"Brenda Eshin Shoshanna's book - Zen Play, is a brilliant gem, the graceand precision of turning problems into koans keeps us spellbound. Koans like,"Find Your Precious Jewel," remind us to stop looking outside for what can onlybe found within. And, "Drink A Cup of Green Tea", restores us to beautifulsimplicity and clarity, which ignites our spirit of aliveness. I've read itfrom the first page to the last, love it and highly recommend it." --Michio J. Rolek, Author, LifeCoach, Great granddaughter of Sokei-an Shigestsu Sassaki, First Zen Patriarchin the West. "Brenda Shoshanna is one of the most innovative and provocative Buddhistthinkers in the United States today. In Zen Play, she provides a compelling newapproach to traditional koan study--one that offers the reader the opportunityto turn his or her whole life into a koan. Written in a simple yet evocativestyle and filled with timeless wisdom, Zen Play is a work that will appeal to bothnewcomers to Zen thought as well as those seeking to deepen their understandingof koan practice. --Michael S. Russo, Ph.D. Professorof Philosophy, Molloy College "The need to help others transform their suffering doesn't come to everyone.Brenda Shoshanna has proven it time and again, with compassion and clarity, walkingwith so many. Zen Play, Instructions on Becoming Fully Alive, offers the readera way to wake up and to love." --Danny Eglowitz, CASAC, DynamicYouth Community “Brenda's Zen work is a good place to begin, to begin again and to never finish. Those searching for the "Way" will find there is no such thing. But much more, Brenda's book is delightful. Those suffering from "frozen attention" will laugh at ourselves." --Fr. Robert Kennedy, Roshi. Founder, Morningstar Zen. Life presents inscrutable challenges daily that are impossible to figure out. In the world of Zen, these ancient dilemmas and questions were called koans. They cannot be answered in the usual way. And yet a response must be made! Your very life depends on it. ZEN PLAY connects these ancient koans with your everyday life. It shows how daily dilemmas are none other than koans that life is presenting to you now. In the book you will discover the Zen way of working with koans, and how to approach your challenges that way as well. As you stop trying to figure things out and jump into Zen Play you will gain access to the enormous riches, wisdom and joy within. Then what you have previously viewed as a problem will become an adventure, bringing aliveness and strength. Along with anecdotes and discussion, there are specific guidelines and enjoyable exercises which allows you to apply the material directly to your everyday life. Written by a psychologist, and long term Zen practitioner Zen Play presents a new path, offering the power of simple moments.

In the midst of our busy activity, people often feel fragmented. We experience conflicting demands from our work, our personal relationships, our families, and our spiritual practice. In this book, the author, a practicing psychotherapist, explores the challenges and joys of making our life into a coherent whole. Psychotherapy addresses a sense of fragmentation in an effort to help us be uniquely ourselves. Zen Buddhist practice insists we find ourselves on every moment of our lives; it speaks to the basic connectedness of all things. This book attempts to integrate the two. Each chapter examines some aspect of sewing together the practice of Zen with the realization of psychotherapy, and its implications for daily life. Though there is a logical progression to the chapters, each chapter can be read on its own if the reader is interested in how a particular text might inform their psychotherapy or life circumstances. Through the stories of his clients' and his own difficulties and discoveries, the author invites each reader to actualize the fundamental point: to realize the joy and compassion that comes when we touch the basic ground of life, and put it into play in our everyday activity.

FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Explains how to apply Zen principles to create and maintain loving relationships, outlining thirteen essential practices that offer advice on how to overcome such challenges as miscommunication, insecurity, and jealousy.

Zen is another name for meditation. The word zen comes from the Sanskrit root dhyan – it has traveled far. Dhyan means a state of absolute silence, of thoughtless silence, but full of awareness. Even the thought that ”I am aware” is enough to distract you from your meditation. Even to know that ”I am in meditation” is enough to destroy it. A state of meditation is an innocent, silent state. You are blissfully unaware of your awareness. You are, but you are utterly relaxed. You are not in a state of sleep; you are fully alert, more alert than ever. You are alertness, rather.

This modern-day commentary on Dogen’s Instructions for a Zen Cook reveals how everyday activities—like cooking—can be incorporated into our spiritual practice In the thirteenth century, Zen master Dogen—perhaps the most significant of all Japanese philosophers, and the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen sect—wrote a practical manual of Instructions for the Zen Cook. In drawing parallels between preparing meals for the Zen monastery and spiritual training, he reveals far more than simply the rules and manners of the Zen kitchen; he teaches us how to "cook," or refine our lives. In this volume Kosho Uchiyama Roshi undertakes the task of elucidating Dogen's text for the benefit of modern-day readers of Zen. Taken together, his translation and commentary truly constitute a "cookbook for life," one that shows us how to live with an unbiased mind in the midst of our workaday world.

Charlotte Joko Beck offers a warm, engaging, uniquely American approach to using Zen to deal with the problems of daily living—love, relationships, work, fear, ambition, and suffering. Everyday Zen shows us how to live each moment to the fullest. This Plus edition includes an interview with the author.