Monkfish Book Publishing

“One of the most engaging memoirs I’ve read in ages. The wise and feisty voice I've come to know and love in Elizabeth Cunningham’s Maeve Chronicles fills these pages and carried me away. Anyone who has forged an independent path through the luminous moments and deepest shadows of a soul-filled life will recognize their own spiritual adventures reflected here.”—Mirabai Starr, God of Love

In this intriguing spiritual memoir, The Maeve Chronicles author Elizabeth Cunningham traces her dynamic faith journey and its relationship to her writing.

As the daughter of an Episcopal priest, author Elizabeth Cunningham was born into community, sacred story, and the mysteries of prayer. For her, “If a writer is one who writes, then a ‘prayer’ is one who prays.” As such, her praying is dynamic, a dance between many opposites—active vs. contemplative, community vs. individual, human vs. wild—and Cunningham sees the divine as both incarnate and transcendent, an intimate beloved and a vast mystery. When she prays, Cunningham is both audacious and reverent, asking tough questions of God—raging, listening intently, and dancing and singing ecstatically. Her storyteller’s imagination opens a path from the known to the unknowable, from despair to wonder. 

In this nonfiction debut, Cunningham recounts both her lifelong spiritual quest and her ongoing spiritual questions. Her journey takes her from her childhood church, with its ornate liturgy, to the silence of Quaker meeting; from her ordination as an interfaith minister to an eclectic, earth-centered community where she served as priestess before becoming a hermit, of sorts, making a church of her own backyard.

Candid and passionate, Cunningham’s memoir invites readers of all faiths—and doubts!—to explore what it means to live life as a prayer in the beautiful, imperiled world we share.

Yoga and ayurveda as keys for aging beautifully

While advanced age is revered by some, very few of us are in a hurry to get there. This guide treats physical well-being and spiritual growth as two sides of a coin. It is custom-crafted for midlife and later by addressing both eternal verities and physical health. Yoga, the time-honored philosophy of which headstands and downward-facing dogs are only a fragment, doesn’t sugarcoat: physical life will end and material joys, as lovely as they can be, are temporary. In acknowledging our true nature, the eternal divinity that is our essence, we have the best shot at well-being on every level.

This book explores spiritual awakening yoga-style, and the fundamentals of yoga’s sister science, ayurveda, for care of the body. No one is too young to take up these practices, and no one is too old either. Asana practice, the “physical exercise” component of the spiritual adventure of yoga, is fully adaptable to anybody of any age. And the mental and spiritual practices of yoga need no adaptations.

Age Like a Yogi not only gives the reader immediately applicable tools for spiritual awareness and physical health in the post-fifty decades, but also a way to leave this world kinder, safer, saner, and a little more beautiful.

To learn to think like a shaman is to attune yourself to a magical spectrum of infinite possibilities, unseen truths, alternative realities, and spiritual support. When a shaman likes what’s happening, they know how to make it better, and when they don’t, they know how to change it. The Shaman’s Mind is a book that teaches the reader how to align and transform their own mind into one that sees the world through the lens of the indigenous healers of old. Based on the Omega workshop by the same name.

"This book is at once a love letter to Zen practice and a critique of late twentieth century American Zen. Judith inspires us to investigate our own karmic knots, and in the middle of this suffering, she invites us to walk quietly down to the neighborhood pond and take a cooling dip in the moonlight." —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, and many other books

Untangling Karma is a memoir of accepting and healing personal trauma, both on and off the meditation cushion. Author Judith Ragir, an American Zen teacher, has used her spiritual practice to overcome anger and self-imposed isolation and become more loving. 

In Buddhism, the personal and the systemic are interwoven. If we are to heal from trauma, we need to find and face our deeply held, often hidden pain. Because we have been raised in a society of greed, aggression, and confused values, this is something we all must do, regardless of our ethnic or racial background.

Ragir lets fall the stereotypical cool, calm Zen teacher’s demeanor to reveal her complicated, emotional self. She discusses what she has done to find greater inner peace as well as the personal impacts of transferring an Eastern philosophy onto her Western mind and applying a male-inspired monastic model to herself as an American woman, Jew, and mother. Untangling Karma is at once a love letter to Zen Buddhism and a critique of turn-of-the-century American Zen.

If we can be bold when facing our personal pain and traumatic experiences, says Ragir, and curious about our own karmic histories, then we can help build a more inclusive, healing-focused, 21st-century Buddhism.

