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Just be careful...Zen is a denomination of buddhism, not buddhism itself. And it's a fairly radical denomination at that.
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I'm not sure why you would say that. First of all, Zen most certainly IS Buddhism, not just a denomination. I've been studying Buddhism for several years now, and have come to Zen Buddhism as the form that made the most intuitive sense to me. Nothing at all is radical about it. It is just a different path to get to the same goal. Specifically Zen concentrates on reaching enlightenment through meditation and koans. One of the most famous koans being, "what is the sound of one hand clapping", just as an example. There are several schools of Buddhism, originating from various different areas of the world, all with the same goals, but some differences in methods. There is absolutely nothing radical about Zen Buddhism, unless you think that Buddhism is radical to begin with.
Anyway, now that I've got that off my chest... I have to second the recommendation for the book "Three pillars of Zen" by Kapleau. This is the book that finally made me feel like I was a step closer to practicing all this nonsense. I've shared this book with several friends, all who have told me that they really were able to get something from it. I can't recommend it enough.