"Playing Ball on Running Water" by David K. Reynolds is a book that advocates conscious living. The subtitle belays that concept, "The Japanese Way to Building a Better Life." Reynolds takes the Morita psychotherapeutic concepts and adapts them to Western life. The whole basis for this Morita approach is to live life by doing it. Doing it conscientious, with full awareness. This approach is based in Zen Buddhism and it is deceptively simple.

It is amazing that so many of us who are not present and get caught up worrying about the future and bemoaning the past. The book s contention is that we paralyze ourselves with thinking and speaking too much. Reynolds contends that we are not acting on life, not doing life, not actively observing where we are now and not noticing what is around us right now. "...every act provides the opportunity for purposeful accomplishment and personal growth. Every act can involve moments of directed attention."

The author s emphasis is on accepting the current state of being, not letting that keep you from moving on in life, and creating purposeful action. The doing is the important process, not the result. Not having your emotional state or your past keep you from going on at this moment is how Morita is applied. To put what Morita is succinctly, "...to teach students to accept feelings as they are, to know their purposes, and to do what needs to be done."

In summary, Reynolds does more than to illustrate what Morita psychotherapy is with client cases, with Zen Buddhist koans (puzzle), parables, and a clear process to follow. Reynolds gives the reader a blueprint to a life without regrets, to a life that you are fully responsible for.