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Once upon a time, a new monk approached an older, 
more experienced zen buddhist monk and said,  

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“I have just entered the monastery. 
Please teach me everything you know.”

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The older monk asked, “Have 
you eaten your rice porridge?”

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“Yes,” the younger monk said, “I have eaten.”

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The older monk replied, “Then 
you better wash your bowl.”

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That told the younger monk all he needed to know.

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We all want an extraordinary life - 
and this want, this burning desire,  

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is what makes us miserable. Zen Buddhism 
can teach you how to be happy and satisfied,  

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but only if you learn to appreciate the ordinary.

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‘Zen’ is a term derived from the Japanese 
pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word, chán,  

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which means ‘meditation.’ It is also a form of 
Buddhism that distinguishes itself with its almost  

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exclusive focus on personhood and the present. 
Rather than meditations on life, death, religion,  

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or the world, ‘Zen’ urges you to focus inwards 
and on the ordinary only. Like all other forms  

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and practices of Buddhism, Zen is not an 
ideology or belief, but rather a way of life.

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Buddhism was created in India but gradually 
travelled through Asia throughout the  

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centuries - and in every country, it spawned 
multiple sub-sections of Buddhism. The Zen  

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subsection of Buddhism was created in China, 
leading to the Chinese School of Zen Buddhism  

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becoming the most successful school of Buddhism in 
the entirety of China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

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One of the ways to become a ‘Zen person’ 
is by ‘shikan taza’, which translates to:  

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‘just sitting.’ It means to meditate without  

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any distractions nor egotistical interests or 
concerns. How to ‘just sit’, focus on yourself,  

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on the present, on the ordinary, and more 
- will all be discussed in this video.

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Zen’s focus on the little things and its 
disregarding of external factors leads to  

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lots of insightful lessons, but the biggest 
benefit is that you will realise you don’t  

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need the extraordinary to be happy - you 
just need yourself, and your ordinary life.

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Since Zen Buddhism is a practice 
not created by a singular person,  

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there will be quotes from 
multiple Zen Monks. These are: 

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BASO DŌITSU
DŌGEN ZENJI 

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RYŌKAN TAIGU
KŌDŌ SAWAKI 

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SHUNRYŪ SUZUKI , and
SHŌHAKU OKUMURA 

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In this video we will teach you how 
to start appreciating ordinary life,  

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and how doing so can transform you and your 
life into the very best versions of themselves.  

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The secret is all in the simplicity of 
washing your bowl after eating from it.

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Meditate

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Kodo Sawaki says “The more you 
meditate, the less you need.”

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The very first practice that Zen Buddhism 
recommends is often meditating. ‘Zazen’ in  

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the practice of Zen Buddhism, is the word 
for ‘sitting meditation.’ Zazen embraces a  

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range of sitting positions, but the most 
general posture is sitting crosslegged,  

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hands folded in your lap, and your spine upright 
but relaxed. Try it out. Close your eyes.

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When meditating, it is helpful to 
focus on three aspects, in order: 

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The body
Breathing 

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Mind

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Focusing on the body means focusing on your 
position. But it also extends beyond that:  

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you need to keep your body well by feeding it 
right, moving it enough, granting it the sleep  

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it needs, and helping it achieve anything else it 
might require to thrive. Your body is like a plant  

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you have to take good care of: An unhealthy or 
unhappy body can greatly distract from meditation.

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Then, there is your breathing. Zen 
does not believe in intense or intense  

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breathing exercises that some forms 
of meditation or sport might use,  

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but rather encourages you to pay attention 
to the way you normally breathe. Count the  

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number of breaths you take. Observe how long 
you breathe in for, how long you hold it,  

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and how long you breathe out for. Doing so 
will not only allow your body to find a pace  

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of breathing that suits you best, but it also 
calms the mind and brings you into the moment.

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Emotions influence your breathing: when 
feeling intense emotions - such as anger,  

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joy, or fear - you breathe quicker, 
rougher, and less deeply than in other  

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situations. Focusing on your breathing 
and guiding it back to its normal,  

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calm pace is incredibly beneficial to calm down 
from heavy emotions and still your thoughts.

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Then, when your body and breathing are calm and 
observed, and have identified your calm it is time  

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to adjust the mind. Your mind is filled to the 
brim with thoughts, knowledge, memories, and most  

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of all: concerns about your daily life. That fight 
you had at work, your visit to your grandfather  

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tomorrow, your meetup for a friend’s birthday, and 
more… it’s all constantly on the forefront of your  

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unconscious and conscious mind. So are temporary 
worries, fears, and even joys. Your mind can’t  

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just stop all these thoughts simply by having 
you command it to do so: it would just result  

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in your mind fighting itself, like trying not 
to think of a pink elephant… See…? You just did!

