Kai T. MuranoThe Monk and The Butterfly - 60 Beautiful Stories of Zen: Embracing Mindfulness, Inner Peace, and Personal Growth, A Journey Through Change and Letting Go

The stories and drawings were all beautiful. I enjoyed the introductions to each new topic, as well as the summary at the end. It's very well written, easy to understand and inspiring.

The Monk and the Butterfly, Stories of Zen and the Art of Change is 60 very charming, provocative stories about spirituality practices from the teachings of Zen. The practices that I learned were mindfulness, positive thinking, peace of mind, compassion, simplicity, adaptability, patience, letting go, gratitude and connection. These practices help you reach enlightenment. They are all interconnected. I totally enjoyed one story after another. This amazing book made me want to learn to be a better person. I also found the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter quite exquisite.

These Zen stories don't need you to understand Buddhism to be useful and make sense. Still, I found my background in studying Indian Philosophy helped me enjoy these stories more. I recommend them to anyone who has an interest in peaceful living and storytelling. The tales here are quick, and there are a lot of them. Well done.

I am enjoying reading these stories and will definitely come back and reread them in the future. Just what I was expecting. To me it was worth the price even considering all books have gone up in cost.

I enjoy reading these stories for me to ponder on my way to work or to meditate on.

The book's very tone is one of serenity. Murano thoughtfully groups the tales by subject: mindfulness, positive thinking, inner peace, compassion, simplicity, adaptability, patience, letting go and gratitude, which I appreciate as at different times we struggle with different triggers and it will be easy to revisit the relevant insightful stories upon which to meditate. His explanations of the stories are clear, which is refreshing as I feel like a lot of books I've read with zen stories exalt in remaining cryptic! Not only are they presented clearly, but Murano weaves the lessons from the different stories together as for example, lessons on adaptability and letting go may both be relevant meditations for a single challenge. If you feel like you'd like some peace from a troubled mind, read this book.

I so love this book and I rarely ever read a book more than once, but will definitely be reading this one a second time!!!

This book is a wonderful compilation of short stories that teach about different aspects of mindfulness, being in the moment, and living life with inner peace. It reminded me of a Japanese storybook I had growing up that taught life lessons. The stories are bite-size pieces that are easily digested and understood. They are simple yet profound. I particularly enjoyed the story of Farmer Lost Horse. It reminded me that things are not always as they appear, and having peace throughout what may seem like an up or down is important. Also, what may be considered a negative in life may turn out to be a blessing. These are not only stories for adults who want to understand a zen way of thinking but they can also be read to children as short stories.