Zen in Ten: Easy Lessons for Spiritual Growth (Ten Easy Lessons Series, 2)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book on Zen
Review: As a long-time practitioner of Zen I am always interested in new Zen books. This one does an excellent job of communicating the deeper essence of Zen. This is always a challenge for writers because Zen is beyond words, something to be experienced. This book points readers in the right direction. It also offers a great deal of information about the topic so that readers will come to have a sense of the variety of experiences and areas where Zen makes itself known. The authors teach in the traditional way with Zen stories to lead the reader toward an inner experience. They also provide exercises, meditations, arts, and other ways for people to find an iroad that speaks personally to them. For anyone interested in learning Zen or in deepening their experience, I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Clearly Written, Beautiful Book
Review: Zen in 10 gives ten lessons to help a reader find a clear path into Zen. I found each lesson was straightforward and showed me how to begin practicing. From the very first lesson, Meditation: Tapping Mind's Potential, I was able to start meditating. Subsequent lesons helped me deepen my understandings. For example, the second lesson on sutras stayed true to the Zen way to approach sutras as a boat to carry you to the other shore, not an end in itself. The lesson on koans was very deep and evocative, helping me to expand. Through the whole book the authors give exercises to try and I found them very useful for inner exploration. Anyone who is interested in Zen will learn a great deal from this pretty little book filled with stories, artwork, and inspiration!