuki, it as a group of works having to do with, "what the Zen monk reads before the Buddha in his daily service, where his thoughts move in his leisure hours, and what objects of worship he has in the different quarters of his institution."

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) was a Japanese author and translator of numerous works related to Buddhism in general and Zen in particular, and unquestionably a successful popularizer of Zen thought in the West. He was also a complex character; professor, linguist, Theosophist, and – in 1963 – nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.