Ah, the sounds-simple rules of living a Zen existence from Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.For folks who desire a little more detail and direction, one of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, has a neat little piece titled "12 Essential Rules to Live More Like a Zen Monk" － and I don't know about you, but my crazybusymommywriter life can always use more Zen-monkedness (not to be confused with Zen-monkiness, notes my husband across the kitchen table . . . which may be even rarer, as a Zen-practicing monkey seems highly unlikely, really). But I digress . . .
Anyway, here are blogger Leo Babauta's absolute do-Zen:
1. Do one thing at a time.
2. Do it slowly and deliberately.
3. Do it completely.
4. Do less.
5. Put space between things.
6. Develop rituals.
7. Designate time for certain things.
8. Devote time to sitting.
9. Smile and serve others.
10. Make cleaning and cooking become meditations.
11. Think about what is necessary.
12. Live simply.
If your life is like mine, then you'll want to be careful not to incorporate too much simplification too quickly － not being familiar with the feeling, you might accidentally oversimplify and put yourself into a coma or something.
Just choose one rule to follow, just for today. Number one is a good first step － mash the multitasking monster and today, try doing one thing at a time. You may be surprised at how it feels － you might even remember to smile, breathe or go slowly. :)
3 comments:
I'm trying to figure out how to do less, but it's a hard thing to navigate because there are a lot of people in my life who I want to maintain and deepen relationships with (family included), and there are not enough hours in a week. Any suggestions?
p.s. as for the "make cooking and cleaning meditations," there is no better read than kathleen norris's "the quotidian mysteries"!
Hi, SG (I just realized you're the second SG friend I've got) -- I *love* Kathleen Norris, but haven't gotten around to "The Quotidian Mysteries" . . . must check it out. And as for the "not enough hours in the week" conundrum, I wish I had the magic resolution, but no such luck . . . I just continuously aim for some semblance of balance (can't deepen all of the relationships all the time, etc.). :)
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