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Instead, the adjustment of your physical position 
as well as your breathing serves as the first  

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distraction from your day-to-day worries. Then, 
when you’re well and focused on your breathing,  

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you slowly start to drift. When you observe 
your breath for long enough, it will stabilise,  

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after which you’ll calm down. Your 
mind will stabilise. You’ll be at rest.

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Of course your mind will not be completely empty, 
that’s literally impossible, but if all goes well,  

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you will be focused enough to observe your 
thoughts without interacting with them. In other  

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words, the words, ideas, or images that pop up in 
your mind are like the trees you pass on a walk:  

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you know they are there, you might acknowledge 
their existence, but you don’t walk up to touch  

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them. They’re just decoration. As Shunryu Suzuki 
says, “In zazen, leave your front door and your  

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back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Don't 
just serve them tea.” Or, as Ryokan Taigu says:  

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“The mind is like a clear mirror, reflecting 
everything, but not clinging to anything.”

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When you experience this, you’re meditating. 
You will end up truly ‘seeing’ yourself;  

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witnessing your own nature. You will acknowledge 
and recognize what is usually unconscious,  

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find the source of thoughts that may have always 
puzzled you, and witness your deepest desires,  

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motivations, and fears.Most importantly, as a 
result of getting to know yourself intimately, you  

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will realise that you can be at peace despite your 
worries, your criticisms, your disappointments,  

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or anything else. Your concerns fade away 
in the light of the internal power and  

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strength that you possess. You now know 
you don’t need anything but yourself,  

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your body to sit, your lungs to breathe, and 
your mind to flow in its own, unique way.

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2. Recognize Your Ignorance
Dogen Zenji says, “The true purpose of Zen  

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is to see things as they are, to observe things 
as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.”

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The water does not flow, the bridge does. 
Now, this statement might seem like a riddle:  

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Everything you know about water or 
bridges goes against this statement,  

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and you probably find it hard to even imagine what 
this could look like. But this is just ignorance.

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Your ignorance is a fact: all humans are ignorant 
in some way and it is impossible to eliminate  

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all ignorance. You will never know everything, 
understand yourself completely, or live a flawless  

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life. In fact, Zen Buddhism is of the opinion 
that our reasoning minds can never understand  

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the totality of reality. Just like fish don’t 
understand maths or dogs can’t study history,  

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there are many things the human brain 
will not be able to reach or comprehend.

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As a result, Zen embraces that reality can seem 
absurd, contradictory, and unpredictable. As  

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Shrunryu Suzuki says, “In the practice 
of Zen, we do not seek to find answers,  

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but to let go of our questions.” 
One way to learn how to do this  

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is by embracing the concept of ‘sunyata.’
Sunyata means ‘nothingness’ or ‘emptiness.’  

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It means that everything that exists, exists 
without clear explanation, purpose, or causation:  

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there will always be confusion or ignorance about 
everything. Our bodies, existence, lives, and  

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that of everything around us, is all incredibly 
complex. There is no way to explain everything.

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In our everyday lives, we think in terms of 
oppositionals. Something is either there or  

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not there. It exists or it does not exist. While 
functional in daily life, Zen Buddhism considers  

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these binary views to be un-meditational. When 
meditating, one will experience a non-binary  

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world: one that is infinitely deep, complex, 
and contains multitudes upon multitudes.

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Zen Buddhism’s non-oppositional views 
are often expressed in the word ‘no’,  

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or more often, ‘nothing.’ To the binary 
question: ‘Am I a buddhist or not?’,  

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the correct answer would be ‘No’ or ‘Nothing.’ 
This means that a Buddhist is not something  

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you can be or not be. It is something that 
you can be in some ways and not in others,  

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and those things you can be 
sometimes, but not always.

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Thus, embracing nothing means 
embracing the nuance of life:  

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the fact that everything can be multiple things 
at once, serve multiple purposes at once,  

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that things can be oppositional, 
and things can be incomprehensible.

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In other words: the way to battle 
your ignorance is to recognize,  

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accept, and admit it. By realising 
that you will never know everything,  

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you will also learn how to be okay with 
the idea of not knowing everything.

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It is our inability to understand our conclusions 
or boil them down to a binary scenario that can  

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often make us miserable: when something is 
not ‘good,’ we label it ‘bad.’ If the party  

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was not ‘fun,’ it was ‘boring.’ If your job is 
not ‘fulfilling,’ it is ‘unfulfilling’ and thus  

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‘bad.’ Our lack of understanding of the complete 
nature of something causes us to draw quick,  

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inaccurate conclusions about that 
something, which in turn can make  

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us miserable, making the world seem so 
much more negative than it actually is.

