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Index
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Getting Started with Zen
1 Introducing Zen
Zen Is the Art of Living
Life Is a Great Opportunity
It’s Like Learning to Drive
Discovering Your Own Answers
Dignified and Ready
The Zen Tradition
How Zen Relates to Buddhism
Practice Versus Philosophy
Dispelling Some Myths About Zen
What Zen Practice Has to Offer
Waking Up to Your Life
Less Controlled by Emotions
Stress Relief
Greater Authenticity
Being a Nicer Person
Satisfaction and Gratitude
2 Trying Out Zen Practice
Finding Out How to Do Zen
A Brief Overview of Zen in the West
A Few Recommended Resources
Author/Teacher Credentials
Trust Your Intuition
Actually Doing Zen
Beginner’s Mind
Anxiety About Change
Giving It a First Try
Meditating for the First Time
Paying Attention to Simple Tasks
Visiting a Zen Group
3 A Zen Practice of Your Own
What Is a “Zen Practice”?
Making Zazen a Habit
Regularity over Session Length
A Designated Time and Space
The Right Equipment
Joining a Zen Group
Attending a Retreat
Zen off the Cushion
Practice Applies to Everything
It’s Not Practice Versus Life
Keeping It Up over Time
Patience, Patience, Patience
Not Judging Your Practice
Learning to Shrug
A Sense of Curiosity
Part 2: Zen Tools
4 Zazen: Seated Meditation
Physical Instructions for Zazen
A Straight, Upright Spine
Positioning the Rest of Your Body
Where and When to Do Zazen
Mental Instructions for Zazen
Exercise for Your Attention
Habitual Mind Is Monkey Mind
Three Levels of Mind
Attention Exercise Techniques
Concentration and Expansion
Effort Versus Non-effort
Expectations About Meditation
Resistance to Just Being
Sitting When Things Aren’t Okay
5 Mindfulness: Awareness in Everyday Life
The Effort to Be Mindful
Nothing Is Beneath Your Attention
Wholehearted Activity
Remembering to Be Mindful
Awareness of the Body
Hands
Breath
Movement
Taking Care with Everything
Valuable, Not Valuable
Respect and Attention
6 Precepts: The Zen Moral Code
Why Be Moral?
Not Causing Suffering
Your Suffering and My Suffering
Actions That Disturb Your Zazen
How the Precepts Work
The Behavior of a Buddha
Intention and Clarity
Compassion Is the Trump Card
Daily Precept Practice
Precepts and Other People
The Ten Zen Precepts
Not Killing
Not Stealing
Not Misusing Sexual Energy
Not Lying
Not Abusing Intoxicants
Not Dwelling on Past Mistakes
Not Being Attached to Praise or Blame
Not Being Stingy
Not Indulging Anger
Not Disparaging Aspiration
7 Karma Work: Habits of Body, Speech, and Mind
About Karma
Your Karmic Package
Delayed Effects Can Fool You
The Desire to Change
Sorry About That
Taking Responsibility
Obstacles to Change
Habit Energy
Conflicting Desires
Not Thinking Outside the Box
Unraveling a Habit
Watching How Things Unfold
Catching It Sooner
Making a Change
First Just Stop
Then Try Something New
Support for Karma Work
8 Cultivating Insight: Seeking the Truth
The Importance of Insight
The Truth Sets You Free
Stuff You Ignore
The Zen Approach to Insight
The Truth Is Right in Front of You
Different Kinds of Knowing
Insight and Zazen
Doing or Not-Doing
Samatha and Vipassana
Samatha: Working on Stillness
Clear Versus Turbid
It’s Your Volition That Remains Still
Judgment Prevents Clarity
Vipassana: Inviting Insight
Focusing on a Question
Experiencing the Answer
9 Sangha: Practicing with Others
Communities of Zen Practitioners
Sanghas Together
Benefits of Sangha
Working with a Zen Teacher
Guidance and Encouragement
Witness and Challenge
Meditation Retreats
Ritual and Religion
If You’re Turned Off
The Good of Ritual
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
Vows to Become a Zen Buddhist
Lay Zen Buddhists
Formal Students
Monks, Priests, and Teachers
Part 3: Essential Zen Teachings
10 The Path to Liberation
How to Use Zen Teachings
The Four Noble Truths
One: Recognize Dukkha
Admitting Life Isn’t Perfect
What Dukkha Is
Two: See What Causes Dukkha
Desire Versus Grasping
Grasping Doesn’t Help
Three: Let Go of What Causes Dukkha
Four: Practice What Supports Liberation
11 The Fundamental Misunderstanding
Your Self-Concept
