Customer Reviews

Living Everyday Zen

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The compassion and clear message found in Nothing Special & Everyday Zen comes through in these CDs. There are differences. The books are organized into themes. The CDs are a set of talks with some Q&A, so you can hear her think and how she interacts with her students without editing. The books have more metaphors, like ice cubes and containers. The talks are more direct.

There are three and a half-hours of talks and Q&A. The questions were hard to hear in a car, but she is always easy to hear. Section titles:

CD 1. Concentration, Reactive emotion-thought, Core beliefs, False emotion and true emotion, Being zero, Elegance is refusal, Radiance, Our changing perception of radiance

CD 2. The simplicity of practice, The necessity of persistence, Life as beautiful and fierce, The no-self, Living in stillness, The important questions, The absolute and relative, True practice never stops, The importance of the vow, Patience

CD 3. Being in the box, Getting out of the box, Rapidly moving out of the box, Life as it is, Embracing failure, Developing steadiness, Being in practice for a lifetime, The three easy steps of practice, The key to freedom.

I love both of her books and this CD set. I am Asian. I had been very aware of the Buddhist religion for a long time without practicing it until I read her first book "Everyday Zen". All of a sudden, this ancient religion/philosophy is very relevant to my everyday life. All she talks about in her books and this CD set are things that are happening in all of our lives right now. I knew all along the wisdom in Buddhist religion, but I just didn't know how I can use that in my daily life. How can I live it? Joko explains this better than any other books that I read. Knowing Zen intellectually is one thing, actually living it everyday of your life is something else. She teaches you, in her books and this CD set, how to live a better, happier and more satisfying life. This CD set has really good discussions. I would still recommend reading her first book, "Everyday Zen" first to get a good framework of Joko's approach to Zen.

If you have a practice or are trying to start one, don't pass this up.
The first 10 minutes of the first talk provides all the instruction you need for at least your first few years of practice.
Thank you Joko, you're a gift!

This is another insightful gem by one of the most poetically frank teachers America has to offer. If you are looking for a "feel good" alternative to your life's problems, this is not for you. If you are looking to "fix" your life, this is not for you.

If you are open to understanding your daily struggles, facing them with brutal honesty moment by moment and willing to sit with them, not run from them, this might be a good start. One reviewer below mentioned she read a book by her six months ago and wanted more of that here. This is exactly what you should NOT expect when approaching Joko Beck and this CD. In fact, it's that "expectation" that contradicts her entire teachings! The idea here is to open yourself to insight. Insight into life as we struggle upstream.

After reading and listening to Joko's work we slowly unfold (if also sitting) and we discover that we no longer need to "struggle" against the stream. We can open up to it now, as it washes over us and experience what lessons it has to offer. That is what you will get a glimpse of with this CD and her other books. But, only a glimpse. As Joko explains in all of her work, you must practice every day in order to truly experience what life has to offer us, moment by moment.

Joko's work is a beautiful reminder and invitation to open yourself to life. I for one have humbly accepted her offer and owe her my deepest gratitude. Give this CD a whirl and do not forget to pick up her two quintessential books on practice, Nothing Special & Everyday Zen.

Ms. Beck is simply the most practical and helpful Zen author for the average reader seeking to find pragmatic help in their life from the study and application of Zen teachings. You don't have to go to Zen meetings or wear a robe to get a wealth of help in your life from either of Ms. Beck's two books or this audio book. I have read many of the Zen texts and sampled dozens of Zen writers over the past forty years. She is the most readable, the best.

A collection of simply excellent talks about the nature of our small self, our ego, as it relates to our larger self, our infinite nature, by one of the best American Zen teachers.

Being new to Zen, I'm not sure I appreciate the content or presentation of this audio book. I listened to part of the first disc but have not gone back to it yet. I found it a bit too preachy for my experience level.

I read "Everyday Zen" 6 months ago, and loved every insight it provided. Full of practical, intelligent ideas that i immediately used in my everyday life.
I was hoping for the same practical, clear discussions on this CD. But i didn't get that. Instead, Joko presents a series of talks to her students, that stress the importance of "constant sitting". Over and over again she stresses the need to 'keep sitting', and 'you may feel you have made some progress, but you have barely begun.' Then, she gets into a mystical discussion of the 'nemonal' and 'phenomenal' world. Ugh. That metaphysics is so abstract as to be beyond proof. The listener is forced to either believe or not believe, rather than to hear, consider, and then accept or refute.

I have deep respect for Joko Beck, based on her earlier texts. But this one did not help me in any way.