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Now, this is not to say that you should not seek 
knowledge. Learning and reading is always good  

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and beneficial. Accepting your ignorance just 
means acknowledging that whatever you learn,  

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you will never know everything about a single 
topic - Even Zen Buddhism! When somebody asks  

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why they should practice Zen Buddhism, they would 
probably not be met with an easy answer. Instead,  

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the most likely answer would be the 
following, as said by Dogen Zenji:  

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“In the practice of Zen, there is no 
goal. The goal is in the practice itself.”

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So let’s come back to this beautiful quote 
from Dogen Zenji: “Water does not flow,  

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but the bridge flows.” In some ways, this 
quote will remain incomprehensible to you.  

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That’s the point. However, Zenji says, this 
statement is also the perfect metaphor for  

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Zen Buddhists in meditation. When you 
meditate well, you will find that the  

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world around you is not the neverending flow 
of chaos that it normally seems: instead,  

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you find that the world is just what it is, and it 
is your mind that can flow and improve your life.

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Trying to eliminate all ignorance is an impossible 
task - and trying to do it will make you  

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miserable. Only when you realise that you won’t 
ever understand or know everything can you start  

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to flow and learn how to be happy with the way 
things are. Life does not have to have a singular  

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purpose, your day does not have to be ‘good,’ and 
happiness is not something that can be found and  

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kept all the time. These realisations will help 
you come to peace with your ordinary life and  

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achievements just the way they are.
3. Get To Know Yourself

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Ryokan Taigu says “The ultimate truth is already 
within you. You just have to discover it.”

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As reiterated, ignorance is permanent 
and unavoidable - but there is still  

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plenty of room to learn, especially 
to learn more about yourself. One of  

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the most important parts of Zen Buddhism 
is the study of the self. Paradoxically,  

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Zen Buddhism recommends you do this 
by thinking less about yourself.

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Most people spend a lot of time thinking about 
who they think they are and want to be. Think  

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of the woman who thinks being a good mother 
is the most important part of her identity  

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and spends all her time and energy living 
up to this. Or the man who thinks he will  

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only be fulfilled when he is a CEO, or the 
person who wants to be a famous painter,  

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or the student who thinks they need to keep 
getting the best grades of the class. These  

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people all think that certain achievements 
or lifestyles are essential to who they are,  

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but in trying to achieve these goals 
they actually focus on the wrong things.

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External achievements are not 
essential to be who you are,  

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and thinking so can actually result in you 
getting lost. You won’t feel like a person  

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or complete until you’ve reached your goal - 
your self-worth and identity is given away,  

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tied to something external. Instead, 
Zen Buddhism reasons, you should look  

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inward - to your personality, to who you already 
are, whatever your external circumstances.

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Zen Buddhism believes that, like everything, the 
‘self’ is nothing and bottomless. Your urges,  

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ideas, desires… they all come from 
this pit. Zen does not believe  

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that you are prone to deceiving yourself; 
instead, if you just listen closely to your  

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feelings and take the actions you feel 
like taking, you will realise you’re  

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a unique individual. So you will get to know 
yourself the best when you do ordinary things.

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When you meditate, when you are in the flow, 
and when you do the same things everybody  

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else does. Because during these moments, you 
will find what distinguishes you from others.  

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What kind of thoughts do you have? Where do 
you find joy in daily life? What are your  

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likes and dislikes? What motivates you? You 
will find that you are already a complete,  

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complex, and interesting person even in 
the most uninteresting of circumstances.

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So when you learn how to observe yourself 
casually, you will also learn that you don’t  

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need anything else to be who you want to be. It 
is already inside of you. The less you think about  

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what you want to have and be, the more you will be 
satisfied with what you already have and are. 
 
 

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Love The Ordinary

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Shunryu Suzuki says “Zen is 
not some kind of excitement,  

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but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”

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Engaging in ordinary activities, as 
mentioned before, is helpful for getting  

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to know yourself. But ‘the ordinary’ is much 
more than that. According to Zen Buddhism,  

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our ordinary mind is simple: we are naturally 
calm and focused on just what is needed. This  

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does not only offer insight into who 
you are, but also calmness and serenity.

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The chaos, confusion, and alienation we 
experience in reality is a byproduct of  

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external distractions. Yet most people feel 
like their mind is a source of chaos, anxiety,  

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and worries. So how is it that we’ve become so 
disconnected from our ordinary, natural mind?

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Well, this is because we seek out and 
allow ourselves to be carried away by  

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all forms of external distractions. In fact, 
we often feel like distractions are good. We  

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want to flee ordinary life; everybody wants to 
experience and become something extraordinary,  

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something special, something overwhelming. 
But instead of being fulfilled by always  

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trying to do more and more, we 
become more and more dissatisfied.