In a time when abuse at the hands of religious leaders is too common comes this guide to making the most of the Zen tradition while protecting and empowering yourself

“This is a thoroughly engaging exploration based on deep knowledge of the tradition as well as contemporary research.” —Martine Batchelor, author, Principles of Zen

While the liberation that Zen offers is real, it must be engaged with carefully, explains this sensei. Her book is neither a memoir about a single case of abuse nor a bloodless academic study. Nelson reflects on the multiple dangers in Zen, from firsthand experience in Boston—where documented abuse recently took place—integrating her discussion at every step with core Zen teachings.

“Practicing Safe Zen imparts a lesson we all will have to learn if we want to truly mature in our spiritual practice.” —Barry Magid, author, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness

A riveting story of how one brave and adventurous woman turned her life upside down for God. Firestone teaches us, through the joys and sorrows of her life, how our ancient traditions are calling out to us for renewal, and how, through faith, honesty, and struggle, we are learning to respond.

At age seventeen, Tirzah Firestone left the oppressive home of her Orthodox Jewish parents and set off on a spiritual odyssey. With Roots in Heaven is the story of that journey, a fascinating and moving account of her evolution from rebellious young seeker to renegade rabbi. This is an inspiring, true account of a courageous woman with strong convictions and a passion to know and feel God. It is also a book that goes beyond one person’s story of wandering and redemption to explore the dangers of modern religion and the joys and conflicts of intermarriage and raising interfaith children. An unforgettable story of love, sacrifice, and transformation–of grace sought and found–With Roots in Heaven offers hope, wisdom, and encouragement to anyone seeking deeper spiritual meaning in today’s world.

The term “spiritual transmission” refers to the passing of the state of enlightenment from teacher to student, which takes place in many spiritual traditions. In itself, the transmission is synonymous with the experience of enlightenment. But the fact that the student’s experience is rooted in a relationship with a human teacher who is perceived to possess absolute knowledge lends the experience much of its intrinsic, yet hidden, nature.

Following the breakup of his 21-year relationship with his own spiritual teacher, Amir Freimann launched a quest to discover the deeper realities of the student teacher relationship, logging over 1,000 hours of interviews with students and teachers. These interviews reveal the promises and perils of the guru-to-student relationship and explore hot-button topics such as the differences and similarities between therapists and gurus; the role of trust vs. rationality in the spiritual quest; and how money, power and sex are dealt with during the course of a student’s training.

Spiritual Transmission includes never-before-published dialogues with many prominent spiritual teachers, plus a revelatory afterword by renowned integral theorist Ken Wilber. If you have ever been involved with a spiritual teacher or know someone who has, you need this book.

Interviewees in Spiritual Transmission include Peter (Hakim) Young, Andrew Cohen, Stephen Fulder, Christopher Titmuss, James Finley, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, Saniel Bonder, Mariana Caplan, Mooji, Lakshmi, Barry Magid, Claire Slemmer, James Swartz, Diane Hamilton, Bill Epperly, Aliya Haeri, Thomas Steininger, Peter Bampton, Carolyn Lee, Terry Patten, Steve Brett and Mary Adams.

"This engrossing exploration of gender dynamics, identity, and the spiritual quest for meaning will appeal to Buddhists and general readers alike." —Publishers Weekly

“This is an impressive tapestry of history, spiritual philosophy, and literary drama and an edifying look at the patriarchal limitations of Buddhism’s genesis…An intelligently conceived and artistically executed reconsideration of religious history.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Bride of the Buddha is an immersive novel about the founding of Buddhism, told in the voice of a woman who would not be excluded from the spiritual quest, nor from the presence of the man whom she loved.” —ForeWord Magazine

This is the story of Yasodhara, the abandoned wife of the Buddha. Facing society’s challenges, she transforms her rage into devotion to the path of liberation. The page-turner about a woman’s struggle in an unapologetic religious patriarchy, Bride of the Buddha offers a penetrating perspective on the milieu of the Buddha.

“A brilliant and engaging book on haiku, and on the state of the body and mind required in the million to one shot against producing a good one” —Jim Harrison

First published in 1997, Seeds From a Birch Tree introduced readers to the only form of poetry in all of world literature that makes nature into a spiritual path. Its message was simple: Haiku teaches us to return to nature by following the seasons—seventeen syllables at a time.

