True Zen

How do we stay alive in a world designed to keep us distracted, numb, and consuming? Growing up in Silicon Valley, Ravi Mishra excitedly embarked on a path of entrepreneurship before even graduating college. But when his startup failed, a series of chance encounters took him on a deeper journey – from meditation retreats in the Himalayas to protest movements in Egypt, from Burning Man to a Zen Buddhist monastery where he spends a month each year.

Buddhism has been catching the attention and interest of a lot of people lately. In a world where everything goes fast and is constantly evolving, this ancient philosophy can help to slow down and live a more present and fulfilling life. However, there is a problem: Buddhism seems extremely complicated from the outside. Those who have never studied it think that it is impossible for the average Joe to make his way through all the rules and laws of this philosophy. Truth be told, Buddhism is not as complicated as contemporary Gurus pretend it to be.

In clear words, Zen Master Zensho W. Kopp shows us in an inspiring way how we can see through the deceptive nature of our concepts so that we rise up above our self-made limitations. Through this we transcend our identification with the unreal and reach the absolute reality of our true self. We experience a liberating transformation to a deeper and all-embracing universal consciousness and thus to freedom of the mind.

Anxious? Tired? Stressed out? It’s an all-too-familiar narrative.... Haven’t you ever felt that there must be something more? Research shows that just three in ten people are happy with their lives. That can’t be right. We must be doing something wrong. All too often, spiritual self-development gets pigeonholed as hippie fluff with no place in the world. That’s where we’re going wrong. That’s why we’re unhappy. The key to happiness and success is to align your true sense of self with your goals in order to unlock your potential and love what you do.

This is extreme examination of fiction books. We take excerpts from popular novels (one page in length) from various chapters and we read them, trying to understand the writer's voice, writing structure, and more. Over time we'll have a clearer definition of how we do our analysis. This book will have notes every now and then. Enjoy! Oh, and if you were wondering, the main purpose of this is to learn how to write better fiction.