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Now thats not to say that you should never 
take a risk, change your job, travel, or any  

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of that. Buddhism highly recommends seeing more 
of the world and gaining new experiences. But,  

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whatever it is you’re doing, never forget 
or neglect the ordinary as well! You might  

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try out a new job during the day, but 
don’t forget to cook yourself a nice  

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and healthy meal in the evening. And you 
might go out with friends on the weekends,  

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but make sure to take the time to meditate, clean, 
and take a walk, too. How many people’s houses are  

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a mess? How many people don’t like to cook for 
themselves, or participate in sports, or never do  

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anything creatively, ever? And how many of those 
complain about being tired, uninspired, or down?

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The ordinary represents the time and place 
where your mind can rest and grow and so  

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it is extremely important for your energy levels 
and mental health to allow your mind that space.

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Everything in life should be a balance, and this 
balance includes that all extraordinary things in  

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life should be matched with ordinary activities 
to enjoy. Moreover, according to Zen Buddhism,  

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participating in ‘ordinary activities’ such 
as cooking, cleaning, working, being creative,  

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being active, taking a walk, and more - they can 
result in achieving ‘flow.’ Think back to that  

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quote ‘the water does not flow, but the bridge 
does.’ Being in a sort of flow can look like this:  

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effortlessly flowing forward, yet not passively 
nor without power. Imagine it like this:

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You’re acting almost automatically, but not 
mindlessly. Your attention is effortlessly focused  

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on the activity at hand, with little-to-no inner 
monologue or distractions, you feel like you’re in  

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control of the situation, time goes by quicker 
or less-noticeably, you are neither bored nor  

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overwhelmed, and the activity allows you to feel 
a sense of achievement. However counterintuitive  

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it might seem, it can be the most simple of 
activities to allow you to get in the flow.

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Trying to cook a new recipe, 
walking a new path, clean the house,  

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things like that are all great choices. Being 
in flow is one of the most satisfactory and  

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inspiring experiences one can have; it is 
extremely good for your mind and body. So,  

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everybody who wants to get the most out of their 
life should, in fact, embrace the little things in  

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their days. Focus on the ordinary, because the 
extraordinary alone will never make you happy.

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Live In The Here And Now
In our final quote for this video, Shohaku  

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Okumura says “We cannot expect any ecstasy greater 
than right here, right now-our everyday lives.”

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One of Zen Buddhist beliefs is that time 
and space are necessarily connected and  

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cannot be separated. Zen Buddhists don’t 
say ‘live in the here and now’ because that  

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implies you can live here but not 
now, or now but not here. Instead,  

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a more logical phrase would be: ‘live 
in the here-now.’ Or, just: ‘Live now.’

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We often feel trapped in our circumstances 
and fantasise about the freedom the future  

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can offer. We think in the future we will 
be financially comfortable, creatively free,  

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physically better, or anything else. Zen Buddhism 
understands freedom a little differently: freedom,  

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according to this practice, can be understood 
as ‘purposeless purpose’ or ‘actionless action.’

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You are free when you are in 
the flow, you get a sense of  

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achievement from the things you 
do, and you feel satisfied with  

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the options you have - whether you had 
the choice to do those things, or not.

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Freedom means being free in your mind. Therefore, 
according to Zen Buddhism, freedom can only be  

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achieved in the here-now, and only if you set your 
mind to the things you do. Many of these actions  

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will concern the ordinary. Your mind might not 
constantly urge you to do something impressive or  

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groundbreaking. In fact, these urges might 
be rare if not entirely absent. Most of our  

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desires focus on the details of everyday life; 
eating a sandwich, going to bed, going for a run,  

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expressing yourself creatively, working hard, 
working less, and any other ordinary actions.

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Zen monk Baso Doitsu famously said ‘the 
mind as it is is the way.’ You are free  

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and satisfied when you allow yourself to be calm 
and follow your mind. This can only be done in  

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the here-now. If you focus on the future, you are 
not acting, and the same goes for the past. So,  

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if you live in the here-now, you will find 
that you are the most satisfied you could be.

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So, in conclusion, it’s a lack of focus on 
the ordinary that makes us feel dissatisfied  

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with life. When you learn to focus on 
the simple things in life - meditation,  

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acceptance of ignorance, self-exploration, 
and the present time - you will find  

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that you don’t need anything you don’t 
already have. It is all inside of you.

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If you enjoyed this video, please make 
sure to check out our full philosophies  

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00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,120
for life playlist and for more videos to 
help you find success and happiness using  

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00:24:55,120 --> 00:25:02,040
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