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THE COOL AND GENTLE OINTMENT OF CHAN

WHEN PEOPLE HAVE problems or stress, they often try to forget whatever is pressing on them and put it out of their minds. They exercise, go to a spa, sing karaoke, drink, and drug themselves into oblivion or dance the night away. They go shopping. They buy, buy, buy. That is their therapy. Others eat—chocolate, potato chips. They turn on the television and watch and watch. Some people sleep and keep on sleeping.

These strategies provide instant gratification, a sudden release. It is as if you are itchy and you need to scratch that itch, but the more you scratch the more you itch.

Buy, buy, buy!

Eat, eat, eat!

You still feel empty and shallow.

After the high, you drop into a void.

The band packs up. The music stops. The party’s over.

Chan sees living as an art. We need to skillfully manage our lives. That’s why in Chan we talk about skillful means, a kind of dexterity and cleverness.

In Chan, we teach in a nonconventional manner. We teach by going beyond books or any kind of standard procedure. We try to see the particular needs of each individual. We tailor our teaching to the person, to each individual’s dimensions, who the person is and where he or she is at in that very moment of life.

Come back to your breath. Come back to the present moment. Relax.

You have an itch?

Soothe it with the cool and gentle ointment of Chan.