With its mix of poetry and memoir, fallen leaves and birdsong, Seeds From a Birch Tree awakens us to what Bashō called “the life of each thing.” Simple instructions guide us to the possibilities for creativity and joy hidden in plain sight in the natural world around us, giving us hope and resilience in the face of life’s challenges.

This Revised & Expanded 25^th Anniversary Edition includes the complete text of the original classic, plus dozens of new haiku and an Afterword by the author discussing haiku for the 21^st century.

Reviving the teachings and practices of Swami Kripalu

“Richard Faulds brings Swami Kripalu alive in a book that illumines the breadth and depth of yoga.” —Stephen Cope, author, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Like the Indian sages in whose footsteps he walked, Swami Kripalu taught yoga as a wisdom tradition in which disciples maintain a close personal relationship to their guru and demonstrate their fitness to receive each level of its esoteric curriculum through the intensity of their study, practice, and devotion. He adopted this approach for an important reason, as the single-minded dedication it required was meant to bring forth the best from his top students, preserving yoga’s spiritual depth and enabling them to pass on its transformative potency. Yet this approach also had a downside in that it failed to make the full scope of his teachings accessible to a multitude of seekers unable to join his circle of intimates.

Swami Kripalu’s Yoga of Success and Self-Realization presents Swami Kripalu’s teachings in a contemporary framework that any reader can understand and put into practice. John Mundahl calls it “a clear, engaging writing style infused with stories.” Supplementing the narrative are extensive quotations, excerpts, and teaching stories that remain as close as possible to Swami Kripalu’s words. Every effort has been made to retain his distinctive voice and subtlety of expression. 

The memoir of a former Catholic priest whose career as a union leader, search for spiritual meaning, and assisted suicide became the subject of an article in the New York Times

The Priest Who Left His Religion follows the life of an ordained Catholic priest whose family prophesied at his birth would be the first American pope. Ordained as a Paulist in 1965, John Shields quickly became caught up by the reversals of the Second Vatican Council, which attempted to undo many of the liberalizing movements of the Catholic Church. Most shocking to Shields was the Church’s disavowal of scientific evidence in order to “protect the faithful.” Shattered and brokenhearted by his discovery of the Church’s dishonesty, he left the priesthood to embark on the courageous journey from religion to spirituality. Shields came to embrace life in the secular world and a faith that confirmed the union of science and spirit.

A rabbi’s lifelong journey to discover the source and inspiration of Hasidism.

As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel Baal Shem Tov—the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence: A Personal Quest for the Baal Shem Tov is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov’s biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world’s wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place the Baal Shem in the company of the great world spiritual teachers. He reveals the Baal Shem’s vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their own identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of their communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement.

Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson’s own struggle with his Jewish identity and his encounter with the Baal Shem as his spiritual teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English.

“I love this book. It feels like a secret treasure bequeathed by Stephen Levine to be opened after his death—an overflowing vessel of insight, humor and literary genius. Animal Sutras may be the best book Stephen Levine ever wrote.” —Mirabai Starr, Wild Mercy

“Stephen was a profound healer of the heart, writer and meditation teacher. In Animal Sutras, his other gifts shine, as a wise poet-naturalist and Dharma storyteller-philosopher, offered here in a lyrical, quirky, playful, and inviting collection.” —Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart

For Stephen Levine, “animal-people” were his greatest teachers. So, at age seventy, he began collecting animal spirit stories and transcendent moments in nature from throughout his life—from the green snake who taught him to meditate as a boy to the generous hen whom predators would not harm, and many more. “Animals have a natural mindfulness,” Levine writes. “They know what they are doing. Humans, who are full of confusion and seldom wholly in touch with their mind/body, need encouragement and technique to live in the present.”

Stephen Levine (1937–2016) was an American poet, author, and spiritual teacher best known for his work, with his wife Ondrea, on death and dying. He is one of a generation of pioneering teachers who made Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West. Like the writings of his colleague and close friend Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert), Levine’s work is also flavored by the devotional practices and teachings of the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba. Levine spent many years in the Southwest, including one tending a wildlife sanctuary in southern Arizona, and among the mountains of New Mexico, where Ondrea still lives. His many books include Who Dies?, A Year to Live, Unattended Sorrow, and Healing into Life and Death.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s lectures on religion given at Oxford toward the end of his life, edited by Tagore himself.

This International Edition combines all existent English editions into a single volume, including the previous foreword by Philip Novak; the introduction to the British edition by Andrew Robinson; four appendices from an earlier American edition, featuring a brief conversation between Tagore and Albert Einstein, titled “Note on the Nature of Reality”, and a new foreword by religion writer and editor Jon M. Sweeney.

