Zen Begin, Live your Life the Zen Way

Be careful what you choose!

Shamon — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:12:04 +0000

The things you look for are the things you will find. If you look for betrayal you will find people that betray you. If you look for love, you will find love.
This is not some far fetched ideal but everyday practice.

Red cars

It’s the same effect you see if you for instance have bought a red car, suddenly the roads are filled with red cars. And not because some strange unknown force is directing red cars to you. It is simply because you are more aware of a specific part of the world. Our environment is far too complex to completely observe. So we have to choose what to see, hear, feel and what not. This has become an automated process for us. If we are more aware of this choosing we can influence the choices we make.
Because our main drive is too look for safety we have a tendency to mainly see the things that threaten our security. This enforces itself by ‘thus’ ‘proving’ a lot of things exist to be afraid of. But that’s just because we take special notice of them. In the universe almost everything exists. It’s the things you choose to see that creates the world you live in. Of course you can’t neglect it if something terrible happens to you. But a lot of daily affairs are only bad because you think they are. Is waiting always really that terrible ? Is not finding a parking spot really the end of the world ?

Reality

We call reality what we experience, but a lot of it is actually interpretation.
Being afraid of the dark is not proof the dark ‘is’ scary. But it only proofs you think it is. Others love to walk under a starry sky; in the same dark.
Perhaps you don’t even have to choose but to just see things as they are, without choosing to love or hate it.

See the world as it is,
That is the way.

Shamon

Sitting is the way!

Shamon — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:11:02 +0000

When I started to get interested in Zen it meant for me that ‘practicing Zen’ was reading about Zen. For a filosofy that is said not to be based upon words there is an enormous amount of texts to choose from. So the first problem is: what do you read? Some books are easy to read while others don’t seem to make any sense the first time you read them. The good ones do start to make sense if you read them again (and again.. and again) The bad ones remain rubbish even after a second or third read. But how do you know what the good ones are ?
It will take a lot of time: reading, thinking , re-reading, dispose of what doesn’t work, try out what seems to work…. etc.
You can spent a life-time reading about Zen and you will experience progress. But it won’t be much.

Zazen

And so this is what I did for a long time: reading, thinking and even sometimes some meditation, or zazen as it is called in Zen. But I didn’t like it very much and didn’t think it was important. I didn’t even bother to buy a proper cushion. It was hard to sit up straight, my back started to hurt and after a few minutes and I would quit.

But then I got into a very difficult period in my life and I couldn’t concentrate enough to even read about Zen. So as a last result I did buy a Zafu (cushion) and even a Zabuton (under-cushion).

I hoped to find some peace of mind this way.

And it worked!

Experience

Zen is something you have to experience and can’t be learned by reading about it. It’s a practice to learn your mind to look at itself. And because this is very difficult you have to practice a lot to even get near. Nobody thinks it is possible to learn how to ride a bicycle by reading about it. It’s the same with Zen, by sitting you learn your mind and body how to deal with disturbances and how to react to it.

Just sit!

That is the way.

Shamon

Second step: Give precedence!

Shamon — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:31:18 +0000

All human interactions have an element of a fight for power in it if you look at them closely. If it is greeting somebody (or not) when walking past, shaking hands at a meeting or who goes first in traffic.

Fight for power

These little fights serve only one thing: our monkey-mind. When we think we have won we score a point and the monkey can feel a little better about its self and feels a bit safer (until the next interaction). When we lose, we lose a point and the monkey is more scared for a while. You will feel this as an extra buildup of tension inside. We don’t do it on purpose or realize it exactly when it happens but it is why human interaction is sometimes more difficult than it should be at first glance. We are afraid of not ‘winning’ and not scoring the points but instead losing and are afraid of the unrest that will follow.

