Marc Lesser's Blog, page 34
January 14, 2011
Work As A Sacred Practice
"Don't be a board-carrying fellow." This expression, sometimes used in Zen, refers to a carpenter carrying a long, wide wooden board on his shoulder, blocking his view in one direction. It is an admonition about seeing the world and ourselves as ordinary and mundane without also considering the sacred, mysterious, and unfathomable aspect of our hearts, minds, and surroundings.
This expression can also help us understand that our work is not separate from our lives. One side, an important and vital side of work, involves goals, achievements, money, ambition, and developing your career. Understanding and implementing the technical and strategic aspects of your work are critical for your organization or business to fulfill its mission.
January 4, 2011
Don't Squander Your Power
Living our life deeply and with happiness, having time to care for our loved ones—this is another kind of success, another kind of power, and it is much more important.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
When I was in my early 20s and a young Zen student living at the San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, an older woman Zen teacher of mine looked me in the eyes and said, "Marc, you have a way of pissing away your power."
December 10, 2010
Practicing Generosity
During a recent retreat I was leading, where the theme was "Accomplishing More By Doing Less" one of the participants was a recently retired physics professor, whom I'll call Michael. For the past fifteen years Michael's work had been his primary focus, and he generally averaged twelve-hour work days. During lunch on the second day of the three-day workshop, he asked me, "When is the theme of this workshop, how to get more done by doing less, going to become clear?" His impatience was obvious. I responded that I thought that everything we were doing in the workshop focused on ways of exploring how to do less.
November 19, 2010
Eyes Are Horizontal. Nose Is Vertical: Radical Simplicity
There is a story from 13th century Japan about Dogen, the founder of Zen in Japan. As a young man he had a variety of burning questions about life and death and how to live a profoundly meaningful and beneficial life. He couldn't find anyone in all of Japan who could adequately answer his questions, so he ventured across the ocean and traveled to China, where Zen was flourishing at the time. Upon his return from China was asked:
"What did you bring back from China to Japan?"
He said, "I came back empty-handed."
"What did you learn?"
"Not much, except gentle-heartedness." He responded.
"And," he added, "I learned that eyes are horizontal, nose is vertical."
October 20, 2010
Embracing Change
On the subject of change, the Buddhists got it right. Everything changes. Everything is impermanent. Everything that we take for granted is changing, constantly. The formation of the clouds in the sky at this moment is unique and will never be repeated. Every cell in our bodies is replaced, some quickly, some more slowly, every seven years. Our planet and the universe are in a state of continual, inconceivable transformation. As I write, the price of gasoline has drifted to over three dollars per gallon. By the time you read this piece, this price may seem outrageously inexpensive or very high.
October 14, 2010
Five Ways To Do Less, And Accomplish More
What do I mean when I say you can do less and yet accomplish more? Less and more of what? In fact, the particular activities in both cases must be determined by the individual, and often they are dictated by and change with circumstances. Doing less is more of an art than a science. Doing less is a way of being, an effective way of approaching life and work, and with this practice, we can live with a great deal more satisfaction — in nearly any situation.
October 1, 2010
An Easy Way To Meditate Every Day
Having a regular meditation practice has been shown to have significant benefits to a healthy life — less stress, more flexibility, more connectedness with others (even immunity from certain diseases). I've noticed, as a long-time meditation teacher that finding or making time to sit can be difficult for many people. I have two suggestions. First, try sitting for at least three minutes of meditation each day. Everyone has three minutes — to just sit, relax, let go of your list of things to do, your comparisons. For three minutes, just let yourself breathe; just appreciate being alive.
September 22, 2010
3 Life-changing Questions
Harry Roberts was a friend and teacher of mine while I lived at Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. He was fond of saying that life is very simple — all you have to do is answer three questions:
1) What do you want?
2) What do you have to do to get it? And
3) Can you pay the price?
After stating these questions he would usually laugh heartily, saying, yeah, real simple; most people don't ever ask themselves the first question.
September 3, 2010
Less Fear
A mind that has any form of fear cannot, obviously, have the quality of love, sympathy, tenderness. Fear is the destructive energy in man.
— J. Krishnamurti
Fear can be a useful ally. It can focus us, keep us safe, even at times keep us alive. Fear of illness or injury can motivate us to stop smoking, to exercise, and to eat healthier food. In our communities, it can motivate us to make our air and water cleaner, our bridges and levees s...
August 26, 2010
Enlightened, Fool, or Enlightened Fool
For many years I was the primary "manager" of the early-morning routines in my house — waking my children, making breakfast and lunches, getting the kids to the kitchen table and to school, on time. Every day the challenges were unique — some days there were no clean socks, or someone overslept, or one or both kids just didn't feel like eating. Once we sat down to breakfast, we often experienced a few moments of calm. At other times I w...
