Zen - Lessons for Life

Recently I was out on a dark, windy, rainy day, feeling pretty down and noticing the misery on the faces of those around. I happened to see a cat crossing the street and reflected that the cat didn't waste its energy on depression, nor for that matter elation. It just got on with its job of the moment, ie being a cat.

I was reminded of the merits of Zen, an ancient Spiritual philosophy, still much studied and valued today. Zen decries excessive theorization in favor of direct experience. DT Suzuki's "Zen and Japanese Culture" describes two key ways in which Zen influenced the Japanese Samurai warriors. Firstly, it "teaches us not to look back once a course has been decided on", and secondly "it treats life anddeath indifferenly".

Doesn't Zen, along with this paradoxically brutal but honorable warrior class, have much to teach us today?

Find out more about Zen

What is Zen?

Books

An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki
Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Thich Nhat Hanh
The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Zen And the Art of Happiness, Chris Prentiss
The Way of Zen, Alan W. Watts

Not strictly about Zen, but undoubtedly a modern classic
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, Robert M. Pirsig

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Enjoy the Moment

How often when we're having fun do we spoil it for ourselves by becoming aware that the moment cannot last? Or set ourselves up for disappointment by deluding ourselves the moment will last forever only to find it doesn't.

Everything is transient. Experience. Life. Even the planet we live on and the cosmos it exists in.

Is this reason to be permanently depressed? Of course not. The nature of existence is change. That is why the moment cannot last.

That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the moment. Savor it, milk it to the full. But in the realization that by nature it is fleeting and like all things shall in its time pass away.

Even our very essence shall one day cease to exist as a distinct entity. Not when our fragile body ceases to function, for what's within continues beyond that. But when we are eventually absorbed back into the great oneness or wholeness from which we originated. The moment that Buddhists call enlightenment.

Appreciate what you have, do not resent what you have not.

Learn to enjoy each moment. Not through the distorted notion of being able to possess it, but simply for what it is. Live it, enjoy it, and let it go. And be enriched for having the privilege of the experience.

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Doing What You Can't Do

Throughout life we are called upon to do things we can't, or thnk we can't do. It starts when as babies we're asked to crawl, then walk. As babies it's all a fun adventure, but as we grow older we learn to feel stress when asked to move outside our comfort zone.

Fact is, the comfort zone whilst superficially comfortable is boring and ultimately defeats our purpose in being, which is to learn and grow.

So, how can we do things we think we can't? Start by recognizing that our inability is mostly in our mind. We are all capable of far more than than we believe.

So don't worry if you're called upon to do something that you (think you) can't. Just pretend to do it, and keep pretending for as long as you can. And after a while you'll stop pretending, because you'll really be doing it.

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When Someone Lets You Down

We're all imperfect, every last one of us. Otherwise we wouldn't need to take physical form and go through the hoopla called life.

Almost certainly at some time on our journey we're going tomeet some bad guys who will try to cheat, rob, con or otherwise wrong us. That's why we have laws, penalties and penal systems.

But maybe what's worst of all is when someone we trust lets us down or betrays us. That can shatter our confidence in people in general, and worse shatter our self confidence because we were foolish enough to believe in this person that has done this bad thing to us.

How can we rebuild from that? It would be sad if we could never trust anyone else again. But we know we are born to learn from experience. And such an experience should teach us to trust, but never absolutely.

Good and bad are relative terms. Who can say what's absolutely good or bad?For we are all part of that one whole that is Spirit, but incarnate we each have our own agenda to pursue.

If you are let down by someone you perceived to be close, don't be devastated by the experience. Recognise that person had reasons for acting as they did, even if thise reasons didn't serve to lighten your load. Don't have a down on all people. Accept them for what they are. Simply souls like yourself seeking to understand. Maintain a healthy skepticism in future relations, but do not forget that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

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