True Zen

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.

Appalachian Zen describes a journey we all take, one that Buddhism calls "seeking our true home." Edgy, lyrical, and lovingly rendered, this book recounts how a kid from a Pennsylvania mill-town trailer park grew up—surrounded by backwoods farms and amid grief, violence, and passionate yearning—to become something improbable: a Buddhist minister teaching Zen.

“Know thyself” (Know thy business!) Discover your own unique strategy to create an enterprise that embodies you, affords prosperity, brings the right people into your life and serves a community of people who desire your products and services. Otherwise known as The Zen Side of business ownership.

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.

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.

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.