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Wake Up: How to Practice Zen Buddhism
Learn to walk the path of Zen every day.
Zen can only be understood through practice. Until you put your own body and breath into it, it doesn’t begin to take hold in your life. Wake Up is a deeply useful guide to Zen Buddhism, presenting the core teachings and simple practices that you can incorporate every day to engage your heart and mind.
In Buddhism, Zen is an ancient tradition that focuses on discovering truth and being mindful through meditation. Living with greater awareness and reflection will help you remain happier and better-balanced in everything you do—and this book can show you the way.
Wake Up is a Zen Buddhism guide that lets you:
Learn and explore—Examine the core principles of Zen Buddhism and find simple rituals and practices that you can apply day to day.
Transform your state of mind—Experience how compassion and kindness can become more natural than fear and anger.
Zen for everyone—This book is ideal for beginners, as well as those who are continuing with or returning to Buddhism.
Center your life and awaken inner peace with Zen Buddhism.
Zen can only be understood through practice. Until you put your own body and breath into it, it doesn’t begin to take hold in your life. Wake Up is a deeply useful guide to Zen Buddhism, presenting the core teachings and simple practices that you can incorporate every day to engage your heart and mind.
In Buddhism, Zen is an ancient tradition that focuses on discovering truth and being mindful through meditation. Living with greater awareness and reflection will help you remain happier and better-balanced in everything you do—and this book can show you the way.
Wake Up is a Zen Buddhism guide that lets you:
Learn and explore—Examine the core principles of Zen Buddhism and find simple rituals and practices that you can apply day to day.
Transform your state of mind—Experience how compassion and kindness can become more natural than fear and anger.
Zen for everyone—This book is ideal for beginners, as well as those who are continuing with or returning to Buddhism.
Center your life and awaken inner peace with Zen Buddhism.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 5, 2023
Short, concise, inspiring and easy to understand. My only complaint: it could actually have been longer and more in detail and - I still have to do the actual work myself.
December 6, 2020
Having recently restarted my meditation practice, which is going really well, i thought it about time to give this a read.
I would firmly put this book on the shelf for anyone interested in Zen and deepening their practice: lots of little nuggets of info in here, well presented and easily read.
Also contains a good list of further resources at the back of the book.
I would firmly put this book on the shelf for anyone interested in Zen and deepening their practice: lots of little nuggets of info in here, well presented and easily read.
Also contains a good list of further resources at the back of the book.
October 11, 2022
This book was a little too politically charged for me. The structure also seems disorganized at times, with random snippets of stories that I couldn't quite place for relevance. I'll also say that I'm learning that the Zen practice itself may not be for me. I've been doing dives into different elements and schools of Buddhism, leaning into secular practice.
July 17, 2022
I recommend Noah Rasheda's No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners over this. The book is a bit unclear in sections. I was also a little disappointed by how it did not go too much into Zen and stuck with more of a general overview of Buddhism. As an overview it's okay, but not what I was looking for.
November 4, 2023
This was good!
October 20, 2025
GREAT simple, clearly written short text on essential Zen practices. The perfect book for the course I am teaching on Zen next fall.
March 29, 2020
The best Zen Buddhism book that I've read....
This book is by far the best book on the subject of Zen that I've read in the last few years. It left me wanting more. I just restarted my practice and it had all I needed. I loved all the resources at the back of the book. The sections on meditation and the seven Thresholds were excellent. I feel very inspired to continue my studies of Zen, and meditation. I also took notes, I've never done that for any book I've read except textbooks. I highly recommend this book for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. Everyone can find wisdom and value in this book.
This book is by far the best book on the subject of Zen that I've read in the last few years. It left me wanting more. I just restarted my practice and it had all I needed. I loved all the resources at the back of the book. The sections on meditation and the seven Thresholds were excellent. I feel very inspired to continue my studies of Zen, and meditation. I also took notes, I've never done that for any book I've read except textbooks. I highly recommend this book for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. Everyone can find wisdom and value in this book.
January 30, 2021
I enjoyed the humor and sometimes poetic writing style of the author, however I think I'm either not in the place to properly understand her message or more likely I misunderstood what I would be getting from the book. She did say that you can't really teach Zen, you can only practice, but I was still hoping for a better explanation of buddhism or the dharma in general. She went over some of it, but just as I felt she was about to culminate her description into an easy to understand summary...she didn't. It made me feel like I was missing a big chunk of understanding before she moved on to the next topic. Like I was sitting in the back of a college calculus class with a professor that moved to fast and erased the board before my brain could connect the dots. Maybe that was her zen-like intention, or maybe I'm just dumb. Either way, it was interesting and at the very least has inspired me to seek out other perhaps more general buddhism books.