The Religion of Man is a compilation of lectures by Rabindranath Tagore, edited by Tagore and drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University in May 1930. A Brahmo playwright and poet of global renown, Tagore deals with the universal themes of God, divine experience, illumination, and spirituality. 

The spiritual journey is interior to each person, but not meant to be walked alone.

Much can be gained from trailing the spiritual narratives of those who have traveled ahead of us, for the God they have found, we may never have considered. How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere, Volume 2 again captures for a general audience the spiritual shift away from popular notions of a God “up there” and “out there” and toward immanent and inclusive understandings of a God in our very midst. It is built around the fascinating personal journeys of a close-knit group of prominent contributors, leaders including Christopher M. Bache, Jude Currivan, Amit Goswami, Kabir Helminski, Karen Johnson with Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Sheri Kling, Beverly Lanzetta, Ervin Laszlo, Jay McDaniel, Raymond Moody, Peter Russell, Rupert Spira, and Becca Tarnas.

From dark nights of suffering and despair, to the joy of scientific and intellectual discovery, to the aesthetic beauty of music and nature, and the blissful—and at times dreadful—shock of psychedelic, mystical and near-death experience, these spiritual memoirs reveal exceptional encounters with the Holy Mystery—a universal Mind that exceeds but also includes our very own. And, unlike the first volume, this new book is deliberately catered toward group study with its “Questions for Discussion” and “Sages to Explore” sections at the end of each chapter.

A lighthearted comedy about the way a spiritual teacher tries to empower his followers, but they invest him with all the power.

“…brilliant, wise, moving, and funny. Like, really funny. … Spiritual writing like this is rare. “ Shozen Jack Haubner, author of Zen Confidential 

Henry “Hank” Wilder, a divorced loner, is unsuccessfully trying to establish a new Zen center when he accidentally cures an ex-girlfriend’s recurring cancer with his touch and discovers—at least this is what people keep telling him—that he has healing powers.

Suddenly the empty zendo is overcrowded with Zen students who also want to be touched and healed by Hank. At first he resists, but when he cures a local Mexican boy of a bad limp, his reputation takes off. A TV story on Hank’s healings goes viral. The Latino community shows up, bearing food and icons of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Hank befriends a Catholic priest and falls in love again. When his life gets totally out of hand, he escapes to Mexico on a spiritual odyssey and finds out who he really is.

Join “Scoop” Nisker on a wild ride from West to East and back in his quest for true self and enlightenment. Combining the best elements of memoir and social commentary, Nisker shares his own story to illuminate the spiritual hunger of modern America. His journey begins in Nebraska as the only young man in his small town to be Bar Mitzvah’ed, through the heyday of the Beats and hippies in the Bay Area from his vantage point as a high-profile newscaster, the birth of the environmental movement, and the social and spiritual blossoming of the West. This is a personal, guided tour of the outer and inner movements that joined together into today’s mindfulness movement, written by one of the leaders of both. 

This pioneering work harmonizes Hindu Vedanta philosophy with the Christian vision of the Word made flesh through the Spirit of God's love.

An introduction to the Vedic scriptures which shows that God has also lavished his riches on non-Christian people and how we must relate ourselves to these other sources of truth. “Without Christianity I don't think the oriental religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, can answer the needs of the modern world. But without the enrichment of the mystical tradition of Asia I doubt whether the Western Churches can really discover the fullness of Christ which we are seeking.” (Bede Griffiths)

Written as a concise handbook, this Practical Guide presents a novel paradigm for addressing the enduring questions of our existence, while providing a roadmap to the rational pursuit of spirituality in contemporary life.

Approaching our spiritual development as one would any experimental science, Bahram Elahi, MD, describes the nature of the human soul, or self, through a series of original diagrams and functional analogies to medicine, psychology, and physics. In so doing, he introduces a new medicine of the soul that not only establishes how to nourish and develop the soul through the practice of correct divine and ethical principles, but also how to diagnose and treat its various ailments. Explaining the purpose of our presence on earth as the completion of the first stage in our spiritual development, he summarizes this fundamental work in three main points: examining and mending one’s faith, sufficiently developing one’s sound reason, and cultivating one’s humanity. Ultimately, this timely Practical Guide offers readers of all backgrounds an accessible roadmap to our spiritual journey that is adapted to life in modern society.

