Zen

To eat when hungry

To drink when thirsty

To rest when tired

The true life of a sage

 

In Zen there is no goal

There is nothing to attain to

Nothing to strive for

 

What a peculiar way, in contrast with our busy lives of desire and pursuit

In the West, there is a great urgency to do and be ten-thousand things

Zen is a refreshing way of simply being as you are

 

In zen…

When one sits, they simply sit

When one eats, they simply and mindfully eat

If they are thirsty, they drink

And when they are tired, they rest

 

Its simple, yet profound

For how many people do you know who live in this way?

When most people sit, they think ten-thousand things

They lay in bed and think ten-thousand things

They drink coffee when tired, and ten-thousand things

 

Zen is an entirely different way of being

To live simply is to live wholly in the moment

For how can we be present when our minds are filled with ten-thousand things?

 

The heart of Zen lies in mindfulness

Being fully absorbed In the present moment

To live in this way, is to know the true joy Being

It is to fully enjoy the gift of breath

Mindfully breathing in

Mindfully breathing out

There is nothing so blissful as breathing for the one who’s mind is not filled with ten-thousand things

 

The meditation practice that Zen monks follow is called zazen

It has no aim or objective

It will not help you to get anywhere

It will not help you to achieve enlightenment

Zazen is simply sitting and watching

 

It is the act of allowing all that is to be as it is

It is to become completely free of resistance to life

It is to become the watcher

 

As one learns to get out of their own way, they recapture the essence of spontaneity

We were all once perfectly random

Children are this way

You need not teach a child to be spontaneous

But are patterns become habitual, and our thoughts routine, and we lose the essence of freedom

We walk in straight lines, we act in a consistent pattern of personality, and we become predictable

 

Zen offers a different way

It offers a reclamation of the naturalness that is within each person to be a truly unique and spontaneous creation

It is the essence of freedom

For spontaneity comes from an effortless allowing of your Being to flower in each moment

It’s a true letting go

There is no effort involved

It is a simple allowing

Its not something to be attained, for it was within you all along

Your essential nature is pure and spontaneous and free

Its waiting for you to simply be