August 5, 2022
3.5 stars
I enjoyed a lot of the knowledge and insight this book gave. However I found the formatting of the book to be distracting. Different shorter topics or asides were spliced in in the middle of chapters/paragraphs which I found to be a bit confusing and distracting.
Definitely a topic I’m excited to dig deeper into.
I enjoyed a lot of the knowledge and insight this book gave. However I found the formatting of the book to be distracting. Different shorter topics or asides were spliced in in the middle of chapters/paragraphs which I found to be a bit confusing and distracting.
Definitely a topic I’m excited to dig deeper into.
October 25, 2019
I loved this book!! It’s like mental floss for my practice.
Friends always ask, “What book can I read to get a feel for Zen?”
Myotai Roshi’s book will be my answer moving forward. Really wonderful 🙏
Friends always ask, “What book can I read to get a feel for Zen?”
Myotai Roshi’s book will be my answer moving forward. Really wonderful 🙏
September 26, 2023
Taught a lot about Zen Buddhism basics and was somewhat helpful, but felt like the writing got choppy and repetitive at times. Mainly was off-put by what I felt was random intrusions of prescriptive morality that didn’t flow with the book.
January 13, 2022
Wake Up does what it was intended to do, give the seeds of a Zen beginner some water, And doing that it was a success.
Personally though why I gave this such a mediocre score is just based on at times the book felt disjointed. In middle of most chapters are yellow blurb pages that just give a story or more context to whatever the last few pages were about. The problem isn’t those pages (they were my favorite part) the problem is that those pages would always be right in middle of a unfinished thought. It’s a small gripe but personally I feel like it would have been better if those yellow pages found their way right at the ending of each section instead of being seemingly randomly placed.
Another personal gripe I have with the book and why it’s stuck in 3 star hell is because the author every so often would go on a mini tirade about the “patriarchy” of Buddhism. There’s even a point in the last few pages where the author explains how she became a monastic but before she did she fought the idea that she would have to shave her head because of some nonsense about again the patriarchy. I understand that the writer is a unapologetic feminist and fights for feminine rights. that’s a great thing! And knowing this I should have just assumed there would be some of that in the book. It just seemed in some sections that the book lost its identity, in that it is presented as a book to teach about core practices and teachings of Zen but the author would poke in some of her issues with misogyny within Zen’s history. Personally it just didn’t feel like it was the book to put those gripes in but again it’s a personal thing.
I really need to make it known that overall the book gives a very good description on how to start your practice and it’s a great resource and it’s a extremely quick read that doesn’t throw high concepts in your face.
Personally though why I gave this such a mediocre score is just based on at times the book felt disjointed. In middle of most chapters are yellow blurb pages that just give a story or more context to whatever the last few pages were about. The problem isn’t those pages (they were my favorite part) the problem is that those pages would always be right in middle of a unfinished thought. It’s a small gripe but personally I feel like it would have been better if those yellow pages found their way right at the ending of each section instead of being seemingly randomly placed.
Another personal gripe I have with the book and why it’s stuck in 3 star hell is because the author every so often would go on a mini tirade about the “patriarchy” of Buddhism. There’s even a point in the last few pages where the author explains how she became a monastic but before she did she fought the idea that she would have to shave her head because of some nonsense about again the patriarchy. I understand that the writer is a unapologetic feminist and fights for feminine rights. that’s a great thing! And knowing this I should have just assumed there would be some of that in the book. It just seemed in some sections that the book lost its identity, in that it is presented as a book to teach about core practices and teachings of Zen but the author would poke in some of her issues with misogyny within Zen’s history. Personally it just didn’t feel like it was the book to put those gripes in but again it’s a personal thing.
I really need to make it known that overall the book gives a very good description on how to start your practice and it’s a great resource and it’s a extremely quick read that doesn’t throw high concepts in your face.
April 27, 2026
For a long time I have wanted to find the perfect book to give someone as an introduction to Zen Buddhism. A friend recommended this to me and it is fantastic, just 122 pages long but covering all of the essentials of Zen that anyone would need to know for at least their first few years of practice.
Bonnie Myotai Treace is an experienced Zen teacher and you can tell from the words on the pages that she has decades of lived practice to pass on which does not put on airs and graces but instead tells you exactly what you need to know in simple, honest words.
The book itself is beautifully laid out and, all in all, a total treasure. I already bought more copies to give away.
If you think you might be interested in practicing Zen, start here. You won't find a better foundation text.
Bonnie Myotai Treace is an experienced Zen teacher and you can tell from the words on the pages that she has decades of lived practice to pass on which does not put on airs and graces but instead tells you exactly what you need to know in simple, honest words.
The book itself is beautifully laid out and, all in all, a total treasure. I already bought more copies to give away.