The Song of Songs is among the most accessible of all biblical books. It is also the most deeply ecological text of the canon, yet few people are aware of the Song’s ecological message. The intention of Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis is to illuminate that message. 

Today there is such urgency around our many earth crises—so much brokenness—that we need a vision of wholeness and an ecological language that can help inspire, soothe and reinvigorate us, and bring us together regardless of our various affiliations and ideologies. The Song offers both ecological language and a vision. It sets the natural world before us with intensity and beauty, bidding us to savor it with all of our senses so that we may return to the world with the renewed clarity, love and energy necessary to work toward a healthy future for the earth and all her inhabitants. 

The Song is a particularly powerful book since it never utters the name of the divine,  yet is a deeply spiritual work that may reach people who are interested in matters of the sacred, but prefer to steer clear of God language and conventional religious ideas. In both the Jewish and Christian worlds, where many people are disengaging from religion altogether, the Song—with its universal themes of love, justice and the integrity of nature—may help open the door to the possibilities which religion has to offer.

Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in an Age of Climate Crisis seeks to engage a wide readership including all people who love the earth and its inhabitants, outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion and ecology. 

“With a seeker’s profound curiosity, a journalist’s keen eye, and a potent combination of honesty, courage, intelligence, and tender-heartedness, Mark Matousek as written a beautiful book that is at once a spiritual autobiography and an exploration of one of the most mystical beings of our time.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass

Mark Matousek was a nonbeliever when he met Mother Meera in 1985. Yet, in her presence, he experienced inexplicable occurrences that forced him to challenge his worldview.

Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy is believed by her thousands of devotees to be an embodiment of the Divine Mother. But who is Mother Meera, really? Now, in this deeply moving and wise book, Matousek takes us as close as possible to this extraordinary woman. Is divine incarnation truly possible, he asks, as most of the world’s religions insist? Speaking to members of her inner circle, working at her school for the poor in India, and interviewing the elusive master herself, Matousek takes the reader on a mysterious quest into the “unseen world” where the divine and human intersect.

"These two extraordinary Zen Teachers offer a cutting-edge immersion into the koans of our actual lives, issue by issue, urging us to plunge in, and be intimate with what actually is, in this very moment. Flowing beneath the surface of these contemporary koans is an ocean of traditional koans and old Buddhist stories and themes, all intermingled with the immediacy of contemporary life. A guaranteed American Zen classic!" —Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, author of Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life's Challenges

"Radical, useful, and wild, this rich collection of householder koans opens a treasure house of wisdom for all. What a wonderful adventure in the practical mind and heart of true Zen and true life." —Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot of Upaya Zen Center

“In The Book of Householder Koans Nakao and Marko wonderfully carry into contemporary life the spirit and color of the zen koan tradition in all its mystery and brazenness—and, at the same time, provide a wonderfully wise, knowing, and light-hearted look at how we can live this one precious unrepeatable human life in beauty. The koan stories they provide (submitted by many of their students) are pithy, funny, and perfectly apt for the times we live in. What a lively book!” —Norman Fischer, poet, Zen priest, and author most recently of The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path

“I was blown away by the force of The Book of Householder Koans as it establishes Western Zen as a new center of enlightenment. Roshis Myonen Eve Marko and Egyoku Wendy Nakao present Zen koans, exquisitely digested from everyday life, that retain the ancient and authentic power to stop you in your tracks while they beckon you onward. Read this book, emerging from two female Zen masters’ lifetimes of practice, and enter an intimate world that opens your awareness in relationship, work, and current worldly puzzles.” —Grace Schireson, author of Wild-Ass Zen, Enlightenment Wherever You Are, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens and Macho Maters, and Naked in the Zendo: Stories of Uptight Zen, and editor of Zen Bridge: The Zen Teachings of Keido Fukushima

“In this wonderful collection, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao write that Zen is about letting go of our fixed opinions. One opinion about Zen, when it came to this country, is that it is for monks and priests who live in monasteries or as hermits. In fact, most Zen students nowadays are householders who have issues that are different from those of our ancestor monks in China. The training for priests cannot be the same as the training for householders. Householders’ lives are messy. Roshis Eve and Wendy use the ancient wisdom of Zen to illuminate modern-day practice. Their insight and compassion have provided us with an important collection of koan stories that illustrate how Zen can bring deep insight to all meditators, whether householders, the homeless, women, men, or even ordained priests.” —Roshi Gerry Shishin Wick, spiritual director of Great Mountain Zen Center, and author of The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans

