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Everyday Zen: Love and Work (Plus) [Paperback]

Charlotte J. Beck
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 4, 2007 Plus

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.


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Everyday Zen: Love and Work (Plus) + Nothing Special + Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An extraordinary book for ordinary people. It speaks about ultimate matters with ultimate simplicity.” (Robert Aiktken, Roshi, author of Taking the Path of Zen)

“Deals with the most important spiritual practice of all--how we can live awakened in our daily life.” (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart and After the Ecstasy, the Laundry)

“An extraordinary book for ordinary people. It speaks about ultimate matters with ultimate simplicity.” (David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B, author of A Listening Heart)

About the Author

Charlotte Joko Beck, who passed away in 2011, was the founder and former head teacher at the Zen Center in San Diego.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (September 4, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061285897
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061285899
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

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Customer Reviews

I found the book to be quite approachable for the common reader. Jim Martin  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Very practical, applicable guides to life-centered living. Tony Bertauski  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
190 of 197 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Zen in plain English October 27, 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of my favorite books on Zen. Charlotte Joko Beck was the founder and resident Zen teacher of the Zen Center of San Diego, and "Everyday Zen" is a collection of her talks. Joko speaks about Zen in an ordinary, conversational, down-to-earth way--as opposed to the paradoxical, poetic, non-logical style often found in Zen--and she explicitly relates Zen to everyday life. For Joko, Zen is about being OK with everything, an OK-ness that does not imply fatalism, passivity, or an absence of feelings. She says: "For something to be OK, it doesn't mean that I don't scream or cry or protest or hate it. . . . What _is_ the enlightened state? When there is no longer any separation between myself and the circumstances of my life, whatever they may be, that is it."

While this book is a good one for newcomers to Zen--and for old-timers too--it does not include nitty-gritty beginning instruction in Zen meditation, so for that you'll need to look elsewhere. (I'd recommend the book "The Three Pillars of Zen," the video "The Secret Is There Are No Secrets," or a Zen center.)

This is not the best Zen book for everyone. When you're in a swamp of existential angst, desperately wanting to know that peace and joy can be found within this fleeting life so full of suffering--exactly the issues Zen addresses--Joko's "everyday" approach can be exasperating and can seem not to address those issues, and you might prefer "The Three Pillars of Zen" or "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." I appreciate Joko's wariness of leading us astray with images of "enlightenment," which is so easily misunderstood as a thing we can achieve that will make our lives perfect at last, but sometimes I want more reminders than Joko offers that our life can be utterly transformed (while still being the same old, imperfect life).
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64 of 65 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Best introduction to Zen for Americans! July 28, 1996
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I've read quite a few books over the past few months in my search to "understand Zen" (yes, I *know* that's a contradiction in terms!). But "Everyday Zen" is really the first that helped me see how Zen can operate in the midst of my modern American life -- outside of a monastic environment, dealing with business and family and the other assorted miseries of the late 20th century. Her style is forthright and no-nonsense; excuse the sexism, but it's almost as if you had a plain-spoken old aunt who simply told you the truth about the birds and the bees when everyone else was hemming and hawing and quoting Robert Browning. I recommend this book HIGHLY to anyone new to Zen who struggles, as I do, with how to place it into a modern context
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87 of 91 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Simple, direct, unadorned truth October 11, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Joko Beck's thesis is a simple one: That life, just as it is at any moment, is all that it can be and therefore is perfect. Pointing again and again to the troubles we cause ourselves by living life not in the moment, but out of a confused fog of fantasies and "what ifs," Beck challenges us to divest ourselves of our mental defense mechanisms and dare to be OK with life as it is. Yet she is a compassionate teacher, intimately familiar with human weaknesses and struggles, and she extends one hand of comfort even as the other hand pulls the rug out from under our feet. Perhaps the only shortcoming of this book is that it is much more clear about the "deconstructive" aspect of Zen practice than about exploring the ultimate manifestations and benefits of enlightenment. Knowing her aversion to "holding out cookies," however, this absence is understandable.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
Thoughtful and profound. Obviously a woman who has delved deeply into the subject and has reached firm conclusions in a calm manner.
Published 6 days ago by jim hoggett
2.0 out of 5 stars can't Quite Crack into this one
I just could not get past the first pages it's way over my head. Not to say that someone else would really love it.
Published 23 days ago by Cheryll Salzberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Great mindfulness text!
One of my favorite intro to mindfulness works. I give it as a gift to friends and family. Check it out
Published 1 month ago by John R. Schaefer
5.0 out of 5 stars essential dharma reading for American practitioner
Beck was one of the most influential American Zen teachers. Here she presents the uncompromising truth about what is required to walk the path.
Published 1 month ago by E. Zobel
5.0 out of 5 stars A little gem
This book is like oxygen for me. Simply and elegantly put, Ms. Beck makes Zen philosophy and practice accessible and real. Read more
Published 1 month ago by V. DesRoches
5.0 out of 5 stars This book really resonates with me
This book won't speak to everyone. I have meditated on and off for years, but have had trouble reconciling the activity of meditation with my day to day life. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Wannabe Zen Buddhist
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to learning about Zen
with my Buddhist group. We are not finished yet, but already members are commenting that they really enjoy the perspective of this book.
Published 2 months ago by winona fetherolf
5.0 out of 5 stars Crystal Clear
Reading Charlotte Joko Beck is like drinking water.
Zen de-mystified. Life on life's terms.
Dangerous for the ego. Buyers beware.
Published 2 months ago by Mark J. Royse
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a teacher willing to be specific
For years, I've read books and taken classes about meditation. Most teachers speak in general terms, but this author is just a bit more helpful by giving some great examples. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Heidi Ziegele
5.0 out of 5 stars great
I loved this book. It gave me plenty of things to think about. I would recommend to anyone. end end
Published 4 months ago by Deb R
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