You visit a temple or shrine in an ancient city, and look out at the tranquil gardens.
You break a sweat climbing a mountain, and enjoy the sweeping vista from the summit.
You stand before a crystal blue sea, and just stare out at the horizon.
Have you experienced this sense of being refreshed, in such extraordinary moments when you are removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life?
Your heart feels lighter, and a warm energy surges through your body. The worries and stresses of daily life vanish for an instant, and you can just feel yourself, alive in this moment.
Nowadays, many people have lost their footing—they are worried and confused about how to live their lives. That is why they seek out the extraordinary, in an attempt to reset their mental balance.
But. Still.
Even once you have pushed reset, the extraordinary remains outside of the everyday.
When you return to your regular life, stress accumulates, and the mind frays. Feeling burdened, again you seek out the extraordinary. Does this never-ending cycle sound familiar?
No matter how much you lament the complexities of life, changing the world is no simple task.
If the world is not going the way you want it to, perhaps it is better to change yourself.
Then, whatever world you encounter, you can move through it comfortably and with ease.
Instead of going out of your way to seek the extraordinary, what if you could live in a more carefree way, just by subtly changing your regular, everyday life?
This book is about just that: simple living, Zen style.
Changing your lifestyle doesn’t need to be difficult.
Slight changes in your habits. A subtle shift in your perspective.
You don’t need to go to the ancient Japanese capitals of Kyoto or Nara; you don’t need to climb Mount Fuji; and you don’t need to live near the ocean. With really only minor effort, it is possible to savor the extraordinary.
In this book, I will show you how to do so, with the help of Zen.
Zen is based on teachings that are fundamentally about how humans can live in the world.
In other words, Zen is about habits, ideas, and hints for living a happy life. A treasure trove, if you will, of deep yet simple life wisdom.
Zen teaching is represented by a series of four phrases, which mean, essentially: “Spiritual awakening is transmitted outside of the sutras, and cannot be experienced through words or letters; Zen points directly to the human mind, and enables you to perceive your true nature and attain Buddhahood.” Rather than be fixated on the written or spoken word, we should encounter our essential selves as they exist in the here and now.
Try not to be swayed by the values of others, not to be troubled by unnecessary concerns, but to live an infinitely simple life, stripped of wasteful things. That is “Zen style.”
Once you adopt these habits—which I promise are simple—your worries will disappear.
Once you develop this simple practice, life becomes so much more relaxed.
It is precisely because of how complex the world is that Zen offers these hints for living.
Nowadays, Zen is receiving more and more attention, not only in Japan but abroad as well.
I serve as the head priest of a Zen temple, and I also work as a Zen garden designer—not just for Zen temples but also for hotels and foreign embassies and such. Zen gardens are not just for Japanese people—they transcend religion and nationality and can capture the hearts of Westerners as well.
Rather than frown at the idea of Zen, try simply standing before one of these gardens. It can refresh your mind and spirit. The chatter and ripples in your mind suddenly grow silent and still.
I find that encountering a Zen garden can convey far more about Zen concepts than reading any number of texts explaining the philosophy.
That is why I have chosen to make this book practical. Instead of merely understanding Zen intellectually, I hope you will adopt the book’s practices as your own sort of training.
Keep this book by your side, and whenever anxiety or worries rear their head, turn to these pages.
The answers you seek are within.
Gassho
SHUNMYO MASUNO