To begin December, I chose a short but powerful book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.
This year has been harder on many people than most years. From the pandemic to politics and all that has effected us from these converging circumstances. We can lose our focus and really let the negativity of the world take over. It is during these times, when I feel discouraged, I like to listen to the positive, healing videos on YouTube to get rid of the negative thoughts and accompanying negative energy. Sometimes there is so much negativity built up, that I need more than just one or two videos to clear my mind. Besides the many uplifting books by authors I have blogged about here, the principles of Zen really bring me peace.
This book is short and straight forward, just as you would expect from teachings of Zen. It was written by one of the first Zen masters in the United States, an immigrant from Japan. As such, it is written with a western audience in mind which helps explain the practice better to those of us from the West.
Though associated with Buddhism, the author explains that Zen practice is for those of any religious belief because Zen focuses internally, not in service to external force. There is no dogma to serve. The prevailing theme of this book is there in the title, the beginner's mind. By coming to a situation with the beginner's mind, we remain at peace. Our mind is empty of conflict and free to accept what is without judgement. Zen is about being and practicing.
I have been hesitant to accept teachings that stress meditation. I am such an active person, it almost hurts to sit still. Nevertheless, I came in with an open mind and listened to what the author had to say about Zazen, the strict meditative practice of Zen Buddhists. Though I am not ready to perform such an act for great lengths of time, I'm willing to try for a period of a few minutes...eventually.
By the end of the book, I was in a state of calm once more. The craziness of the outside world subsided; that is, I gave it less attention. The year 2020 has been more taxing than most years, but if we look inside ourselves, nothing is all that different.
