Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals 1969-1982 (Shambhala Dragon Editions) | 
| Author: Peter Matthiessen
Publisher: Shambhala
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 323997
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1570623678
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781570623677
ASIN: 1570623678
Publication Date: April 28, 1998
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Product Description
In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway?guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling The Snow Leopard, Nine-Headed Dragon River reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Unsettled Memories January 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read Nine-Headed Dragon River maybe 17 years ago. At the time I had no Zen experience, in fact I had almost no familiarity with Zen at all. But I'd loved every other Matthiessen book I'd read, and there were at least half a dozen of them. After scanning the reviews here, I'm tempted to return and reread it. In my initial encounter, however, the book seemed incomprehensible and uncontrolled. It felt random, scattered, almost as if pages and paragraphs had been torn at random from notebooks and assembled using some incomprhensible John Cage algorithm. Even today, recalling the unsettling and disturbing feelings it generated, I remember fearing that perhaps PM had lost his grip. Nine-Headed Dragon River is certainly not for everybody.
 "Do not be amazed by the true dragon."---Dogen September 12, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Peter Muryo Matthiessen is an eclectic man. Best known for his lyrical prose classic THE SNOW LEOPARD (excerpts from which make up the central portion of this book), Matthiessen has founded a well-known magazine ("The Paris Review") written fiction (AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD, FAR TORTUGA), and on such varied non-fiction subjects as Great White Sharks (BLUE MERIDIAN, the inspiration for JAWS), Native American issues (IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE), East African conservation (THE TREE WHERE MAN WAS BORN), Long Island fishermen (MEN'S LIVES), and on the art of authorship itself in ZEN AND THE WRITING LIFE.
NINE-HEADED DRAGON RIVER (the title comes from the eponymous river in Japan, the site of a major Zen monastery) is the record of Matthiessen's exploration of, and inner journey toward, Zen Buddhism, a journey which began in earnest after the death of his wife Deborah Love, from cancer in the early 1970s.
Divided chronologically into three sections, "Rinzai Journals," "Excerpts from THE SNOW LEOPARD," and "Soto Journals" (Rinzai and Soto being the preeminent sects of Zen), NINE-HEADED DRAGON RIVER is an intensely personal document which also reflects the variegated mind of it's creator.
In "Rinzai Journals," Matthiessen discusses both his emotional travail at the lingering death of his wife and the increasing role that Zen played in his life at this time under the tutelage of Eido-roshi, and other teachers. Although Matthiessen and Eido-roshi eventually parted ways, Matthiessen refuses to indulge the muddy mundane, and intelligently avoids demeaning either his teacher or his spiritual experience by discussing the reasons why. By neither treating anybody like holy men or dismissing them as charlatans, thankfully Matthiessen leaves the reader with an unprejudiced and untainted view of Zen.
Matthiessen spends much time discussing the evolution of American Zen, from its roots in the early twentieth century, through 1950s Beat Zen, and beyond. This reviewer found it interesting that although Matthiessen had direct contact with many of the major figures of American Zen, he never mentions Alan Watts, a major writer on Zen subjects, by name---though he does mildly but pointedly deride self-seeking popularizers, an accusation often flung at Watts in his lifetime.
"Excerpts from THE SNOW LEOPARD" are diary entries from the time of Matthiessen's walking trek to a remote Buddhist lamasery on the far side of the Himalayas. The writing here is simply luminescent. The reader is referred to THE SNOW LEOPARD in its unabridged version for a fuller experience.
"Soto Journals" is ostensibly about Matthiessen's travels to Japan, his energetic pupilage under Taizan Maezumi-roshi (where again, Matthiessen focuses his attention on the positive, eschewing a discussion of the details of Maezumi's sadly untimely death) and Bernard Tetsugen Glassman-roshi, as well as his meetings with various other Zen roshis at numerous monasteries. "Soto Journals" is also a recounting of the history of Zen as a school of thought and a discussion of its exponents, particularly Eihei Dogen (c. 13th century) who developed zazen (sitting meditation) into the art form that is so central to Zen practice.
Both the dedicated practitioner and the Zen-curious need to read NINE-HEADED DRAGON RIVER, which has been called the best book available on American Zen, and comes highly recommended by this reviewer.
Peter Matthiessen is presently roshi at the Ocean Zendo in Sagaponack, New York, and Senior teacher at the Southern Palm Zendo in Boca Raton, Florida, both Zendos of the White Plum Lineage under Maezumi (1931-1995), Matthiessen having become a major exponent of Zen himself.
 Universality Particularized March 14, 2004
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
While the book is organized for the most part chronologically, I have enlisted three major themes
-Matthiesen's personal spiritual quest
-Matthiesen's first-hand experience of formal Zen teachings
-A brief historical biography of past Zen mastersMatthiensen's long road to being a Buddhist monk takes him through many trials and tribulations and sometimes mixed with a sense of relief and surprise. In summary, it delves into the greater purpose of spiritualism for humanity: the particularity of the quest, coupled with universality of the discipline, notwithstanding the appreciation of the ordinary. In the beginning days of his interest in Zen culture, Matthiesen sought to question the western ways of knowing i.e. knowledge as an accumulation of thought and analysis. Instead he was impressed with the Zen way of knowing (or rather `not-knowing'). From these humble beginnings, Matthiesens's immersion into Zen culture did not occur fully until a personal tragedy (the death of his wife) made him see things differently. During these times Zen provided a vehicle for his personal spiritual journey. At times Matthiesen aligns his personal quest with literal Zen teaching and in some parts of the chapter he alludes to a much broader connotation of spirituality -- that goes beyond personal search to include collective consciousness. During his days at the dragon river, Matthiensen gets to know first-hand experience of Zen studentship. Such experiences are not always pleasant. In the act of attaining concentration and bliss he seems to be constantly battling with selfish thoughts and the prejudices of the ego. The last two or three chapters provide a brief historical biography of various Zen teachers starting from 12th century. The purpose is perhaps to enlighten the western reader about the roots and depth of Zen culture. Being a Buddhist monk, this could also be seen as a way to trace his own genealogy in the myriads of Buddhist teachers and a way to assure the perpetuality of Zen culture.
Simply the Best Book on Zen Buddhism February 1, 2003
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I believe this work by Matthiessen is simply the best written, most accessible and enlightening work on Zen Buddhism out there. For those who disagree, please post your own recommendation. It's a huge challenge (if not a Mission Impossible) to write a powerful, poetic and insightful autobiography on Zen Buddhism. We are very fortunate to have someone of Matthiessen's genius to introduce Zen to the Western world in a such powerful way. I am very grateful to the author for this treasure of a book.
Clear and compelling - a must buy June 5, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Matthiessen's prose is clear and his story compelling. His Zen journals, from 1969 to 1982, tell the story of his Zen journey, without any of what the author might describe as, the breathless prose of the sincere seeker, but with great humility, depth, simplicity and beauty. Whether you like biograpy, travel books, or are interested in Zen or Buddhism, do yourself a favour and buy this book.
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