Nothing to win

If we think about what happens on this monkey-mind level it is indeed very superficial; we don’t really ‘win’ anything. Although it might feel a bit safer to be better than the other it has no guaranty whatsoever for your safety. It is an illusion. It is an old strategy that might have worked when people were living in small groups and a higher place in the group hierarchy would mean better living conditions. But in our modern cities the majority of the people we meet are not part of our ‘group’ and have little influence on our living circumstances. The ‘winner’ is supposed to be ‘stronger’ but is this true? Is the one who doesn’t greet or forcefully takes his place indeed higher ranked than we ? Or does it take more strength to gracefullly step aside and let’s others go first?

I believe the scariest people are the rudest. If you have enough inner strength you do not have the need to feed the monkey and score a few points. Try to be the ‘weakest’ in your next encounter with another human being. Give precedence, step aside with a bow and enjoy the gratitude in their eyes. You will feel great !

Develop inner strength, be modest,
That is the way

Shamon

Be selfish!

Shamon — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:52:35 +0000

It might not sound very Zen to encourage people to be selfish. After all: selfishness is the root of all the terrible things people do. Or not? If you read on I'll explain what I mean by telling you to be selfish.

Ultimate goal

All the things we do, each action we perform has a goal. We think it will bring us something.The reason we do somethingor not, or the way we do something is considered against our ultimate objective. Will it bring us closer to this objective or not? If we think it will we will do it, if we think it won't we will find a reason not to do it. So the question is: what is this all-important goal that is directing our lives?
The answer is simple: we want to be happy. It is a system that's been build in us for millions of years. And it has proved to be very efficient. It has made us the most successful liveform on earth. When we do something 'good' we are rewarded by feeling 'good'. But obviously something is going wrong here. If something is making me feel 'good', it doesn't have to mean it will be good for someone else. Some people seem to feel good when they hurt others.

'Good' and good

The problem here is that there's two types of `good`. On the one hand we have satisfaction, which is a short-term type of happiness. If we get that promotion instead of somebody else it will give us satisfaction, but not happiness because inside we know we have hurt others. Satisfaction only gives our ego's a boost; our monkey-mind is happy because it only cares about the short-term.
On the other there's true happiness that will last and give real balance. A great way to know if something will bring you satisfaction or happiness is to imagine how you will think about it in your dying bed.
Nobody wishes at the end to have worked some more, or to have owned a bigger car. We wish to have spend more time with our familie or friends. So true happiness isn't just about ourselves, it is about how we are to others. We enjoy real happiness when we can make others happy, especially the ones we love.

Zen is right

For me it was one of those "aaaah, I get it" moments and why I think the Zen philosophy is correct. We can walk the Zen path, help others and as a bonus we will find happiness ourselves. We're talking about a true win-win situation here! The most important thing is to not let us be deluded by our monkey-mind.

Bring happiness to all,
That is the way

Shamon

First step: stop complaining!

Shamon — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:15:13 +0000

If you seriously start to think about improving the quality of your life you might wonder where to start. You've read some articles or perhaps even books about Zen and a lot of things don't even seem to make sense. What does 'the illusion of the self' or 'finding your Buddha-nature' mean ? When starting to walk the Zen Path this whole Zen-thing looks like an unconnected collection of mysterious principles and paradoxes. I also didn't understand most of what I was reading in the beginning. I sometimes even got a bit angry and said: "If this Zen-stuff is really this great and clarifying then why can't those stupid so-called Zen masters explain it better. If you understand something you should be able to explain it. They are probably just faking they understand Zen themselves.!" I gave up myself a couple of times and discarded Zen and Buddhism as vague nonsense. But after a while I always came back because I felt there was something very special to be found in this 'nonsense'.

Do and feel

Gradually I realized Zen is not something to read or even think about but something to be done and lived. It is something you have to experience, beyond intellectual thinking. And on a good day (the best day in hindsight) I read the Eightfold Path about Right Speech once again and took the first step: I stopped complaining. To understand why this is important we have to take a look at what we do when we complain and why. When we complain (or gossip which is complaining about other people) we are talking about certain aspects of out lives we're not happy about. We hope others will agree with us and get a confirmation that the problem has nothing to do with us but that it is somebody else's fault. This gives our ego's a small boost and we have successfully denied all responsibility for the matter.

