"As I read Genmyo Elihu Smith’s book, I heard in his voice echoes of the voices of his teachers, Soen Roshi, Maezumi Roshi, and Joko Beck. And yet, Genmyo’s voice is his own, a voice imbued with confidence about the unique benefits of practice and its relevance to the difficulties of ordinary life. Reading this book is like having a Zen teacher appear in your living room, warm, wise and intimate." —Jan Chozen Bays, author of Mindful Eating and How to Train a Wild Elephant

"This is a text to digest and inhale, as you would the presence of someone facing you. Inspired by his long and intimate study with some of the greatest Zen teachers of our time, Genmyo comments skillfully on a range of Zen koans and teachings, bringing each, always, to his one insistent point: Zen practice is not at all difficult. It is allowing the awareness that we truly are." —Zoketsu Norman Fischer, founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation, author of Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up

"This astonishing collection of essays succeeds in its mission to show us how everything is the Way. Here you will find cogent insights into practice, impermanence, non-self, being transparency, and receiving the precepts." —SpiritualityandPractice.com

"Revelatory for the Buddhist practitioner; fluent and fascinating for the general reader. Smith has written a fine and well-controlled book on his own experience and the fundamental truths of the Zen approach to Buddhist understanding and life." —Library Journal