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Especially when things are hectic, try waking up fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Lengthen your spine, and take slow breaths from the point below your navel—the spot we refer to as the tanden. Once your breathing is in order, your mind will naturally settle into stillness as well.
Life requires time and effort. That is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures.
Focus your awareness on the point below your navel—your tanden—as you slowly exhale a long, thin breath. Once you have fully exhaled, inhalation naturally follows. Let your breathing relax, allowing this flow to take over. As the process repeats itself, you will start to feel calmer. Your body will feel more grounded and connected to the earth.
SEEK OUT THE SUNSET. Be grateful for making it through another day.
The important thing is to be able to sit and gaze upon the sun as it sets. When evening falls, take a moment to look up at the sky. Feel gratitude for having made it through another day. This moment will warm your spirit.
A Zen master named Takuan, from the Edo period [1603–1868], explained the secret of the Japanese form of fencing known as kendo in this way: “When you face another swordsman, if you think there is an opportunity to strike your opponent’s shoulder, then your mind will be preoccupied by your opponent’s shoulder. If you think there is an opportunity to strike his arm, then your mind will be preoccupied by his arm. If you think you can win against him, then your mind will be preoccupied by winning. Do not allow your mind to wander to or settle upon any of these places. Even as you focus your
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In that sense, try to see your work as samu, or mindful work. Think of it as something that will nurture or educate you.
Everything we do as human beings is precious. If we are to find meaning in what we do, we must first become our own protagonist in the work. You have the leading role in your work. If you approach work with this attitude, all work becomes meaningful and invaluable.
You can start something as long as you have the energy. Finishing, too, is easy. The hard part is just to keep going. If you tell yourself, day in and day out, that something is wrong for you, then how will it ever be right for you?
The opposite is true with misfortune. Once you take a step into misfortune, you can get caught in a downward spiral. When you feel as though things aren’t going well, try scolding yourself in a loud voice. In Zen, we use the word katsu as an exclamation to scold practitioners when they are struggling on the path to enlightenment. A well-timed katsu can turn the tide.
Cut off misfortune when it begins. And make sure to take advantage of good fortune. That is the secret to a good life.
When you maintain a regular lifestyle, you are able to notice the slightest changes. If you want to change yourself, first it is important to develop an awareness of any shifts within.
In Japanese, we talk about the concept of mitate—seeing a certain item not in its originally intended form but as another thing; seeing something as resembling something else and putting it to use in another way. The notion of mitate originates in the aesthetics of the tea ceremony, in which practitioners put everyday objects to use in elevated forms—for example, a gourd that was originally a water flask being used as a flower vase.
In today’s world, when we’re constantly inundated with information, there is a tendency to neglect using our own brains to think. It can often seem we’re about to burst with knowledge. But how you live your life is your own decision. And this is all the more reason to have wisdom—to help you decide how to go about your life once you’ve acquainted yourself with the various ways there are to live.
Life doesn’t always go smoothly. Our efforts sometimes go unrewarded. Despite this, try to believe in yourself and do your best. Do not fear moving forward.
When we clean, we use both our head and our body. While what we learn from expending mental effort may be important, what our body learns from physical labor has a greater effect on mental strength.
Observe nature attentively. Open your ears to nature’s voice and get accustomed to its rhythm. This can lead to deep contemplation, which can help to make it apparent what should be done next.
Use the same things for years, even for decades. You will feel good about the time spent with them. Think about the connection between people and things. Treat both well, as you would yourself.
By emptying our mind, we enable a state of nothingness. In the world of Zen, we call this mushiryo, or “beyond thinking.” It refers to a state in which we retain nothing within ourselves.
The Buddha teaches that human suffering occurs when we lack awareness of this impermanence and insubstantiality.
Express how you feel casually and without saying a word, rather than spelling it out. When it comes to conveying your true intentions, actions speak louder than words.
There is a saying that originates in Zen: ichi-go ichi-e, or “once in a lifetime.” It means that we should treasure each and every encounter, because we may meet a person only once in our lifetime. This
When a flower blooms, the butterfly naturally finds it. When trees have blossomed, birds flock to the branches on their own, and when the leaves wither and fall, the birds scatter. Relationships with people aren’t so different.
Our preferences, our likes and dislikes—everything is a product of our own mind. In Zen Buddhism we say, “When you reach enlightenment, there are no likes or dislikes.” When we can see things for what they are, our predilections disappear.
We should not only listen to what others have to say, but also consider their feelings with empathy.
other words, the meal includes the last of the previous season, the height of the current season, and the first of the coming season. These three things conjure the flow of time—the past, the present, and the future—for the guest’s enjoyment.
It is thanks to the existence of your ancestors that you are here today. If you go back ten generations, you might find more than a thousand ancestors. Imagine how many more there would be if you were to go back twenty generations, or even thirty—it could be more than a million people. And if you were to take away just a single one of these ancestors, you would not have been born.
In Buddhism we say, “All days are good days,” meaning that whether good things happen or bad, each day is precious because it will never come about again. The goodness of every day is determined not by what happens or by whom you meet, but by your own mind.
Shikantaza is the Japanese translation of a Chinese colloquialism for zazen, which in English means “single-minded sitting.” In shikantaza, you forget even that you are sitting, and your mind enters a state of nothingness. You are not seeking enlightenment, you are not strengthening your will, you are not doing this for good health—you aren’t actively thinking of anything. In Soto Zen, you simply sit, without striving.
The plum tree defies the cold winter, its blossoms giving off an indescribably lovely fragrance. The perfume does not push against the wind—it simply allows itself to be carried along on the current of the breeze. But the scent of a person of virtue wafts in every direction.
It is often said that if you want to develop confidence in yourself, the first and most difficult challenge is to stretch the limits of your own mind. Doing so will lead to a sense of accomplishment, and little by little your accomplishments will boost your confidence.
Namely, spring will arrive and the buds will sprout, and then autumn will descend and the leaves will fall. In other words, things will take their natural course. This is exactly what is meant by the character for the Buddha in Buddhism—仏—which signifies bliss, or the “Buddha nature” of things.
When whatever it is you are growing begins to thrive, you feel unreservedly happy. And also relieved. However much affection you put into it, the object of your affection gives you back energy in equal measure.
It is through the act of nurturing something that we develop a mind that cares for things, a mind that feels affection for others.
In Zen temples, there is a wooden board called a han that is struck with a mallet to signal that it is time for some part of the daily routine. It might have the words Shoji jidai written on it in ink. Have you ever seen this? The words mean “Life is full of fortune and misfortune, but cherish being alive, every single day. Life will pass you by.”
We are born into this world, and then we die. These are simply two sides of the same experience. In other words, just as we contemplate how to live, we should contemplate how to die.
Your life is your own, but it is not your possession.
In other words, being alive means we must make the most of the life we are entrusted with. Life is not ours to possess—it is a precious gift that we must treat as if it were placed in our care. And whatever life span we are given, we must take the utmost care to give it back.
