An Invitation to Practice Zen

This is a good little book introducing Zen practice. The introductory chapters offer a concise overview of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. Basic concepts like faith, doubt, mindfulness and awareness are clearly explained. The mechanics of meditation from sitting, how to place the hands, etc. are well done. This latter section is reminiscent of Philip Kapleau's Three Pillars of Zen because the author studied under Kapleau. Overall, a solid book to give novices who want to clarify some points and just get started.

I felt that this book was a good start; it certainly gave me a clear picture of the interesting nature of Zen. However, I was looking for more of a instructional as well as informative book -- I found only the informative parts here.

One of the first things to be said about this book is that it is eminently readable and feasible. This, alas, is by no means always true of books dealing with so broad and deep a subject in less than a hundred pages. This is the right guide for people looking for a book which explains Zen in a way that everyone can understand, something comprehensive but not too long. They will find in it exactly what they need, written with lucid, direct and contemporary style. The author is the director of the Montreal Zen Center. He is a layman, not a monk, and has devoted his last 30 years to the practice first and to initiate others. He received the full trasmission as a teacher of Zen from Roshi Phillip Kapleau. There is a French and Spanish version of this book. It is just a basic guide for beginners.