It’s Okay Not to Look for the Meaning in Life: A Zen Monk’s Guide to Living Stress-Free One Day at a Time

With this straight-talking debut manual rooted in Buddhist principles, Zen priest Minami sets out to upend conventional wisdom about happiness, success, and purpose. Contending that unexamined “obsessions and attachments” provoke suffering, Minami advises readers not to “push yourself too hard,” because “when you die... you probably won’t even remember the problems you are currently fretting about.” Elsewhere, he suggests readers should adhere to daily routines even when stricken with difficult feelings, which will “wither away before they become critical,” and help friends and family in concrete, immediate ways instead of reaching for some grandiose yet nebulous higher purpose. Despite occasionally leaning on gendered stereotypes (“To end a marital quarrel quickly, I believe it’s the man who should shut up... men’s logic is often one-dimensional and simple, and their memories of the past are fuzzy”), Minami distinguishes this outing with frank prose and an ability to boil things down to the basics. The result is an invigorating perspective on what gives life meaning and the value of focusing on the here and now. (Apr.)