An essential guide to what it's like to spend a week inside a Zen Buddhist monastery. The notion of spending days at a time in silence and meditation amid the serene beauty of a Zen monastery may be appealing-but how do you do it, and what can you really expect from the experience? Waking Up provides the answers for everyone who's just curious, as well as for all those who have dreamed of actually giving it a try and now want to know where to begin. Jack...

With unprecedented access, the documentary takes us deep inside the world-famous monastery of Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, and captures the life of a monastic community who have given up all their possessions for one common purpose, to practice the art of mindfulness. Filmed over three years, this visceral film is a meditation on a community determined to develop a deep sense of presence, not just for themselves but for all those they love....

A masterly immersion into life at a Japanese Zen monastery over three seasons.

"Disillusioned with the rat race, thirty-year-old Kaoru Nonomura left his family, his girlfriend, and his job as a designer in Tokyo to undertake a year of ascetic training at Eiheiji, Japan's strictest and most revered Zen monastery. Deep in the mountains of remote Fukui Prefecture, trainee monks live a life of hardship that few could endure ... Yet Nonomura's account of his time at Eiheiji is full of warmth, humor, and gratitude ... A bestseller...