This illuminating handbook shows that Zen transcends time and place, imparting truths as valuable to entrepreneurs and homemakers as they are to monks and poets. Using a series of "real-life koans" -- modern stories that mirror traditional Zen parables -- Besserman shows how Zen techniques can help us resolve problems in our personal relationships, enhance our work lives, and find new dimensions of physical and emotional well-being. She blends spirituality and practicality as she shows how an understanding that "everything just is" can free us from empty myths and unlock the wonder in our everyday lives. Even longtime students of the discipline will find new insights in this book, where Besserman shares her vivid, humane vision of the Zen way.