The secrets for how to live a happy, enlightened life from three charming Buddhist monks and Toshio Suzuki, the Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli producer behind internationally beloved and acclaimed films including Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Boy and the Heron. One visionary filmmaker. Three Buddhist monks. Countless life-changing lessons. How do we live now? In Zen and Ghibli, legendary Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki embarks on an intellectual journey with three leading Buddhist monks--Sokyu Gen'yu, Nanrei Yokota, and Shinsuke Hosokawa--to explore Zen themes woven into the universally treasured Ghibli films. In ways unpredictable and delightful, life-changing lessons are revealed, such as:
From the skill of embodying nothingness as a form of worry relief, to why Kiki's black cat Jiji stopped talking, each conversation gradually reveals a basic principle that lies at the very heart of Zen Buddhism and Studio Ghibli--that we, and our world, are worth fighting for. Beautifully illustrated with Japanese artwork and stills from these iconic films, Zen and Ghibli is at once a charming antidote for our times and a fascinating glimpse into the magic of Studio Ghibli that has shaped fans for over forty years.
- zazen, redirecting our focus inward (Kiki's Delivery Service)
- kunjū, learning through observation (The Wind Rises)
- fushiki, strength in not knowing (Princess Mononoke)
- furyū monji, how to convey feelings that cannot be expressed into words (Howl's Moving Castle)
From the skill of embodying nothingness as a form of worry relief, to why Kiki's black cat Jiji stopped talking, each conversation gradually reveals a basic principle that lies at the very heart of Zen Buddhism and Studio Ghibli--that we, and our world, are worth fighting for. Beautifully illustrated with Japanese artwork and stills from these iconic films, Zen and Ghibli is at once a charming antidote for our times and a fascinating glimpse into the magic of Studio Ghibli that has shaped fans for over forty years.