Everyday Zen

Find practical wisdom for modern living with an accessible, grounded guide to meeting life exactly as it is.

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.

Beck draws on years of raising a family and working in offices to demonstrate that routine tasks are the true training ground of practice.

These edited dharma talks explore how direct attention helps unravel the mental habits that turn daily dilemmas into painful struggles. Everyday Zen shows us how to live each moment to the fullest.

The book focuses on ordinary circumstances rather than exotic rituals, meeting domestic and workplace difficulties with tart, matter-of-fact clarity. This Plus edition includes an interview with the author.
Zen Meditation: Learn the fundamentals of zazen, focusing on balanced posture, attending to the breath, and labeling repetitive thoughts rather than forcing the mind to be quiet.Mindful Living: Discover how routine chores like cleaning the oven, driving the freeway, or washing dishes become vital moments of undivided attention.Buddhist Philosophy: Explore practical ways to work with anger, fear, and broken expectations by expanding awareness into what Beck calls a bigger container.Daily Practices: Shift from viewing relationship struggles and career friction as insoluble problems to approaching them as opportunities for clear, nonmanipulative action.Also by This Author: Nothing Special.