Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design

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The first half of this book argues that everyone has a purpose in life and we are responsible to pursue this purpose, for various reasons. Reading about the hero's journey was fascinating (incredibly so), and has made me consider reading Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. I am a career/placement counselor located in New York City. I wanted to thank you for writing such a wonderful book. It seems . . . the unfortunate trend is for people to keep their work and emotional/spiritual lives separate. I believe the integration of the two is the very essence of happiness in one's work life, and I was glad to learn that someone [had] elaborated so eloquently on the topic. I also loved the way your book was laid out-it is very user friendly and interactive, without losing its deeper meaning. Thank you."

The Zen teachings were unknown to Westerns for many centuries, but now we live in a different time. The access to these life-altering methods is available to anyone, and thus you can really begin your Zen journey. Start with the things that trouble you Revised edition of: Zen and the art of making a living in the post-modern world. Lightning Press, 1992 We believe that any book which focuses on an average person’s life should be praised and worshiped. However, not every material allows you to really feel like your life is at stake, like Laurence G. Boldt’s one. It talks about common everyday problems, and the battle to avoid being a victim of an emotional breakdown. The most innovative, unconventional, and profoundly practical career guide available–newly revised and updated

Our Critical Review

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Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown Our staff enjoys] your book, and, of course, we share the book with our students. Your ideas about meaningful livelihood are important to me and to my students. Your book with its basic principle of choosing to be in control of one's career is very valuable to these people. It helps us to help them to create their new reality." The book is organized as a play with sections denoting "prologue", acts and scenes within acts. The major acts include: (1) Act 1: The Quest for Life's Work, (2) Act II: The Game of Life's Work, (3) Act III: The Battle for Life's Work and Act IV: The School of Life's Work. Act I is to create and define the tapestry of one's life and shape it actively and creatively- not based on societal convention but based on joy, service to mankind and a hero's spirit. Act I involves vision questing, clarifying values, pointing to purpose, targeting talents and marking mission objectives. Act II is identifying your new career or work. It involves reality testing, careful evaluation and visualization. Act III involves implementing your strategy to achieve your life's work: "taking it to the street", marketing strategies, "sailing the entrepreneurship", "wielding the free lance", looking at non-profit opportunities or landing the right job "street smarts". Act IV is involved with getting there, transitional strategies, training skills, self image, enlisting support and finally loving what you do til you are doing what you love. This book is highly recommended and should have a transforming and beneficial effect on your life. The most innovative, unconventional, and profoundly practical career guide available--newly revised and updated I actually liked the philosophy at start, which posits that currently we are in a "little king" model of control and deny, and we are conditioned that being good means following society's rules as opposed to creating the life we mean to live. But then we get into very simplistic and wrong "eastern wisdom good, western rationalism/religion bad"that makes you roll your eyes, since if anything social control and materialism is probably much greater in those societies than in the west. There's a lot of stuff about serving others, but if you are needing to read a career book, most of the time you aren't in any position to serve or think about grand service and love.

“Zen and the Art of Making a Living” Quotes

I am writing this letter while enthusiastically making my way thru Zen and the Art of Making a Living and wanted to express my reaction and thanks. For three years, I have run the Women's Outreach Program for a community college in New Jersey, guiding women towards careers thru empowerment, education, and support. I am grateful that there are career counselor/authors out there, like yourself, who affirm and give flesh to the things we try to do on a daily basis. . . . Your work reminds me what the path means and [of] the necessity for tending my own psychic garden so that the fruits of a value-laden life will be mine. Thank you." In a chapter called "Vision Questing," Boldt provides startling statistics on living conditions throughout the world. The inclusion of these numbers serves to illustrate the limited perception with which we operate. While these types of moral lessons are not normally contained in a job manual, they are inherent to Boldt's. Limited awareness of the potential of those around you points to limited awareness of your own potential. You may take or leave Boldt's advice, but his diagrams and lessons will make a lot more sense and prove far more beneficial if you give his views an honest shot rather than dismissing them as unrealistic.

After fifteen years, 4,000 clients and authorship of my own career counseling program, this is simply the best book in its field that I have ever seen! I have reviewed almost all career counseling books, programs and strategies available. None is better than Zen and the Art of Making a Living." Change is not easy, even if you're motivated. Transformation is the action of both spiritual liberation and art. This book opens with the following quote from Shü-an. "When one happens on a book of this kind, he is well advised to throw it away...". Well, not necessarily in this case- at least not until one has read it and thought deeply about the issues it discusses. If one is searching for a book not necessarily about "getting a job" but about discovering one's life work and purpose then "Zen and the Art of Making a Living" is not only a fine addition to your library but a book that can transform your life. The book does not concern itself with Zen per se. Its breadth is amazing and it pulls from diverse sources of wisdom spanning the arts, philosophy, all religions, anthropology, science, etc. To be authentic, the play or action of your life must come from within, must flow from your heart. The spiritual or inner life cannot be separated from work - or anything else. That may sound a little too spiritual for someone who's simply unhappy at work, but Boldt is a master at transforming this philosophy into action. He presents worksheets, exercises, and a number of thought-provoking questions all geared toward helping the reader define exactly what his or her bliss is. And, unlike some authors who simply present their one way of determining this information, Boldt presents many ways so that the reader will be drawn to the method that best meets his or her needs.Zen tells us that if we want to be free to play, we must be done with the agitation of envy and shame. otherwise, we can be triggered, through prize and ridicule, into performing like trained monkeys -- without ever knowing how or why"

Zen and the Art of Making a Living is one hell of a book. I [feel] that [it] really challenges What Color Is Your Parachute? for leadership in the career field. Nice Job!"Overcoming obstacles and making the best of a situation creates energy that you can use for greater achievements