What is Zen, Anyway?

The word Zen has a mystic about it, doesn’t it? People often think of Zen as being exotic, even mysterious, deep, and dark. Sometimes even magical. Many focus on the meditation (or zazen) side of the practice. The quiet side of sitting in silence and the profound realizations that can come from that stillness. Yes, that can happen. It takes work, but over time and consistency, things will eventually start to shift. 

But this is only the half of it. The other side of the stillness of sitting is the busyness of living. So how do we integrate those two?

To appreciate the benefit of what Zen has to offer is to experience a fluid, flexible state of being. A state that can easily bow and adapt to conditions, not unlike the branches of a willow. Ripening ourselves through sitting gives us this opening. From here, with training, practice, and the proper guidance of an authentic teacher, spaces open up within which we develop skillful means to make our life choices. Our 16 Precepts provide the moral compass we use to guide us as we live a life worth living for ourselves and others.

To say that the practice of Zen is your life lived moment by moment, is true. When you’re hungry, you eat. When you’re tired, you sleep. When you accidentally hit your finger with a hammer, you know what you say. It’s a life lived without justifications or a need to grasp anything. All the while appreciating our ordinary, extraordinary lives.

Thank you for being here. We’ll keep digging as we go along. May your life go well with double hugs of gratitude and appreciation, 

— Jennifer