Monkey in a cage

In Zen we call the ego 'the monkey-mind'. I have always liked this comparison and always see before me the image of an angry monkey rattling it's bars when somebody's (or mine) ego is running high. But has the monkey successfully handled the matter ? If we complain about something it means it is something we don't like. If we didn't want it to be different than it is we wouldn't have to complain. So in fact all things we complain about are our views and nothing else. Deep down we know this and this gives inner tension. So the result of our complaining is not positive for us (as the monkey tells us) but only negative. And I haven't even mentioned the fact that the practical effect of our complaining is almost always nil. Things don't change by themselves just because we don't like them. When I realized this and stopped complaining I experienced it is in fact very liberating to not have to complain. You can just experience the world, do something about things you really want to change and accept the rest as it is.

Think about what you say and why.
That is the way.

Shamon

How do I relax ?

Shamon — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:30:03 +0000

When people are getting interested in Zen they often think it is a way to be more relaxed and balanced. Sometimes they ask me for a quick guidance into "the Zen way of life". Some even get a bit angry if I tell them it is not something I can just give them. Because learning to do things the Zen way is about stopping to want all kinds of things, this includes the desire for relaxation. It seems like one of those typical Zen paradoxes: you must try to do something but without trying…

Although it is true that Zen will probably make you more relaxed, it is more of a side-effect of walking the Zen-path instead of a main goal.

So, if we're not supposed to be trying what can we do ?

Let's have a look at the Eightfold Path if we can find something there. The last one is about the Right Concentration. If you think a little bit about what is happening when you feel unrest you will probably find it is because you were thinking about something that worries you. Or you were thinking about something that happened some time ago. In both cases it has very little to do with your current situation, you are thinking about the future or about the past. This is what most of us do 95% of the day with our minds. There is nothing wrong with planning ahead or evaluating the future but most of the time you can do that in just a few minutes. It doesn't have to take all day. If you are more aware of your current situation and focus all your attention on that you will find your unrest will ease away. Even if you manage to concentrate on what you are doing right now for just a second (or less) you will feel a gulf of relaxation sweep through your body. But don't focus on your relaxation or you will lose it just as fast. Keep doing what you are doing. The simpler your activity is the better. Household tasks, odd jobs or gardening are great. This is what is meant by the Right Concentration. Feel the tools you are using, the sound it makes, how your muscles do their work.

The best way to learn the Right Concentration is through meditation. It is what meditation (or Zazen) is: a practice in concentration.

My favorite Zen quote says it all: "Chop wood, carry water."

Your current task is all there is.

That is the way.

Shamon

Life is simple

Shamon — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:55:11 +0000

On nice days (like today) I sincerely think that life is very simple: we only make it complicated. I think there is only one internal force that drives all human activity; it is the search for safety. This was developed during the evolution of all lifeforms and thus also in all humans. It has been a very useful drive if we see how successful we humans have been in controlling the world. But nowadays our physical safety is for most people in the developed countries almost guaranteed. The change that we will die of thirst or starvation or that we will be killed by a tiger is almost 0%. Our search for safety has been moved to a more intellectual level and instead of being afraid of lions and tigers we now fear 'other people'. For our safety and therefore our happiness we think we are dependant of other people. 'Do they love us enough ?, Do they think we are fantastic enough ?, Will they not try to harm us ?' All these thoughts are based on our fear to lose our safety, not so much our bodily safety but more our mental safety. This makes us completely dependent of other people; who themselves have the same fears and are afraid of what we might do to them. This way we keep each other unknowingly imprisoned.

If you can see this and know others are just as afraid of you as you are of them then perhaps you can 'step out the circle' and just start living! Try to see the world and others just as they are and stop being lead by your irrational need for safety. You are already safe…unless you let yourself being dragged on by your imaginary needs.

Do not judge and let others be how they want to be.
That is the way