The Real Nature of Self
Empty of Inherent Self-Nature
The Way You Really Exist
Understanding No-self
Medicine for All Suffering
The Misery of I, Me, and Mine
Illness, Old Age, and Death
Existential Angst
12 The Way Things Really Are
Waking Up to Reality
The Empty World
One Big Reality
Bright and Precious
Your True Nature
Wise and Compassionate
Ignorance Gets in the Way
The Absolute and the Relative
Big Self and Small Self
Nirvana Is Not Elsewhere
Part 4: The Zen Path
13 Letting Go of Attachment
The Nature of Attachment
Good Versus Problematic Attachment
Holding On
Non-attachment
Letting Go
Getting to Know Your Attachments
Loosening Your Grip
Favorite Attachments
Your Body
Your Relationships
What You Do
Thinking and Feeling
Learning as You (Let) Go
14 Studying the Self
To Study Buddhism Is to Study the Self
Signs of Belief in Self-Essence
A Sense of Imperative
Anger and Resistance
Greed and Stinginess
Physical Tension
Challenging Delusion
It Doesn’t Go Away
Independent of Not-Self Things
Dispelling Illusion
The Experience of Less-Self
15 Taking It Deeper
A Strong Foundation
Generating Determination
Facing Fears
Skeletons in Your Closet
Fear of Emptiness
Willingness to Not Know
Challenging Yourself
Working with Koans
Everyday Life Koans
Avoiding Complacency
16 Enlightened About Delusion
The Concept of Enlightenment
The Human Ideal
Direction, Not Goal
You Already Have It
Clarity About Delusion
No Longer Looking Elsewhere
Enlightenment Experiences
After Enlightenment
No Enlightened People
Meeting Each Moment
Part 5: Living Zen
17 Zen in Relationships
Relationships as Koans
A Zen View of Relationships
No One Makes You Angry
No One Makes You Happy
No One Owes You Anything
Everyone Is Like You
Zen Practice with …
Family
Intimate Partners
Friends
Co-workers, Customers, and Strangers
18 Dealing with Challenges Zen-Style
Busyness
The Effects of Busyness
Creating More Space
Giving Up Attachments
Worry
Afflictive Emotions
Powerful and Compelling
Not Helpful
Getting Free of Affliction
Betrayal
Impatience to Get Over It
Opening Your Heart Again
Being Misunderstood or Criticized
19 Daily Opportunities for Zen Practice
Your Work as Your Gift to the World
A Story of Two Waitresses
Shifting Your Attitude
The Zen Approach to Work
Contentment Instead of Materialism
Happiness Dependent on Conditions
Materialism and Zen
Going on a Distraction Diet
Not Enough Stillness
Setting Aside Stimulation
Zen in a Non-Zen World
Negative Personal Reactions
Cultural Tension
The Behavior of Others
Doing Your Own Practice
Respecting People’s Paths
20 Zen and Mental Health
Zen Versus Mental Health Care
The Useful Dichotomy
The False Dichotomy
Mental Health as Zen Practice
Who Cares What People Think?
Letting Go of Ideas
Appreciating No-Self
When to Turn to a Mental Health Professional
How Mental Health Care Complements Zen
When to Be Careful with Zen
Strengthening the Self
Fighting Depression
Dealing with Trauma
21 Zen When Life Is Tough
Difficult Circumstances
Dropping the Stories
The Perfection of Forbearance
Injustice
Illness, Pain, and Old Age
Worst-Case Scenario
The Universe in a Cup of Tea
Loss
A Zen View of Grief
Loss as Teacher
22 Zen FAQs
Meditation
What If I Can’t Concentrate?
What If Seated Meditation Hurts?
What If I Keep Falling Asleep?
How Can I Make Myself Sit Regularly?
What About Weird Experiences?
Awakening
Could I Achieve Enlightenment? Me?
Did I Have an Enlightenment Experience?
What If I Don’t Care About Enlightenment?
Do I Have to Go to a Monastery or Become a Monk?
How Can I Deepen My Practice?
What If My Practice Has Gotten Boring?
Zen Practice and Your Life
Why Has Practice Seemed to Make Things Worse?
What If Practice Causes Relationship Problems?
Do I Have to Give Up Strong Emotions?
Is It Still Okay to Want Things?
What About Zen and Pleasure?
Will Zen Change Me Too Much?
23 Mastering the Art of Living
Allowing Intimacy
Expressing Your True Self
Finding What Is Yours to Do
The Search
Embracing Your Work
Helping Others
What Is Helpful?
How Wisdom Helps
Appendixes
A Glossary
B Resources
Index
About the Author
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