If you think you might be interested in practicing Zen, start here. You won't find a better foundation text.
Read
November 29, 2021This was extremely enlightening. I think I would have absorbed the information better if i read it in a few sittings rather than a little every week or so. Treace's takes on buddhism, and also her facing problems I wouldn't have thought of, was extremely well presented. I will definitely remember this, ive started meditating for a few minutes day and night, using that mudra she gives. I've been quite familiar with meditation, as my dad was a buddhist, but i think both the fresher and more traditional takes were very helpful. Highly recommend.
January 12, 2025
I picked up this book only because I have the Year Of Zen journal and thought this may be a lovely companion read to the journal - the journal is done by Bonnie, the author of this book.
Upon receiving this book (I ordered online), I had a feeling it might be a little cheesy. The cover, the feel of it all just felt off.
Anyway, I digress: don’t judge a book by its cover.
The cover promises profound use, rich content, and deep inspiration.
I didn’t get any of those things out of the book. In fact, I’m not even sure what it is I just read.
This book doesn’t quite land as intended.
Upon receiving this book (I ordered online), I had a feeling it might be a little cheesy. The cover, the feel of it all just felt off.
Anyway, I digress: don’t judge a book by its cover.
The cover promises profound use, rich content, and deep inspiration.
I didn’t get any of those things out of the book. In fact, I’m not even sure what it is I just read.
This book doesn’t quite land as intended.
July 28, 2022
Such a beautifully-written book! While it’s a concise and quick read, it’s packed with useful/practical information, approachable insight, and intriguing ideas to ponder. I can’t wait to read more books by the same author.
February 16, 2020
Terrific!
Enjoyed reading. Have to re-read. Was hard to put down. Great resource list at the end. Thank you and my apologies for not writing a better review.
Enjoyed reading. Have to re-read. Was hard to put down. Great resource list at the end. Thank you and my apologies for not writing a better review.
April 1, 2020
This is a really lovely intro to Zen that is practical, insightful, direct, and modern. It’s also a very easy and quick read but plants some seeds that are sure to grow over time.
April 24, 2020
I wanted a refresher to begin Zen practice again. This book was great to get me going again. After a few years of being lax, I have started Zen Buddhism again.
Read
June 13, 2020Good read on starting a practice.
November 28, 2020
Insightful
This book gave me alot to think about. It dived into alot that I was questioning. It is well written.
This book gave me alot to think about. It dived into alot that I was questioning. It is well written.
November 30, 2021
Glad I read this intro to "Zen" Buddhism. Plan on reading some more of the author's suggested readings from the appendices.
July 6, 2022
This book was very easy to follow and has tons of good information for anyone starting out on their zen journey. 10/10 would recommend.
July 19, 2022
A bit slow in the beginning when explaining Buddhism but otherwise concise and helpful. Nice tips and a positive attitude❤️Will save this book and reread when needed!
February 16, 2023
Wow.
Just simply. Wow. Practical advice for an impractical world. Buy perhaps the world of impracticallity is no more than people who should read this book.
Just simply. Wow. Practical advice for an impractical world. Buy perhaps the world of impracticallity is no more than people who should read this book.
January 28, 2023
Amazing! Highly recommend for anyone looking to dive deeper into the why and the way of our existence and purpose. I will definitely be reading again and again
December 7, 2023
Short and practical. Very useful if you want to start practicing zazen RIGHT NOW
October 20, 2019
Enlightening
What a treat. I was lucky to purchase this book as a daily deal in one of my ebook emails. She explains zen beautifully, painting a nice picture of the history as well as the practical everyday practice. Loved it. So much wisdom in these pages. Highlighted a ton and will reread it again and again.
Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase the “just the right amount” bowl mentioned as she does not sell to Canada. I did some research and found one on Etsy. Looking forward to incorporating that practice into my routine.
What a treat. I was lucky to purchase this book as a daily deal in one of my ebook emails. She explains zen beautifully, painting a nice picture of the history as well as the practical everyday practice. Loved it. So much wisdom in these pages. Highlighted a ton and will reread it again and again.
Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase the “just the right amount” bowl mentioned as she does not sell to Canada. I did some research and found one on Etsy. Looking forward to incorporating that practice into my routine.
December 14, 2019
This is really good basic info about zen and meditation -- a starter book. Nice writing style by an expert. Includes some add'l resources such as books, sites, and more. Recommended for newbies.
I really appreciate the review copy!!
I really appreciate the review copy!!
November 10, 2019
Zen is a way of being and life
I started zen and zazen meditation, this book really helped
I'm going to continue the way of zen in my everyday life
I started zen and zazen meditation, this book really helped
I'm going to continue the way of zen in my everyday life
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews