I came across an article about Zen. Zen is not a religion, a philosophy or the way of life.
As its founding principles state, Zen Buddhism is a path to eliminate suffering and discontent from a person’s life. While this is a lofty promise, the path to Zen comes loaded with extras.
For instance, Zen forces a person to re-examine the preconceptions and prejudices that have been burned into him from birth. It helps him step out of his egoistic self to better understand his true Self. It helps detach his sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from things and situations over which he has no control, freeing him form outside influences, and giving him a firmer handle on who he is.
I found the following useful:
How to incorporate Zen into your life
1- Take time to breathe every day
Set some time every day to just sit in a quiet place. Take controlled deep breaths, paying close attention to exhaling and inhaling. You could even repeat a word out loud (”Om” is a popular choice) to drown out your thoughts.
2- Know thyself
Try to see yourself from an outside perspective. Take away your prejudices, envies, grudges, and desires, and see what’s left. That’s the Self, what Buddhists try to purify.
3- Resist the seductions of marketing
Everyday businesses will try to make you believe you need something you never knew existed. Ask yourself how much your life would really improve with an extra piece of stylized plastic and metal. Try to detach your sense of happiness from possessions.
4- Live in the moment
Stop dwelling on what happened in the past and what might happen in the future. You are living in the present so concentrate on the here and now. Leave tomorrow for tomorrow.
5- Learn from the veterans
The ultimate guy’s guy, a hero of modern sports, LA Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson is a Zen devotee who uses its principles in his coaching. He not only makes good athletes great, but he gets them to recognize their true abilities and accept what they can and can’t change. By focusing on the moment, teaching selflessness in action, compassion towards fellow players, and accepting defeat as part of life, Jackson has made the teams he coached more cohesive and better equipped to deal with the pressure of pro sports. Just look at his track record.
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