Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors

Reviewed by Stephanie Lawson

Zen Stories to tell your neighbors is a collection of around 55 short stories from the Orient, mostly Zen and Taoist tales. The site is created by John Suler, who is a clinical psychologist at Rider University. This is a privately owned site which was created out of personal interest and the desire for others to enjoy and share the stories themselves. It is stated that the stories have been collected from a variety of Zen books however; the site does not include background of any of the stories or their original source. One unique feature of the site is that the author includes reader’s thoughts to the end of each story. This allows you to see how the stories can be interpreted by others. Links are provided that gives background on the creation of the site and reasons to tell Zen stories. Other links include personal and professional information about the author, incoming mail and FAQs, Westerner’s views of the stories and a presentation created by John Suler entitled, “What is Self?” The page itself is copyrighted but a link is provided to help share the stories with others. The copyright date is 1997 but no other information is given to when the site was last revised. The site appears to be intended for adults. The design of the site is excellent. It is very attractive and very easy to read and navigate. All links work properly. The site also has received many awards including Suite101.com Top 5 Web Sites, Castle Net’s Bookmark for November 1996, and Eye on the Web Selected Site Award.