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Serena Choo is a lifelong reader, storyteller, and questioner of the bigger picture.
She wrote The Monkey and the Way of Zen in honor of her Chinese heritage and a family lineage of royal scholars and officials. What began as a series of consciousness reflections slowly softened into stories grounded in lived experience.
In her younger years, Serena loved writing, not for any particular purpose, but simply for the joy of expression. She would write essays, reflections, and the occasional poem, just to capture the feeling of a moment or an idea. But like many, as she entered adulthood, her reading and writing became more functional, more purposeful.
She spent her early career in accountancy and banking before moving into the world of coaching, self-help, and personal development, always looking for the right niche or outlet to share what she knew in a way that would “make sense” to the world. It wasn’t until much later that the writing returned.
A polymath by nature, Serena is always learning, always refining, absorbing and distilling insights from diverse fields and perspectives. With an innate ability to meet people exactly where they are, she transforms complexity into clarity, gently bridging intellect and intuition.
Serena believes that stories have the power to shift perspectives and reveal the quiet truths we often overlook.
The Monkey and the Way of Zen is her invitation to pause, to breathe, and to rediscover the simplicity and freedom that have always been within reach.
Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite
Overthinking often hinders the pursuit of happiness rather than enabling our growth and progress. For anyone finding themselves trapped in the cauldron of fear, stress, or anxiety, the stories in The Monkey and The Way of Zen offer a transformative path to peace and happiness. In this book, author Serena Choo presents 28 short stories rooted in Zen principles. These stories follow a wandering monkey on his journey to find wisdom and fulfillment. Discover how perception shapes your reality, accept being part of the greater whole, take a leap of faith, let go of past burdens, embrace the flow of life, pay attention to your body's needs, wait in patience for the opportunities to come, learn to sit with stillness, relinquish the need to know everything, and stop labeling things as either good or bad.
Through short stories narrating the adventures of a young monkey, author Serena Choo provides powerful insights and observations on life and the pursuit of meaning and purpose as seen through the lens of Zen philosophy. These narratives are not only engaging but also serve as an illuminating guide, unveiling the profound wisdom embedded in Zen Buddhist beliefs and inviting readers to reflect, grow, and discover new perspectives on life. The main protagonist in these tales, a wandering young monkey, acts as a metaphor for a young human feeling restless and seeking something meaningful in their life. Each narrative contains a gentle lesson, offering Zen knowledge and wisdom to empower readers as they navigate life's complexities and challenges. At the end of each story, you will find reflections to help you absorb the lesson of the relevant chapter. I highly recommend The Monkey and The Way of Zen!