“The Book of Householder Koans is like a sumptuous feast. The teachings, deep-rooted in Zen practice, bring to the table all the ingredients of our life, including heartbreak, fury, and joy. This book shows us that in each moment there is an opportunity to enter a gate to wakefulness, receptivity, and love. Savor each morsel!”—Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up

“The Book of Householder Koans is a remarkable, inspiring, and ground-breaking book that revolutionizes the age-old tradition of Zen koan practice and plunges it right into the heart of our contemporary, 21st-century lives. As Zen teachers, authors Nakao and Marko have been deeply immersed for decades in the practice of life clarifying itself right in the midst of its most knotty challenges and confusions. Along with 66 new koans gathered from householders around the world, they offer their profound insight and expertise to help contemporary readers spring open even the most seemingly unresolvable of personal, modern dilemmas. Beautifully written with a life-affirming wisdom and spirit, this book will come to be a modern classic that helps us to live with a clarity, freedom, and joy beyond what we had imagined possible. Open the covers, take the plunge!” —Peter Levitt, author of The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan and One Hundred Butterflies, and guiding teacher of Salt Spring Zen Circle in British Columbia

“A wonderful book on koan comparable with koan books from the Song Dynasty China. Wendy and Eve pull no punches in laying out Zen practice in daily life and the challenges we face in leading a full and inclusive life. In fact, they leave no places to escape to. They deal with everything: relationship, work, family, aging, addiction, emotion, and ambiguity, to mention but a few. I don’t usually read Zen books, yet this one had me riveted from page one. All they left me after reading, was to just do it.” —Roshi Charles Tenshin Fletcher, abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center and author of The Way of Zen

“I wish I’d been able to read the Book of Householders Koans to help integrate practice with my everyday life when I started Zen training. This book is not only for householders, it’s for everyone. Using both the rich stories of ancient Zen masters and current everyday people, the authors explore the human journey: relationships, raising children, work, illness, old age, death, how to ground spiritual practice. This book is a guide for collective awakening, as if one were sitting in a circle with friends with everyone being heard from—sharing their questions, dilemmas, learnings transparently and intimately. And from that sharing, the reader’s heart-mind-spirit is expanded through the common threads that unite us all, grounded in the everyday, no matter where we are in our life. The wisdom of these two Zen teachers, Egyoku Roshi and Myonen Roshi, is very accessible, encouraging and freeing. I highly recommend this book—it’s a treasure trove, a true find!" —Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi, marriage and family therapist

“This beautiful book is an important resource for Zen in our time. This collection opens our eyes to the koan of our life right now. Easy and fun to read, the householder koans are not just for Zen students, but relatable for all. Maezumi Roshi would encourage his students to study the ancient texts, and then he would say ‘I want you to create the modern Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).’ Reading the householder koans, I felt that I was encountering a fresh expression of true dharma that maintains the spiritual rigor of old texts. I love these new koans. I love how the layout is reminiscent of traditional koan presentation with verses and comments. And I love how relevant these koans are for our time. The authors are encouraging all of us to create our own householder koans, and I am finding myself seeing koan everywhere. It is a lot of fun and encourages me to see my whole life as spiritual practice. Congratulations to the authors for creating a seminal work. It is a gift for everyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of life.” —Anne Seisen Saunders, Abbot, Sweetwater Zen Center; President, White Plum Asanga

“Amidst the hustle, bustle, and fragmentation of today’s world—taking care of the kids, dealing with disappointments and relationships, facing illness and old age—The Book of Householder Koans reminds us that koans are not separate from our life but are, indeed, the stuff of living and loving. Filled with real-life situations shared by people around the world, this wonderful book takes koan practice to a new level, encouraging us to open to all aspects of daily life and to embrace its richness. This is a book to be savored.” —Diane Rizzetto, author of Waking Up to What You Do and Deep Hope

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…! At last, here is a book that highlights the awakenings of everyday people in the midst of heart-rending, courageous challenges. Grab a copy of The Book of Householder Koans and you will experience a remarkable shift in Zen literature, one that closes the gap between contemporary practitioners and our ancestors. What a revolution in Zen training, and yet how intimately these wise authors, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao, align to Buddha’s primary teaching—that Buddha nature resides and manifests within each one of us.” —Anita Feng (Jeong Ji), author of the novel Sid, and guiding teacher at Blue Heron Zen Community in Seattle, WA