Product Description

In Zen and the Art of Anything, Hal W. French invites readers to embrace a broad definition of Zen as mindfulness--extracting the most from a given moment--and opportunity to incorporate greater appreciation and fulfillment in everyday activities. Written, designed, and illustrated to enable Zen, this book encourages opportunities for mindfulness in commonplace human actions like breathing, speaking, waking, sleeping, moving, staying, eating, drinking, working, playing, caring, loving, thriving, and surviving. French holds that, if we are mindful in our daily living and thereby practice Zen, we can elevate the most fundamental activity to an art form and find a key to a more authentic and meaningful life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1459844 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 175 pages

From Booklist
If, as some suggest, life is meant to be a parable, then this book is the perfect companion. It looks like poetry but is actually bits and pieces of prose, set to flow on the page with the jerky rhythms and the unexpected pleasures of life. It speaks in riddles and, in the great Zen tradition, answers a question with a question. Richly charming while delightfully slim, it guides us ever so gently over life's uncertain terrain, helping us avert the minefields. Basing the book's lessons on Zen fundamentals, French proves a wise and witty observer of the simplest aspects of human existence--breathing and speaking, eating and drinking, playing and working, caring and loving--as regarded by a Zen sensibility. By being mindful of the moment, he suggests, one can elevate ordinary acts to the highest of art forms. Both beginners and more advanced students of Zen will find much to enjoy in this modest little effort. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"It looks like poetry but is actually bits and pieces of prose, set to flow on the page with the jerky rhythms and the unexpected pleasures of life. It speaks in riddles and, in the great Zen tradition, answers a question with a question. Richly charming while delightfully slim, it guides us ever so gently over life's uncertain terrain, helping us avert the minefields. Basing the book's lessons on Zen fundamentals, French proves a wise and witty observer of the simplest aspects of human existence.... Both beginners and more advanced students of Zen will find much to enjoy." - Booklist"

From the Inside Flap
"If shelf and cerebral space allowed for only one book on personal spirituality, self-knowledge, or improvement, it could easily be Dr. Hal French's Zen and the Art of Anything."
¯The Star Reporter, Columbia, S.C.

THIS IS NOT JUST A BOOK ABOUT ZEN. THIS IS ZEN!
Simply put, Zen is mindfulness¯extracting the most from a given moment.
You are invited, through this book, to understand Zen
As something that is not exotic or difficult to attain.
Rather, Zen is basic and available to anyone wishing to have a more fulfilling life.
Think of everyday activities: breathing and speaking, waking and sleeping,
Moving and staying, eating and drinking, working and playing, caring and loving.
If we are truly mindful in our daily living, thereby practicing Zen,
We can elevate the most fundamental activity to an art form.
Through Dr. Hal French's charming, mindful writing,
You can actually find the key to a more authentic and meaningful life.
The simple act of reading his thoughts and works,
Filled with so many elegant and artful insights, enables Zen.
AN ENABLING BOOK MUST ALSO ENOBLE. AND SO THIS DOES.

"[Zen and the Art of Anything] teaches¯in just the way [Hal French] speaks, kindly, lovingly, humorously¯chapter by chapter, how to breathe and speak, wake and sleep, move and stay, eat and drink, play and work, care and love, thrive and survive... There is a charmingly homey and homely feel to the way Dr. French does this."
¯The State, Columbia, SC

Customer Reviews

A Real Gem
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Zen or in the practice of meditation more generally. Hal French has given us a real gem, an extraordinary expression of a Zen for the twenty-first century -- a universal Zen which is interfaith and saturated with the spirit of "ordinary mind." Written in a poetic yet completely down-to-earth and humorous style, "Zen and the Art of Anything" lives up to its title in a serious way. With profound insight born of a lifetime of experience, the author covers all aspects of life: not only the actual practice of meditation, but also our daily activities of sleeping, waking, eating, working and playing, as well as love and personal relationships, ethical issues and facing our death. The book is light-hearted and compassionate, yet hard-hitting where it has to be. I found it deeply moving and utterly refreshing, and would guess it is destined to be a classic.

Wonderful
I bought this book as a student in Dr. French's zen class a few years back. It is the zen book I continue to return to. Each aspect of life can be addressed by at least one of the chapters. It truly addresses the art of anything.